Ask HN: How many vacations do you take a year?

I get the maximum vacation time our company allows (after about eight years, you get something like 21 days per year). I currently have the maximum banked amount allowed (two years or 42+ days worth). My vacation accrual has been maxed-out for years, because I do not use it.

In my eighteen years of adult life, I've never taken a vacation day, have only used a sick day one time (I generally work through the illness, but there was one day when I could not get out of bed and was practically unconscious for almost two days), and I've worked almost every holiday (Christmas, New Years, Thanksgiving, MLK, July 4th - you name it). The only exception was about thirteen years ago, when my dad died and my boss forced me to take a week of bereavement off.

I know a lot of people look forward to using their vacation time and getting away from work. I don't like people who act like working is the worst thing and just sit around staring at the clock waiting for 5:00pm to strike, so they can bail -- but I don't judge or begrudge people who have a strong work ethic and then take advantage of their vacation time. They've earned it.

For myself . . . well, I don't care much for travel and most of the things I do for side projects and self interest can be done at my desk or in my back yard. I enjoy working, often do it off the clock for my own enjoyment, and I can fit in my own projects around the time I work, so I have no particular need to take time off of work to make time for my own stuff.

I suspect I'd feel differently if I had to commute. If I had to travel an hour or more to work every morning and then the same amount back each night, I would be exhausted. I'd probably hate it. Not the work, but the trappings of it. I could see a vacation being desperately needed. Since I've telecommuted almost my entire life, I don't have that particular stress, though. I think that counts for a LOT and I really appreciate it.

On the other hand, there are people like my mother. Someone who has spent most of her life in the food service industry. Has worked at the same company for about twenty years, now, and gets only a week or two of vacation per year . . . UNPAID. As a result, she has never traveled (she won't even come visit me in the home I bought since moving halfway across the country), she doesn't really do anything on vacation, and frankly, doesn't ever take time off if she can help it. She needs the money; can't afford two weeks of "unpaid" vacation.

I don't know if I will change as I get older. We have chosen not to have children and my fiance, though much younger (10yrs) than myself, is very much fine with doing her own thing like me. We have our passions and allow each other to indulge them. She loves traveling (having formerly served in Afghanistan, she has seen more of the world in the last five years than I've seen in my entire life). Anyway, the point is that I have few obligations to be concerned with. That allows me additional freedom to not care about my vacation time, I think. Maybe as I age, I'll want to do other things besides work. Or maybe I'll just need a day every couple weeks to nap and will burn vacation that way. Who knows?

It's a funny thing - no one's twisting my arm to not take vacations, but I've always felt something akin to "I don't deserve a vacation" (for lack of a better description). I have known many co-workers in my career who have had similar anxiety about taking days off, as if we'll be perceived as not adding value if we're taking vacation.

My current employer's giving of a mandatory 2 week vacation is only now starting to make me realize that employers (at least good ones, like my current employer) don't feel that way at all, and that feeling of inadequacy is in my head.

This year? Well, perhaps I'll take a real vacation. I get 10 days allotted for vacation per year (so 2 weeks), and perhaps if I can find a good time to do so I'll take them consecutively and get a really good vacation - or at least, I won't feel guilty if I take two one-week vacations.

Each time no more than a few days. Generally to visit family.