Nosey

[Legacy]

OK..I'm just plain nosey here...for those blessed people who can take 14+ day trips:

What do you and your spouse do for a living?
How are you able to take off that many days straight from work?

I can't even imagine leaving work for 10 working days...I'd have SO much to do when I got back! I can understand affording it all, I think, with lots of saving, or being blessed financially...

Just curious...

 

[Thumperr]

OK..I'm just plain nosey here...for those blessed people who can take 14+ day trips:

What do you and your spouse do for a living?
How are you able to take off that many days straight from work?

I can't even imagine leaving work for 10 working days...I'd have SO much to do when I got back! I can understand affording it all, I think, with lots of saving, or being blessed financially...

Just curious...

I guess it depends on where you live, here in Holland we get 5 weeks off each year. I work for a big telephone company from home and my DH works as a salesman.

 

[Disney Fool]

I'm a state worker (have been for the past 35 years) I now have earned 5 weeks vacation. I earned it--I'm gonna use it.

 

[sharadoc]

I'm at a big financial services company. My level gets 21 days, plus we can "buy" another week and we get one or two bonus days for reaching annual goals.

So, I have over 5 weeks. Time off is valued here, so we find ways to cover for each other easily.

 

[swald91]

My husband is a state worker & I am self-employed.He gets around 4 weeks per year & me -whenever I want but- no work no pay!!...We never take 10 plus day trips to Disney...can't afford it!!!

 

[Heidijs]

Both DH and I work for the city...I get 3.5 weeks off and he gets 3...plus we get all holidays off and we get comp time for any overtime we work that we get at 1.5 x regular hours...so we end up with a lot of comp time to use for time off instead of dipping into our vacation...we never lose our vacation either...we can carry it over for years...we also get the same amount of sick time off as well and it carrys over...in a few more years I'll start getting 5 weeks off a year...on my 16th year anniversary...

As far as $$...we are not married, so come tax time we get like $11,000 in returns and we still claim one on our payroll...but the way we split up the kids for dependants, mortgage, daycare, head of household...we make out like bandits at tax time.

I don't take off 10 days in a row either...my office would fall apart...but I am taking 7 off for our trip next week

 

[Kurby]

we are by no means rich. dh is a chef at a hotel and i drive a school bus.

we don't go to disney during high seasons (we like January) which means that while he gets 4 weeks vacation i have to take unpaid leave.

we don't own a cottage, new cars, or a home.

we don't go on 2 and 3 week vacations every year to far off places but choose to stay closer to home and camp.

my friends love going to the islands, my cousin's love Europe, we love Disney.

we go every other year for no less then 3 weeks but that includes the drive down (saves half on flights and only takes 1 maybe 2 nights in a hotel depending on what time we leave and how tired we are)

it helps that we own dvc and buy our 10 day passes long before we head down and just have to pay for food while there.

our vacations (other than food) are paid before we go and what we spend down there gets paid off over the next 4-6 months.



it's a matter of what's important to you - if a 2 week vacation is what you really want - you may have to give up those weekly dinners out or that bigger tv or go for a used car instead of a new one etc...

if you don't have thousands and thousands it's a trade off

 

[outlander]

Both DH and I work for the city...I get 3.5 weeks off and he gets 3...plus we get all holidays off and we get comp time for any overtime we work that we get at 1.5 x regular hours...so we end up with a lot of comp time to use for time off instead of dipping into our vacation...we never lose our vacation either...we can carry it over for years...we also get the same amount of sick time off as well and it carrys over...in a few more years I'll start getting 5 weeks off a year...on my 16th year anniversary...

As far as $$...we are not married, so come tax time we get like $11,000 in returns and we still claim one on our payroll...but the way we split up the kids for dependants, mortgage, daycare, head of household...we make out like bandits at tax time.

Classic

 

[momejay]

I'm a single parent. I work from home for a couple of contractors answering phones. I just coordinate my vacation with slow times & use an answering machine. I check the messages at lunch & when we get back to our hotel & report any emergencies. I help out a local farmer with his veggie & fruit stand for free fresh veggies & fruit. (which I can & use all winter) I also answer questions for a help desk online. I can't tell you how many nights I have spent working online in a hotel in FL after parks have closed while juggling 3 kids into bed.
We don't usually go for 14 days, but it is the "norm" for us to do 7-10 days twice a year. I worry more about school hours missed than work. It is the cash that is hard to come by.

 

[jewjubean]

 

[indimom]

We're blessed with jobs that do not involve paperwork or projects or monthly reports. One of the joys of a simple life. No one is going to miss you, need you, or call you on vacation!
DH works on the floor of a manufacturing plant and has accrued three weeks of vacation over the years. He rarely uses more than one, so this year he'll have to be a bit more frugal with the days he is going to have left after this trip.
I'm self employed and work from home. I don't get vacation pay or sick days. I haven't taken a day off for illness in over 10 years. I've never gone on a school field trip with the kids or run them to appointments. I take vacations once a year or so (usually less than a week over major holidays when work is slow anyway). I spent a long time saving for this trip, including saving for the income I will be losing those two weeks, but I think I've earned it!

 

[Heidijs]

Classic

Why?

 

[andrews_dad]

You can stay off-site on low season for peanuts, literally $20-30 per night at some Main Gate area chains and local motels. Tickets get progressively cheaper as you add days, or if you have an AP. When my wife and I were still dating an in college, we took a 24 day Diz, SeaWorld, & Universal (before Is of Ad was open) trip on the super cheap. Stayed at el cheapo hotels, drove our own car up and back, ate on the cheap via grocery store and places like McD's, etc. Spent entire "free" free days just touring the hotels, window shopping at downtown Diz, etc. Hit DizQuest, Cirque, water parks including Wet and Wild, the works. Great trip.

 

[DizzyStitch]

We are trying our first 14 day trip this year. I am an accountant and I get three weeks plus buy a week. I know coming back will be rough but for those 14 days I will be in heaven! DH works at Home Deport so he just gets to have fun. No make up work for him. I think it's all about planning for the time off. Plus I don't take any other long periods off.

 

[islandmum]

the minimum vacation time we take is 2 weeks, DH gets up to 40 days vacation per year in his industry and I dont work.

We feel like a week isnt enough for us to unwind of justify the travel overseas so normally 2-3 weeks is our usual trip length and we do that twice a year.

 

[frannn]

We do this by going off season, during free dining, and staying at a value resort. I take extra out of our paychecks and use the refund for the trip (yes, I know I'm giving the government a free loan). I buy everything on sale. DH is a NYC police officer, and gets 5 weeks off each year, which he splits up. Since I do have monthly deadlines, I can't be gone that long. DH usually has an extra 1 1/2 weeks off after we return from WDW. I schedule our time at WDW so it covers the surrounding weekends, so there is the least amount of days out of school. It would be nice if we could take two, shorter trips each year, but then we'd have to add in the cost of an additional plane trip. Wish we lived closer!

 

[Disneyadore]

I really don't care how others can afford a vacation for a week or a half year.
That is non of my business and I hope they can take a vacation as long as they like.
Why would you care what others do? As long as they pay there bill's and taxes I hope this is a free country.
BTW we just take a month to vacation and do the things we like.

 

[MelanieC]

We usually go at least 14 nights and last year we were lucky enough to do 18 nights. We stay at values, buy annual passes that are good for two years worth of trips (use in Aug first year and then July the second year). We get military discounts most times, got free dining last year for half our trip.

We aren't rich, but we bought a modest house and didn't buy over our heads. Because we didn't put all our money into a house, it leaves us money for vacations. DH gets lots of time off in the military as a civilian employee and I get more than 3 weeks vacations. For us, we choose quantity of days over the deluxe hotels (we stay at values).

We are lucky that we have jobs that we can take long periods of time off. I find those vacations the most relaxing.

 

[Heidijs]

We're going off peak season at a moderate resort, middle dining plan, non-stop airline tickets, park hoppers, it's costing us $2600 for 7 nights...to me that's cheap...this is the most expensive trip we've taken in all my 35 years...usually we just drive to our destination and do the typical tourist traps and that only costs us a few hotel nights and gas/food. This Disney trip is a splurge to us. I guess I should say $3000 because I have to pay for our checked bags, $70 to board the dog...$65 for a stroller rental...$65 for parking at the airport..

We don't live in a big fancy house or drive fancy cars either...

 

[rgf207]

My wife is a teacher and I work for a Federal Contractor. I get 3 weeks off per year and my wife has the summers. We usually take 10 day vacations to WDW or cruises.