If you are a busy professional, how often do you go on holiday?

[Peor]

Both DP and I work in the city. Long long hours and often stressful. We feel frazzled after around 10 weeks of work. So we try and take a week somewhere sunny every 12-14 weeks or so.

This seems pretty normal for city workers/busy professionals but my mum thinks it’s madness.

We had a week in the West Indies in October, a week in Southern Africa for New Years and then at Easter we’ll hop back to the West Indies.

How often do you go away?

It doesn't sound as though you have kids. That makes a BIG difference for us. Down to once a year now!

Yep thats how it was for me when I worked in London and didn't have kids, totally normal. I expect it will get back to that when kids are older and going on holiday is truly relaxing.

Why does your mum think it’s madness?

We are limited by my DH 35 days holiday, but go away throughout the year. It’s our biggest family expense.
We carbon offset and have planted trees, always travel long haul on a B Certified company, but realise it’s not sustainable.

If you have good savings, plus a pension, then it seems sensible to me!

It's different since having kids (holidays are less relaxing for one thing!), but when DH and I were both working long hours in the city we didn't go away as often as this. But when we did go away, it would probably be for longer. Tbh if you and DP are happy it doesn't matter what your mum thinks.

Once or twice a year, but we also have a place in the country and try to get there regularly for a break (as well as weekends when we can). Can't remember the last holiday when DH didn't end up working though 😔

When my husband was also a busy professional we never, ever left it longer than 12 weeks before having a holiday. He definitely needed that break.... you could always tell, because he pretty much stopped speaking in the week or two prior to a holiday. If you have a stressful job, it's so important to get that relaxation time.

Both work in banking, no DCs.

We generally do a week away in Feb, been limited in recent years due to using funds for work on the house but ideally something like a cruise or a week somewhere warm, happily long haul.

We love big adventures so generally save leave to do a big 18-21 day trip in September/October. Last year was a cruise from Dubai, round India and over to Singapore, have done road trips in Canada and this year will be a multi stop trip in Thailand.

Husband’s friend’s/family scattered around the UK so will also usually take off a week in the summer, before the school holidays to travel around a visit a few people, quite often with a few days in a spa hotel for us along the way!

And yes, my parents think it’s nuts (I was brought up camping!) but my Nan and Grandad travelled in their retirement before he died unexpectedly and she’s always told me “if you can do it, do it, you never know what might happen”!

Last year was probably every 8 weeks or so, mostly 4/5 nights over a weekend to maximise annual leave. We went away in November and for various reasons our first holiday is early May and I'm really frazzled now and ready for it!! Holidays will then be in May, June, July and October due to working round my new team this year. We both work 40+ hours per week and prioritise Holidays.

I take a week or two every 3 months, no kids, so I get to choose when. Pre pandemic, two of those would have been abroad, one somewhere in the UK, and one at home. It's been less systematic since then!

It’s the only way those sorts of jobs are sustainable. So often the people who throw it all in because they are burnt out are the people who never used their full quota of annual leave.

As PP have said, our pattern is different now with school aged children. Two or three week break at Christmas and a two week break in the summer. Ideally shorter breaks at Easter and October half term depending on how much annual leave we have.

We have kids and go away a similar amount but not often long haul now. So this year we went abroad for Feb half term and have May and August booked. We also have three UK breaks booked for Easter and in the summer hols. We’ll probably go somewhere in October too. That’s pretty normal for us and the only good thing about the city jobs is it pays for it all.

This year, one week in early July abroad, a few days at Easter, usually visiting in the UK and 10 days at home at Christmas.

With a school age ds, I have to fit around exams, homework, and anything else he has planned.

We did that before kids, but we were expats so had to factor in families. Long family break at Christmas, skiing or hiking in feb to get outside (and recover from family), normally a city trip around the public holidays in April, then active holidays in June and September and another city trip end October, with weekends back to the uk. We used to do work trips to do would bolt on a few days which normally covered the city trips so they weren't actually very expensive.

Exactly the same as you - every 3 months and twice in summer.

3/4 times a year. But one of those will be uk

No kids - twice a year in the UK - haven’t been abroad since 1997! Love to travel but money tight!

We go somewhere every few months. But live outside uk so travel within Central Europe is pretty easy ( and cheap) by car. Often just a few nights in a different ciry or at the coast

So far this year I've got 5 weekends / long weekends away booked with different groups of friends - 2 UK cities, 1 UK rural break and 2 European cities, and 1 week in the sun, that definitely won't be the end of it and still haven't booked anything with my BF. Family all live a distance away so that's a weekend at least to visit them. I have a hobby that's often incorporated into trips too.
(no kids, don't live with BF)

DH and I both work in the City in leadership roles. We have a primary school aged DC
and we aim to go away every 3 months and spend a lot of our income on holidays- although no business class flights or 5 star hotels.

we normally do a 2-3 week trip over Easter holidays to both meet the 2 week annual leave stint to be checked for fraud, a week in the summer, at least a week in London Oct half term and then if we can a week over nye/early Jan depending on how school holidays fall. Next year we will add in a
feb half term trip for some Sun.

DH can’t take time off in the summer. We each get 35 days annual leave a year.

I wouldn’t cope without regular breaks. We also like the holiday to be a break- self catering in a large group isn’t my idea of a holiday at all. The summer holiday with friends who work in the same type of job is a
nice all inc with a kids club so we get a bit if
down time (the DC love kids clubs).

I don't think that's that unusual too. We generally preferred slightly less frequent but longer breaks as I found it harder to switch off if just away for a week but I don't think a holiday every 3 months or so is that excessive. Life has changed for us now with school holidays...

2 or 3 times a year, we have an 8yr old so stuck to school holidays.
A friend of mine goes away a lot, 1 or 2 longer breaks then a fair few long weekend to European cities.

In previous role, pretty much every 12 weeks until DC was school age/the pandemic shut everything down. I’d have burnt out without the breaks.
Current role (much less stressful) - I still take some time off during every school break but we only go abroad once a year, rest of the breaks will either be UK based or doing day trips/at home - we moved to the type of property that people book for a long weekend away in the countryside so don’t feel the need to get away like I did in our old house. I also feel like everything is so much more expensive that I can’t book the standard of accommodation I want without spending a fortune!

We do the same, last year we had six holidays. But, our children aren’t at school yet, so we can go out of school holidays and don’t have to worry about the impact on our holiday allowance. I’m sure it will be very different next year when we have to adhere to school holidays.