According to a new 2013 vacation deprivation® survey by Expedia®, unused vacation days earned by American workers sadly doubled from 2 days to 4 days. Since 2005, unused vacation for Americans has ranged from a high of 4 to a low of 2 which was achieved last year. The median number for this Expedia research is 3 years of unused vacation since the survey’s inception in 2000. On average, Americans earn roughly 14 days of vacation annually.

In terms of the most common reason for not taking vacation across the globe, the following excuses for unused vacation and vacation deprivation were:

• Coordinating friends and family schedules and collecting unused days for the future were the top reasons
• Lack of money and finances to pay for vacation finished third
• The need to schedule well in advance of vacation time was next on the list

In general, attitudes towards taking vacation were similar across the world, but some interesting findings emerged:

• In terms of unused vacation days, the Japanese lead in this most unfortunate category with 11 days of unused vacation out of 18 days earned
• The United Kingdom, France, Norway, Denmark, Canada and Singapore citizens left virtually no unused vacation time essentially taking exactly what they earned statistically
• 3 Western European countries including Germany, France and Spain along with Brazil peaked at the highest number of earned vacation days at around 30 accrued annually

In terms of the types of vacation activities travelers enjoy, the top vacation thematic choices emerged:

• Beach holiday preferred – 1 in 3 respondents
• Romantic vacation getaway – 1 in 5 respondents
• City holiday – 1 in 8 respondents
• Outdoor fun vacation – 1 in 8 respondents

In another disturbing trend, more than 9 out of 10 travelers in France, India, Mexico and Thailand stay married to their work environment even while on vacation via phone or e-mail. Only about 2 in 3 Americans share this same sense of connectedness with their peers in these countries.

Resort Villas on Vacation – Coincidence or Fact?

Is it any coincidence that travelers in the United Kingdom, France, and Canada left virtually no vacation days unused? We say this in light of the fact that the preference for lodging in these countries is often vacation rentals over hotels by a large margin. Could it be that Americans also haven’t truly discovered vacation rentals as a viable alternative to hotels despite the fact that the overwhelming trend is toward vacation rentals? We certainly believe that is the case.

– Stop sacrificing your valuable vacation time and treat yourself to the luxury and convenience of a vacation home or condo rental.

If you are tired of this unseemly sacrifice of staying in a cramped hotel room for your precious vacation time, give a one of the qualified professional vacation home management companies a call. Resort villas contain all the amenities and luxuries of home which will allow you to get your mind off work and give you the peace of mind you deserve. The OVH 360 team agrees that it’s a silly thing to let your precious vacation time go unused!