Do you have an allotted amount of vacation days from your employer per year? Do you want to travel frequently with that limited time? If so, you may need to use this guide to overhaul your travel schedule and figure out how to maximize your PTO (paid time off)!
We work in corporate America and limited time off (about 2-3 weeks) but we have still found ways to travel frequently by finding ways to maximize our vacation days. Keep reading because we are going to lay out some simple yet important things for you to do to use those limited vacation days to travel as much as possible.
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Why you should utilize all of your vacation days
The list for why you should take all of your vacation days every year could go on for a while but here are our top five reasons why you should utilize all of the PTO provided by your employeer.
- First things first, PTO is part of your salary and you should never feel guilty about taking this time off.
- Vacation days are literally good for your health. Constant work with no break leads to heart and anxiety issues.
- Taking time off will make you happier.
- Unplug from the daily grind of work and focus on making memories with your loved ones.
- Taking time off at regular intervals will reduce work burnout.
Now that THAT is taken care of, there are a few things that we do to be able to take so many trips with limited time off.
Use those holidays
When we start planning a trip, one of the first things we look at is our holiday schedule. The main way we maximize out PTO is to plan trips around already provided company holidays. If its Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, or Thanksgiving, you can assume that we will be out of town. Some companies provide even more company holidays that you can take advantage of.
Need some inspiration? Check out how we utilized our holidays to travel to:
Time it out
We refuse to spend an entire day traveling unless it is absolutely necessary. With such limited PTO, it hurts me to have to burn one of these days just getting to our destination. To avoid this, we prioritize flights that leave early in the morning and late at night. We are lucky enough to have DFW be our home airport which provides us with a multitude of nonstop destinations and we take full advantage of this.
Just think about it…you start your journey at 6pm on a Wednesday, get to your destination late that night, and you don’t have to take the day off. Same thing with early morning flights: we can leave DFW at 6am and get to the Bahamas (NAS) and on the beach by noon with a Pina Colada in hand. This alone saves hours and hours of our precious time at our destination.
Getaway
This one is more of a personal preference (and dependent on your options) but don’t be afraid of a quick getaway. Lets use the Bahamas again as an example. Take off Friday and either book the late Thursday or early Friday flight and you are on the beach with that Pina Colada by 1pm (at the latest). Take a flight home mid-afternoon on Sunday and you have done it…you are nice and sunburned with only burning one vacation day. Obviously, this is dependent on the type of vacationer you are but this kind of getaway is perfect if you just need to escape for a couple of days. You get most of Friday, all day Saturday, and plenty of time on Sunday to relax on a beach, have some great food, and get a great tan (or sunburn if you are Kipp).
Throw your things in your carry on and hit the road or head to the airport. And check out my favorite packing tool if you are in need of some new travel supplies.
Prioritize Travel!
Prioritize travel and maximize your PTO. I don’t know how many times I have received the “must be nice” comment from co-workers after a trip. Remember, things don’t just *happen*. You have to figure it out which might mean planning ahead, utilizing points and miles, or snagging a last minute deal. If you need some ideas on how to set budget goals, make sure you check out the Department of Adulting for a few budgeting tips.
And finally, we don’t use our PTO to just sit around our house or because we didn’t feel like working that day – we use it to have great experiences, eat fantastic food, explore a new country, and make memories together.
Check out our guide to Taking Advantage of Holidays for Travel and don’t forget to save this post for future reference on Pinterest:
I totally agree with your thoughts on maximizing PTO. I try to take a 3-4 week trip every 2-3 years!
This sounds like a great idea, but at least here in Germany, prices round these periods really get hiked up… I like to travel off season and my way is to put in some overtime voluntarily and cover for colleagues, then take it all off in November. But whatever works is great to facilitate travelling!
I love that you prioritize travel to create a good work life balance. Taking advantage of PTO is a must for healthy living!
Yes! I love the ideas and concepts. It’s awesome you took 10 trips last year. Wish more companies would let employees take multiple days off around holidays. My husband’s company does 4th quarter blackout for vacation and my previous employer only allowed so many holidays you can Vaca around.
You’re right, work-life balance is so important! Great tips – thank you for sharing.
I read a statistic once that said that most people never use all of their PTO. Work does not need you that much! Take a break people.
Agreed! People forget that PTO is a part of their salary. Not using it is equivalent to leaving cash on the table.
Wow ten trips in a year while working full time is amazing! So true about thinking about what time your flights are to make the most of your time off!
I’m right there with you! My next trip includes a holiday giving me ability to holiday for two weeks! 🙂