Americans are overworked. There’s a long line of reasons why this happens but let’s not get into it just now. There just isn’t time. One thing is for certain: We need more time off. We need to rest our brains and reset and just…chill. But the fact is, it just isn’t happening for way too many Americans.
A recent HuffPost/YouGov Poll found that a staggering number of Americans are not even taking an extra day off, much less a full on vacation.
HuffPost conducted our poll of 1,000 U.S. adults last month…about Americans’ problematic vacation habits. It’s worthwhile to note that some of the respondents who said they took zero vacation days also indicated they are retired or not currently working. Even when we remove them from the data set, nearly half of respondents say they took fewer than seven days off in the past year.
If only half of Americans are taking vacations, there’s a problem with the system. We’ve mentioned before how important free time is to your well-being. It’s integral to our physical and mental health.
The poll followed up by asking what was holding Americans back from utilizing their vacation days (emphasis ours).
Survey participants identified money as the main difficulty with going on vacation. Thirty percent of people we surveyed who are currently working said the biggest barrier to taking time off was lacking the funds for a trip.
That’s fair. Traveling is not free. You’re either paying for gas, or flights, or trains just to get to a destination. That’s before food, accommodation, and any attractions you may want to frequent.
Travel doesn’t have to be expensive. Sometimes it can just be a trip around your hometown, going to a place you’ve never been. Sometimes it’s just a walk in the woods outside of town. HuffPost set up the Take A Break challenge to motivate Americans to find clever ways to look at vacations in a new way.
During the month of June, we’ll help you nail down how many vacation days you have at your disposal, figure out where to go, and plan a trip you can actually afford.
Everyone deserves a break. Luckily there are resources here to help you find the time to give yourself one. Take a Break sounds like a great way to facilitate an escape from the daily grind. You need it.
(Via HuffPost)
