TAKE A FREAKING VACATION
TAKE TIME TO DO WHAT YOU LOVE
While in Barcelona, we had an interesting discussion with a Swedish couple during our hotel's fantastic wine and cheese happy hour. One of the topics that came up was vacation time.
In Sweden, everyone who doesn’t get paid overtime MUST take five weeks of vacation. Unlike the United States, people aren’t shamed for taking off, and it’s not taboo. According to the couple, in Sweden, you don’t have to worry about being replaced if you take some time off to enjoy life. In fact, many people take time off during the summer around the same time, and companies shut down or move slower during that time. We’ve also met many Aussies on month-long vacations - they have similar laws in that country.
Q and I have discussed times when we were shamed - whether outright or indirectly - by coworkers and friends for taking time off to do something we love - travel. Obviously, that doesn’t stop us, but it’s still part of our culture. Whether you’re traveling the world, seeing the States, or just hanging out at home and relaxing, it’s important to take a break. There’s so much more to life than work. I think the US should implement a similar vacation law - everyone should be allowed at a very minimum four weeks paid vacation! What do y’all think?
