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Because of my husband's job (unusual schedule and great pay), I quit work last year. My husband works two weeks on and two weeks off, which means we have about 180 days off a year (he's self employed). Other than the terrific days off schedule, we have no company benefits whatsoever - no health insurance subsidies, no matching 401K, no company life insurance, no paid vacation, etc. But the pay makes up for it and we have two weeks off out of every month!
My husband is an oil and gas consultant, private sector of course. We take a "mini trip" nearly every time he's home - two or three days, usually to a beach or the Hill Country in Texas, or to a major metro area like Fort Worth or Houston or New Orleans. About once a quarter, I'll fly out and meet up with him somewhere - WV, south Texas, NC, Memphis - that sort of thing - for a few days. Once a year we take a really big vacation for about 8-10 days. We go to Europe about once every three years or so and go to other parts of the US (usually involving a beach!) in between. We have a family cabin (on family land in a very rural area, with several ponds and lots of privacy) that we go to nearly every time he's home, for a night or two. It's only 2 hours away.
This year we're going to the UK in June. I CANNOT WAIT!!!!!
Travel is a huge priority for us. We save each year for our big vacation so we just don't have to scrimp on it - we want to relax and travel at our own pace (we never do a cruise or a tour package, for instance - even in the UK we are going to rent a car and meander along at our own pace).
Anyway, we're in our early fifties. We couldn't have afforded this even ten years ago - but we're able to now and we are really enjoying it. I thank God every day for the opportunities we enjoy.
3 weeks vacation
Close to 2 weeks sick time that I never lose (a little over 9 hrs a month)
9 paid holidays plus any additional holidays they choose to pay us for (usually day after Thanksgiving, sometimes Christmas Eve and a day or half day for Good Friday
International travel is not a high priority for me. The biggest hurdle is always going to be finances. I have other things that I need to pay for. I also hate taking vacation time in large chunks. If I took all my time at once and had nothing left for the rest of the year I would be miserable. I love road trips and taking multiple short getaways to recharge. There are too many places I want to see in my own country first.
Govt. 14 vaca, 8 sick. Seems like the private sector is blowing this benefit out of the water. Jeeze I need to get back to the private world, hating the govt side with a passion.
I work in the public sector and it is the time off and close location that keeps me happy.
Per Year:
7 Vacation Days or 2.7% of all regular hours paid (will be 5.77% or 15 Vacation days a year beginning in August)
11 Sick Days or 5% of all regular hours paid (can accumulate up to 300)
11 Paid Holidays
4 Personal Days (5 if I use no sick time)
18 days
1-2 years of employment (with the current Co.)
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