Vacation length: What's your preference?

mbw1024 · Post by **mbw1024** » Mon May 14, 2007 4:35 pm

I noted this topic a few times today and was just wondering what people prefer to do. Take a week's vacation and repeat several times per year, or stay for a longer period of time but possibly not as often.
We were on STJ for 11 days last year and planning 10 days this year. We are traveling off season so the rental companies are more willing to extend beyond the weekly rentals at that time.

How do you prefer to vacation?

PA Girl · Post by **PA Girl** » Mon May 14, 2007 4:41 pm

Before life got so busy, hubs and I would take off for 4 or 5 nights when ever the mood and cheap airfares grabbed us.

Post-kid, we need a longer vacation period. I almost have him comfortable planning a 10 day trip.

For the upcoming trip, we are going to try to hit STT or STJ a night or two prior to the start of the villa rental.

waterguy · Post by **waterguy** » Mon May 14, 2007 4:44 pm

I would like more longer vacations

RickG · Post by **RickG** » Mon May 14, 2007 4:48 pm

It's hard with the kids to leave them behind for more than a week. I like to do 2 weeks: one with kids, one with friends, one with just my lover. Hmmm, that's 3 weeks.

Add in everything else, I take 6 weeks of vacaton a year. I can do this because I have my own business. But, being gone for 2 weeks in a row is hard on the business.

Cheers, RickG

mbw1024 · Post by **mbw1024** » Mon May 14, 2007 4:48 pm

waterguy wrote:I would like more longer vacations

That's called retirement

I knew someone would say that!

DELETED · Post by **DELETED** » Mon May 14, 2007 5:16 pm

DELETED

flip-flop · Post by **flip-flop** » Mon May 14, 2007 5:39 pm

For STJ, we did a 12 night trip and it was a bit much. Maybe it was because we had the kid in tow, but I prefer 8-10 nights. 7 nights is just not enough, 14 nights is just too many for me. Believe it or not I start to miss home and the dog. So 10 or so is perfect. We'll go for 8 nights in November which is cutting it a little tight but its better than nothing.

With maternity leave putting a hurting on my leave this year, I am still counting myself lucky to get my usual week at the beach locally, week + in Stj and a week of lounging by the pool in late summer. Last year's cancellation helped with the leave balance!

My preference in general is about 10 days in STJ and then another week somewhere we call "cultural" which really just translates to city. You know with museums and such!

patr · Post by **patr** » Mon May 14, 2007 5:41 pm

Gosh MaryBeth, I want long, frequent vacations!

With the long travel days, I just don't think you can count the first and last days. (I must medicate to fly and ferry.

) So those days are a waste.

What we really like to do is 2 weeks plus weekends on both ends, starting on a Thursday, which can strrrrrreeeetch into 17 or 18 days.

This year is the first time we'll be doing two trips. Early in April we were on island for only nine days, not nearly long enough!! For our November-December trip, we're hoping for 18 days, much more better.

MrsCARolph · Post by **MrsCARolph** » Mon May 14, 2007 5:44 pm

I work part-time for an airline which means free flights just about anywhere. What I've learned to love are those short one or two day vacations. I've seen many cities of the world in one day, and returned to reality the next morning. Plus with my busy schedule, it's rare that I can spend more than a day or two away from work!

For our trip to St. John, however, we managed to book 10 whole days of work-free bliss!

JT · Post by JT » Mon May 14, 2007 7:40 pm

We've done 10 days, 14 days, 21 days, and 14 days on STJ over the last 4 years. Never done 7 days, as that would just frustrate me. After 21 days I was getting pretty darned used to it! We only had to leave because of money and liver reasons, and BT missed her cats. Oh, yeah, the lawn back home was going to be a problem as it was early June. 10days, 21 days, whatever, they all go by quicker then a NY minute to me.

Ron_L · Post by **Ron_L** » Mon May 14, 2007 7:46 pm

According to my daughter (when she was three) I go on a lot of short vacations. I call them business trips

For a real vacation, the length of the stay should be proportional to the travel time. If we're going to New York, for example, we can be there in 90 minutes, so i don't mind a shorter stay. For STJ, where a day is eaten up each way, 10 days sounds about right to me. If we were going to Australia, two weeks might not be enough.

Rob7 · Post by **Rob7** » Mon May 14, 2007 8:03 pm

I have done one, two and three weeks. One week is way to short (5 real days of fun as mentioned above).
Two weeks is OK, and three weeks is great

chicagoans · Post by **chicagoans** » Mon May 14, 2007 8:04 pm

For a place that takes awhile to travel to, I like a 10 day trip (more if I can get it). In between, I love some 5-7 day trips or long weekends for shorter distances. Then some quickies, like one night camping or a night in a downtown hotel. Because we own a seasonal business, we're lucky to get in one long trip over the kids' winter break, then one trip in the summer, and as many shorties as I can manage to talk DH into!

Diana2 · Post by **Diana2** » Mon May 14, 2007 8:10 pm

Longer vacation time is necessary particularly to STJ. The travel days are such long and tough days (three flights for us from Michigan) that one week is definitely not enough.

Years ago we started out with one week and have now inched up to 3 weeks and 2 days for our next trip in June. One year we stayed 4 weeks but that was too much. Three weeks is perfect. We have one week to ourselves and 2 weeks with our daughters, son-in-law and granddaughter (for the first time this year).

NoTanLines · Post by **NoTanLines** » Mon May 14, 2007 9:31 pm

Oh, most definitely 2 weeks.

It sometimes takes me 2 or 3 days just to decompress from life and totally relax.

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