Palm Beach, Fla. – Here’s a question for you: Would you rather have a longer vacation or a shorter work day? The survey says (ding) – longer vacation! More than twice as many workers would choose a longer vacation over a short work day, 65 percent versus 30 percent.
Here’s another revelation from the annual Roper Reports/NOP World travel poll of 1,000 Americans 18 and older – vacations are really, really important to us. Like I needed a survey to tell me that.
That was my first thought this morning. Actually, my first thought was, “Gotta get up and go to work,” and my second thought was, “I need a vacation,” closely followed by “I need a long vacation!”
No leisure fun?
But there were some shockers from the poll: 62 percent of those surveyed said they like to spend their leisure time doing things that are “fun and pleasurable.”
What’s baffling is the 38 percent, more than a third of those polled, who don’t like to have fun in their leisure time.
In 2002, only 52 percent said they wanted to do things that are fun and pleasurable on vacation, which means that in the past four years, 10 percent of us had this epiphany, “Let’s have some fun on our vacation!”
Are we working so hard that there’s no time for fun? A third of those polled blamed work commitments for keeping them from “pursuing leisure activities.”
Maybe we’re not good at leisure. But we’re getting a little better. Sixty-four percent plan to take a vacation in the next six months, up from 58 percent in 2004.
More people would rather own a vacation home (58 percent) than own a “beautifully decorated home” (38 percent). Now you know why I don’t invite anyone over to my not-beautifully-decorated house – I’m saving for a not-beautifully-decorated vacation home.
Here’s another good sign: Longer vacations are making a comeback, with 74 percent of those surveyed saying they are planning a trip lasting a week or more. That’s up 4 points from last year. Only 24 percent will spend less than a week away, down 5 points from 2004.
And there’s no fear of flying or terrorism for many of us. Air travel is up, with 42 percent planning to fly to their destination, up from the 36 percent in 2002. Driving vacations are down to 53 percent, from 61 percent in 2002.
But there’s still work to be done – on having fun vacations. Although an improvement from 33 percent in 2005, 27 percent of workers still say they plan to work while on vacation this year.
Sixteen percent of workers report feeling guilty about missing work while on vacation and 7 percent actually fear that time off could lead to unemployment, according to CareerBuilder.com’s “Vacation 2006” survey, which included more than 2,500 workers.
More than half of workers say they work under a great deal of stress, and 77 percent say they feel burned out on the job. Yikes.
Technology has made workers’ lives even more stressful – cellphones, pagers and laptops have created e-leashes to the office.
Desperate worker bees have resorted to a non-technical solution: They lie.
Accessibility lies
To enjoy uninterrupted time off, some workers lie about accessibility at their vacation destinations. Eleven percent of workers blamed bad wireless connections and other technology issues to avoid work while away from the office.
Men (13 percent) were slightly more apt to lie about finding Internet access or cellphone signals to avoid being contacted by their employers, compared with 10 percent of women.
But the survey also shows men are more likely to work while on vacation. Thirty-
three percent of men expect to work on projects or check in with the office while on vacation, compared with 25 percent of women.
“Work can be demanding, but taking it all with you just brings the stress to a new location,” said Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources at CareerBuilder.com. “Planning ahead, managing expectations and setting boundaries with your co-workers are key to making sure you get the break you need.”
