Vacation Deprivation

It’s not too late to take a break!! According to Expedia.ca, one of Canada’s largest online travel services Canadians have some difficulties when it comes to letting go of work, even while we’re on vacation. The Vacation Deprivation® survey conducted online by Harris Interactive on behalf of Expedia.ca is an annual analysis of vacation habits across multiple countries and continents. There are twenty countries in the latest survey from North America, Europe, Asia, South America and Australia.

For example most employed Canadians (62 per cent) say they regularly or at least sometimes check in with the office by email or voicemail when they’re on holidays. But we’re actually well below many countries measured including workers in India who were most likely to touch base with the office while on vacation (89 per cent) followed closely by Italy (88 per cent) and France and Japan, which tied for third place at 87 per cent. There are some regional differences within Canada as well with employees in British Columbia topping the list at 68 per cent and perhaps not surprisingly Quebec workers least likely to check in at 58 per cent.

But what else did this year’s Vacation Deprivation survey tell us? Well, we’re getting better at taking our vacation time and most people will take 15 out of 16 vacation days that they have coming. That’s better than previous years but on the downside about 25 per cent of workers said they couldn’t afford to go on vacation, an increase from past surveys. Other reasons for not taking a vacation or all of your due vacation include insufficient planning time, being viewed negatively by the employers and lack of managerial support. Regionally Albertans leave the most vacation on the table with many workers being entitled to 20 days a year but on average they only take 15.

One more interesting piece of information from this survey was a question that asked where Canadians were going when they go away on a holiday or vacation. No surprises here. A relaxing beach vacation is the number one choice of Canadians in every province. And with whom? Most often Canadians vacation with their full families including the kids but about 40 per cent confessed to just a couples only getaway in the last year.

Whatever you decide to do and wherever you decide to go on vacation, the most important thing is to get away and enjoy yourself. If you haven’t been able to do it this year, then block off your calendar and plan for a summer or winter getaway for next year. You can take the kids, but leave your laptop at home. It needs a break too.

This post first appeared on my blog at www.jobs.ca

Mike Martin is a writer and the author of The Walker on the Cape, a mystery set in Grand Bank, NL. For more information please visit www.walkeronthecape.com