As I go through the list of all of the things I have to do today I am extremely overwhelmed. I am just beginning to scratch the surface of what the rest of this semester will look like and I am not even a business student! It is starting to get cold outside and I can not help but allow my mind to skip ahead toward finals week, imagining the sense of entrapment I am going to feel. The first thing I think of after picturing all of the future hardships that come along with state college in the wintertime, is a vacation. Who would not want to be whisked away on a tropical getaway after all of this? I am already beginning to hear the whispers, mumbles, and sighs of people saying; “I need a vacation” . A huge chunk of sophomores involved in greek life are in the midst of finalizing their spring break trips to exotic places such as Miami, Puerto Rico, and the most infamous of all Puerto Vallarta. If you are not a sophomore then maybe you are beginning to prepare for your semester abroad: France, Spain, Italia? Lastly, if you are not participating in either of these exciting events, than maybe you are looking forward to snuggling up over winter break without an academic care in the world. Why is it that we long for vacations, or temporary breaks from our realities? Why do we feel that we absolutely need them? This is because we do. Studies have proven that vacations can increase our health, creativity, job performance, happiness, and overall well being.

America the, “no vacation- nation” or the land of “the vanishing vacation”, is becoming infamous for its lack of legally sanctioned vacation time and overworked employees. The typical American worker gets a mere two to three weeks off out of an entire year, much less than the norm for other countries. Even with an average two to three weeks off, none of those weeks are required by the law. Joe Robinson, writer for National Geographic, says that, “Australians get four weeks off by law, Europeans four or five weeks… Six weeks is norm in Holland, seven is not a bulletin in Sweden and Germany. Even the Japanese have two weeks. We have zero.” Aside from the government’s policies, our nations employees are entirely workaholics. They are known to create their own unhealthy schedules and working habits based off of the schema that has been put into place by our society regarding “laziness”. A Pawloski of CNN says that on average of only 57% of American workers utilize the time off that they are entitled to. Compare that to 89% of workers in France and this becomes a concerning matter. Many Americans are fearful to be absent because of the potential for losing their job, having a changed life realization, or coming off as careless. What they are failing to realize is that there is room for relaxation even in a competitive and demanding economy. John de Graaf, the national coordinator for Take Back Your Time, a group that researches the effects of overwork, noted that the US came in fourth in the world economic forum’s 2010-2011 ranking, while Sweden came in second- a country that legally requires their workers to take a minimum of five weeks off.

Why does vacation matter in the first place, you might ask. To put it into perspective it is basically the same thing as asking why being happy and healthy is important. Researchers in the Netherlands sought out to measure the impact of vacation on overall happiness. They studied over 1,530 dutch adults of whom took time off during a 32 week study period. The results showed that the happiness level was extremely high, the highest, during the act of planning the trip. The happiness boost that came as a result of anticipating the event lasted for eight whole weeks. Happiness is just one of the many forms of physiological health that vacations can bring. Often times when people go on vacation they unintentionally have life epiphanies, they stir up the darkness within. It is very easy to settle into a routine and never question it or look back, failing to step out of you comfort zone. Simply stepping out of your normal schedule can highlight your current lifestyle by allowing you to have a better understanding of your life calling. Adam Galinsky, professor at NorthWestern, compares this process to a time when a friend offers advice. He says, “his or her suggestions are often more creative than what you would have decided for yourself — scientific studies have confirmed this. That’s because your friend has psychological distance from the situation at hand. When you’re in the middle of a problem, it’s sometimes hard to untangle yourself from it to think about    it clearly.” The personal achievement and joy that could come out of a vacation is amazing. Along with physiological benefits, there are also physical benefits. Robinson says that an annual holiday can cut the risk of heart attack in men by 30 percent and in women by 50 percent. Vacations also have shown to cure burnout, improve self-esteem, reduce ones loneliness and increase self-actualization. Not a bad bargain at all. You get a refreshing break and feel like a healthy new person afterward.

The positive impacts a small vacation can have outweigh any excuses for not taking them. Even if someone is not financially equipped to take a full blown vacation, they can easily take a day at home to relax, or just a short weekend getaway. America needs to be in touch with its workers and become more stricter when it comes to vacation days, the benefits it will have stretch toward not only the individual but society as well.