An average Canadian spends 12 full days getting to and from work (those who take transit probably spend even more time). So if you get 3 weeks of paid vacation, you are really only getting 9 “free” days. To enjoy 3 real weeks, you’d have to get about 5 weeks of time off. The only people I know who get off at least as much time off (sometimes more) are the Canada Post workers, and they have a union.

Since I work at home, I don’t spend any time commuting, but on the other hand I don’t get much vacation time either. I don’t even get the typical 3 weeks. True, most of the time I can just take a day off in the middle of the week, but as we get busier that’s becoming harder to do. And I’m not sure what’s more effective – one day off to recharge, or a full week or two at the seaside. There’s something to be said for completely turning off your brain – and being away from the computer 🙂