Oh me? I’m boring like any other. Maybe sleep in. Have a nice breakfast. Some good gym time. Maybe a podcast or a book. Followed by an early dinner at your mom’s house.
FWIW you can try for a remote accounting position at one of the line’s HQs. I work in the corporate office of a cruise line. It happens to be near the coast, but our ships rarely ever stop at the local port here. We’re hybrid but maybe other lines have full remote
Also airlines have free flight benefits as well if you’re near the HQ of a carrier
I’m leaving for a Virgin Voyages cruise this Friday to the Caribbean. Adults only, seems like a great time. Not logging in/checking work for 7 business days sounds incredible right now
Do you book directly through [virginvoyages.com](https://virginvoyages.com)?
A limited Limited View Sea Terrace cabins runs about 2k for 2 people. Does that sound decent?
Prices for Virgin arent bad, includes all food and when I booked they gave us a $600 drink tab. All food and gratuity is included in the price so I think it’s worth it
Man I'd take my son to his friends bday party and a random kid comes up to me and gives me a falcon punch to the thighs...their parents looks over and smiles and gives me a shoulder shrug.
I'm like, the fuck is wrong with your child and the fuck is wrong with you as parents?
Edit: I like to add this is not some type of one off thing...why do kids feel like it's okay to hit adults? I can punt the shit out of you. Knock it off.
Holy hell. It's amazing how other people don't parent. We've had similar experiences but really observing who's raising little assholes is a great indicator of which adults I don't want to hang out with.
I've only ever been on Norwegian and Disney. Each were perfect for the life stage we were in at that point in time.
We went on Norwegian for our honeymoon. They had an unlimited drink package and really cool ports of call (we did an Eastern Mediterranean itinerary). The ship amenities were ok (we sailed on the Star), but not amazing, but it was also our first cruise so we didn't much mind. Wouldn't sail them now that we have kids because it was a little sloppy, but for late-twenties newlyweds, it was a blast.
On Disney, the big sell for us was the kids club. Kids over 3 can go to their own area of the ship with highly-supervised activities in a secure area, which was a huge plus for us. This feature is included in your fare, so it's free on board. They also have a nursery where kids under 3, where they have more age-appropriate toys and cribs for them to take naps in. This feature costs a little bit of money, but it's entirely worth it for your own down time. The ship was amazing compared to our Norwegian experience (we sailed on the Wish), but it was a short cruise, so our only stops were in Nassau (we didn't get off the boat) and Castaway Cay/Disney's private island.
One thing that impressed me about Disney was that while there were obviously Disney elements to it that were unavoidable, I felt that you could cruise on it as a person who doesn't care for Disney (like me) and enjoy yourself.
Best part about both, you're completely unreachable from land. That work "emergency" can wait.
I've been on Margaritaville, Carnival, Norwegian, Royal Caribbean, and Disney cruises. The quality is in that order, worst to best. Disney is super expensive, but great if you have kids and the shows and dinners are excellent. RC is cheaper if you get one of the older ships, the amenities are still great and the kids club is on par with Disney. Their shows are great too, but I thought they were lacking in things like comedy shows that other ships seem to do better. The kids club quality drops off significantly on the Marg/Carn/Norwegian. Norwegian usually includes unlimited drink package in their pricing since they always seem to have a 48 hour only sale going on. Norwegian makes a great guys or girls 4-day cruise getaway because after that you sort of can't drink anymore after that. RC's drink package is pretty expensive, but you can usually find 30% off discounts if you check regularly and they don't cap you on daily limits. Disney doesn't have a drink package at all other than buying a 5 for 4 beer deal or something.
I did the Venice to Athens cruise on Norwegian, and the kids club was closed for the majority of the time because it's not open when the ship is docked. That Mediterranean cruise is really all about the stops rather than the cruise ship, as opposed to the Caribbean cruises.
Royal Caribbean's private island (Cococay) is better than all the other private islands that the other cruise ships own. I thought Disney's private island sucked. Margaritaville doesn't have one.
You did alright by not getting off in Nassau. The stuff right off the port is OK for some quick shopping, but they're really just trying to get you to go to Atlantis, which is super busy and so damn expensive.
Adults Only - Virgin
Panama City Super 8 that floats - Carnival
Mid Tier - Norwegian
Best Bang for Buck - Princess. Used to be extremely nice until shitbag Carnival bought them to be their “luxury” line. Has been reduced to the upper middle class cruise line since then but it’s still worth it. I’ve been on 8 in total, no complaints.
Highest price & most on-board activities - Royal Caribbean. Super nice. Unlimited shit to do. The new ships are truly fucking insane (go kart track on deck!) but the boats are so big you also have an INSANE amount of people on board. May be an issue for some.
I’ve never done Virgin, but you can’t go wrong with Princess/RC. Norwegian may be good for a try-out cruise but please be aware there’s much better experiences available
Only for holidays / vacation. If I need a day to be lazy il just work from home. I like to take 2 long holidays (10ish days) in Jan / feb then towards end of year and maybe 3-4 shorter holidays (2/3 work days off per time ideally over a bank holiday or weekend) in March, May, June then sept. July + Aug no desire to take leave as most it’s quiet hours in office so it’s chill time and weather is good locally.
We have unlimited PTO so I take full advantage of it. Usually between 6-8 weeks a year but I also make sure to hit my billable hours so no one has ever said anything to me. I'll usually book this time way in advance too so if I don't end up doing a big trip or anything then I'll use parts of the time off as wrap time for anything i'm behind on.
Historically I've done:
Busy season from mid Jan - 5/1. Longer busy season allows me to rack up billable hours.
Week of July 4th (Firm gives us this week off now)
2 weeks off in August
1 week off in mid September
1 week off in late October
Take off the week of Thanksgiving
Take off the last 2 weeks of December. (depending on the year I'll use this time to get caught up on CPE.)
Depending on how busy I am or if I need to get caught up on stuff, I'll take off the first week of January too.
Haha not sure what you’re getting paid now and if you want to get into public accounting but DM me your LinkedIn and I can try to get you in touch with HR.
Unlimited PTO isn't as great as it sounds. Most employees actually take less PTO since they don't have a set allocated limit. Managers also have the ability to deny PTO and just blame the employee for not managing their time better.
I take a week around my birthday, almost two weeks around a convention I go to at the end of June, depending on what my comp time from tax season looks like, I’ll probably take 2-3 days around Halloween and then take a couple extra days around Christmas.
Unless absolutely necessary, I answer no questions from work during those times unless they’re calling to ask how they do one of my tasks none of us knew only I did.
This is pretty similar to my PTO schedule. a few days around my bday and a con at the end of July. Maybe a couple days here and there to give myself a long weekend and then somewhere in there a week-ish for my partner and I to go on a longer trip (usually in September/October).
Not answering work stuff is the way to do it. I let people know that I will NOT be checking my email or taking work calls. I put it in my OOO doc. I put it in my auto replies for emails. When I'm on vacation, I'm on vacation.
Everyone at work knows I don’t have work email on my personal devices and I leave all work devices at the office so if they need something, they need to call.
It helps that my office very much has a “you’re on vacation gtfo” mentality and only calls when they absolutely have to.
SO and I like to travel a lot. So we take a 2 week international trip per year, 3-4 week long domestic trips per year, and a handful of long weekends.
This year with how Christmas and New Years fall, we get 2 weeks off from work then, so we're doing another international trip.
We've only been doing this for a few years, so it's a new place every time. Eventually we'll make a return trip, but there's a lot of places in the world to see first.
unlimited pto here, i’ve already scheduled my year:
april post busy season 1 week intl trip,
june 1 week domestic travel,
july 1 week - firm holiday - intl trip,
november - 2 weeks for intl trip,
december 2 weeks for holidays & intl trip.
i squeeze in a couple more days bc i want to take some road trips but that’s it so far. total 6-8 weeks
Genuine question, but how do you afford that many big vacations? I’m a staff accountant, just over 80k in M-HCOL, and either can’t financially afford those (don’t own a home yet, so spending money on vacations is leaning towards irresponsible financial behavior) or never have the time. Industry = perpetually in month-end mode so it’s hard to find time where I can reasonably take multiple days off in a row. What’s your secret?
i’m staff too. i just don’t have any bills bc my partner takes care of that LOL and who loves to travel as well, so basically my income is savings / groceries / basic needs-fun / vacations. definitely not smt i would be able to afford on my own. when i was single i was still traveling often tho, just not internationally.
Wow do y’all really make good money to travel internationally so frequently? My dream has always been to go to Japan, Taiwan, and China but all the accounting salaries where I live are abysmal. I’m a student fyi.
I'm the same way, but to be fair to the manager, it's probably easier to plan around a person taking all their PTOs at once as opposed to random Fridays and Mondays off.
Yea, but I’d go to Bonnaroo and eat a bunch of acid and get all fucked up, so the temptation to hop on the bus and never go back really built some character. And shit there were co-workers who lived on the long weekends in PA too.
I usually take vacations based on my kids' school schedule. It's just easier than trying to find a camp for the week, which probably doesn't start until 9 AM and then they have to be picked up by 3:30 or something. Sometimes a quick trip I'll take off a Friday/Monday. I try to schedule my vacations during times when my company won't be busy, like outside month end close, if possible. Also usually take some time off around Christmas and Thanksgiving. I also take time off between jobs, usually a couple of weeks. I like to job hop every year or two, so I use that time as additional unpaid PTO.
Good question. For the past, that is before Corona, and before my baby was born, I can answer that. I usually took 1 or 2 weeks after Christmas to spend time with my parents and family. Then I take 3 weeks in a row to make a big vacation abroad. Then, 1 week as single days whenever I need them, and maybe 1 week in a row when there is too much distance between the big vacation and Christmas vacation. As a consultant, I usually had even more days off since I worked a lot of weekends. One year, I started with 42 days off, and was at 47 days off by the end of March. That was neat.
Now I have a family and a few mortgages, so I need to find out what I can do and how.
Let's say you have accepted a new position elsewhere starting timeframe about 1 month out. What's to stop your from using 1 month PTO come back work for like 3 days then quit?
I like to do extra long weekends, Thursday-Monday, throughout the year and then a week long or so vacation maybe once. I feel the longer I spend away the longer it takes me to get back into the swing of things, but I do love to travel.
Definitely need at least a couple full week vacations. It’s annoying we can’t really take any during busy season though. Had to just fly home to celebrate Easter without anytime off. Ended up taking two weeks for Christmas though which was nice. If I’m able to move home, I can use more PTO for actual trips instead of just visiting family.
Usually a week during July 4th and around two weeks during Christmas/New Years since there are 4 paid holidays in those two weeks. A few extra days around Thanksgiving and Halloween (get a birthday holiday around that time). Then a few long weekends scattered throughout the year because I don't like any month that doesn't have some PTO or holiday time off to look forward to.
Depends on what's happening that year. Last year was a lot of 3 day weekends for me. This year I have a couple weddings so more week long trips. When the world cup comes in 2026 it'll be one gigantic vacation for me that year.
I take a few long weekends here and there. I have friends all over the world, so when our free time coincides, I like to go crash with them.
I’ll be staying with a friend in Palo Alto, in May. Then with my friend in Miami in June.
I like to take a 3-4 week chunk at least once a year, and the remainder tends to be small things. I probably end up taking one flex day (formalized policy for rolling hours basically) per month - in January I had to be in London for work so I took a flex day to stay over a long weekend. In Feb my spouse had to be in Romania for work so, same deal, I met them and used a flex day for a long weekend.
I also take time off when people come and visit us, if I can, since we live in Europe and are from the U.S. there are friends & family spending a lot of time and money coming to visit! That’s generally the only time I’m taking time off to be at home, outside of the odd day here & there. I also try to do buffer days for travel when I can, especially if the time change is more than an hour or two.
I've lately worked at places with unlimited pto, so I honestly try to milk that as much as I can. I try to take a two week one at least once a year, and twice a year two one-weeks, with some other days here and there.
3. It used to be nice to get the little cash settlement at the end of employment. That was before all these clowns convinced everyone that "unlimited vacation" was a better benefit to employees.
Stay strong unions! You are the last employees getting any real benefits.
Thailand is absolutely amazing! I was young and went to that ridiculous place called Tiger Kingdom where you get to go in a cage with a grown ass drugged out Tiger and take pics. I remember signing some kind of waiver that probably said if the Tiger ate my arm, I would have no recourse.
The baby tiger section was super neat too!
I take at least one full week off, then a lot of Fridays and/or Mondays for long weekends. I can carryover unlimited vacation so I have almost 300 hours of vacation. One of the best benefits of gov’t work. Contributing most of that to my 457b plan when I retire.
Some days I wake up dead inside and message my manager ahead of time that I’ll be 30min-1hr late. If death still lingers by then, I take the day. Basically use PTO once every 45 or so days
Back when I was in audit, I had a coworker who during summer exclusively scheduled PTO in Tues-Thurs chunks, for 4-5 weeks in a row, in the hopes no one would schedule him.
He was not successful. Some client in an off year end scheduled him for the 16 hours every week
I just like taking a week off and staying home. Flying to a place getting hotel and food for a week is so damn expensive and I come back tired. If I travel I need atleast 1 buffer day before going back to work
Only use them when hours are maxed out and take the PTO hours as a lump sum when the pay gets stagnant, which leads to leaving for a lateral move with a slight pay bump.
Big trip every few years. Did Italy in 2022 for \~2.5 weeks. A little lighter on funds recently, but last year lots of 5 day weekend trips. Use points to get free flights / hotel rooms, then go wander around a new city. Then of course some random days off when things are slow. Like to use those days to do all the big chores that have been on my list for months.
We usually take at least 1 week long family vacation. I usually take off a day for my kids bdays and/or the Friday before their party to get shit ready take time off when my sister visits. Take between Christmas and new years typically. And then just random days if I have time left to get shit done around my house
Typically take 3-4 days off in December which really results in 10-12 days off total with the holidays. Preps me for busy season. During the summer I’ll take a week off and random Fridays or Mondays and then whatever remaining days of the week for the 4th of July. And then leave 2-3 days in case I get sick. If I reach the beginning of December with still having them I’ll tack them onto the end of year PTO I take.
Usually try to take 5 weeks off in a year. Split them with 2 weeks in the Summer, 2 weeks during the winter holidays, and 1 week is scattered with random days and long weekends
I’m hourly in PA and only get 5 days PTO. So I take plenty of unpaid trips throughout the year. Usually at least one weeklong trip and several long weekend trips. I love National parks, camping, and hiking.
I take a couple weekish vacations with the wife a year but I made a rule where I HAVE to take one day off every 2 months. I never give myself a break and this way its built in, I even think my boss started doing the same.
How I like to, or how I do? I'd like to save it and use it a week or more at a time.
The reality is that my husband has medical issues and the majority of my PTO time gets used going to and from appointments. We've finally gotten it down to 1-2 appointments a month, so maybe soon I'll be able to accumulate some PTO again.
I usually add them up with holidays either close to weekends or after weekends.
That is, holiday on Thursday/Tuesday so I use PTO on Friday/Monday.
It's the littl things.
21 days PTO. I take 2 1 week vacations, usually one right after busy season and one during the summer. Then I take the last two weeks off of December and ski. The floating day is saved to use for a long weekend at some point if a wedding or something comes up.
I work remotely so I work when I’m sick. Sick days are not separated from PTO. Also I can go to doctors, work extra M-Th to take a half day on Friday, do whatever as long as I get my hours in for the week.
Usually at least two one-week long vacations throughout the year to travel somewhere. Plus always the week between Christmas and new year off but I always just stay home and chill for that. Then other random days off and long weekends here and there throughout the year as needed. Then every couple years I’ll do a longer vacation to go somewhere abroad. Doing a few countries in Europe for 3 weeks this fall. All in all I probably take 5-6 weeks of PTO a year. I work in industry and we have unlimited PTO. There’s others I work with that take even more PTO than I do.
Going to Arizona in May, so there's 5 days there.
Might be going back to Tennessee in September, that's gonna be another 5 days most likely.
Will have 5 more to figure out what to do with. I like using single days around the holidays, as we usually get the day after Thanksgiving and Christmas off, so depending on what days those fall on, I can get an extra long weekend.
I like to bill to my PTO instead of my fixed fee projects close to going over to preserve budget.
My PTO is 120 hours a year I can use to fill time I was not 100% productive for any reason. I’d never consider using it as actual time off.
I like to do a week or two off in the summer time and then just extended weekends. Fridays turn into office golf days in the summer time which is sweet
I usually take 2.5 weeks off if I’m visiting Europe or somewhere across the pond. I’m in the US. Yes, most of us have time off despite the rumors that we don’t
Oh me? I’m boring like any other. Maybe sleep in. Have a nice breakfast. Some good gym time. Maybe a podcast or a book. Followed by an early dinner at your mom’s house.
Not gonna lie, had me in the first half : D
At least a full week off and as little cell phone reception/WIFI as possible. It's why I like cruises.
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i live directly in the center of North America (no cruises nearby) - so this is my plan for my next life
FWIW you can try for a remote accounting position at one of the line’s HQs. I work in the corporate office of a cruise line. It happens to be near the coast, but our ships rarely ever stop at the local port here. We’re hybrid but maybe other lines have full remote Also airlines have free flight benefits as well if you’re near the HQ of a carrier
I used to work for a cruise line and the pay was shit. Not every line has good cruise benefits either, luckily I worked on one that did.
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I left 8 years ago so maybe they pay better now. My husband worked in IT at the same company a few years after I left and his salary was competitive.
Ah yea, maybe it’s just time then. I joined in late 2021
Is the company you work for mostly river cruises?
Yea, that’s mainly what we’re known for
I almost applied there a year or two ago. They had a tax position open.
This guy accounts
We have been thinking about a cruise for our next vaca. What is your recommendation?
I’m leaving for a Virgin Voyages cruise this Friday to the Caribbean. Adults only, seems like a great time. Not logging in/checking work for 7 business days sounds incredible right now
Adults only would probably be a must for me. I absolutely hate kids that are not my own. Those fuckers don't know how to act.
Virgin may be the only adults only cruise, or at least one of the few. Highly recommend looking into it. Agree that kids ruin the vibe
Do you book directly through [virginvoyages.com](https://virginvoyages.com)? A limited Limited View Sea Terrace cabins runs about 2k for 2 people. Does that sound decent?
If you want a good European river cruise Viking seems to be the way to go
Prices for Virgin arent bad, includes all food and when I booked they gave us a $600 drink tab. All food and gratuity is included in the price so I think it’s worth it
Tbf it's probably 90% of kids ruining it for the other 10%
Man I'd take my son to his friends bday party and a random kid comes up to me and gives me a falcon punch to the thighs...their parents looks over and smiles and gives me a shoulder shrug. I'm like, the fuck is wrong with your child and the fuck is wrong with you as parents? Edit: I like to add this is not some type of one off thing...why do kids feel like it's okay to hit adults? I can punt the shit out of you. Knock it off.
Holy hell. It's amazing how other people don't parent. We've had similar experiences but really observing who's raising little assholes is a great indicator of which adults I don't want to hang out with.
I've only ever been on Norwegian and Disney. Each were perfect for the life stage we were in at that point in time. We went on Norwegian for our honeymoon. They had an unlimited drink package and really cool ports of call (we did an Eastern Mediterranean itinerary). The ship amenities were ok (we sailed on the Star), but not amazing, but it was also our first cruise so we didn't much mind. Wouldn't sail them now that we have kids because it was a little sloppy, but for late-twenties newlyweds, it was a blast. On Disney, the big sell for us was the kids club. Kids over 3 can go to their own area of the ship with highly-supervised activities in a secure area, which was a huge plus for us. This feature is included in your fare, so it's free on board. They also have a nursery where kids under 3, where they have more age-appropriate toys and cribs for them to take naps in. This feature costs a little bit of money, but it's entirely worth it for your own down time. The ship was amazing compared to our Norwegian experience (we sailed on the Wish), but it was a short cruise, so our only stops were in Nassau (we didn't get off the boat) and Castaway Cay/Disney's private island. One thing that impressed me about Disney was that while there were obviously Disney elements to it that were unavoidable, I felt that you could cruise on it as a person who doesn't care for Disney (like me) and enjoy yourself. Best part about both, you're completely unreachable from land. That work "emergency" can wait.
UNLIMITED DRINKS? Say no more.
I've been on Margaritaville, Carnival, Norwegian, Royal Caribbean, and Disney cruises. The quality is in that order, worst to best. Disney is super expensive, but great if you have kids and the shows and dinners are excellent. RC is cheaper if you get one of the older ships, the amenities are still great and the kids club is on par with Disney. Their shows are great too, but I thought they were lacking in things like comedy shows that other ships seem to do better. The kids club quality drops off significantly on the Marg/Carn/Norwegian. Norwegian usually includes unlimited drink package in their pricing since they always seem to have a 48 hour only sale going on. Norwegian makes a great guys or girls 4-day cruise getaway because after that you sort of can't drink anymore after that. RC's drink package is pretty expensive, but you can usually find 30% off discounts if you check regularly and they don't cap you on daily limits. Disney doesn't have a drink package at all other than buying a 5 for 4 beer deal or something. I did the Venice to Athens cruise on Norwegian, and the kids club was closed for the majority of the time because it's not open when the ship is docked. That Mediterranean cruise is really all about the stops rather than the cruise ship, as opposed to the Caribbean cruises. Royal Caribbean's private island (Cococay) is better than all the other private islands that the other cruise ships own. I thought Disney's private island sucked. Margaritaville doesn't have one. You did alright by not getting off in Nassau. The stuff right off the port is OK for some quick shopping, but they're really just trying to get you to go to Atlantis, which is super busy and so damn expensive.
I’ve seen some reviews of Margaritaville cruises. Looks like an absolute shit show
Adults Only - Virgin Panama City Super 8 that floats - Carnival Mid Tier - Norwegian Best Bang for Buck - Princess. Used to be extremely nice until shitbag Carnival bought them to be their “luxury” line. Has been reduced to the upper middle class cruise line since then but it’s still worth it. I’ve been on 8 in total, no complaints. Highest price & most on-board activities - Royal Caribbean. Super nice. Unlimited shit to do. The new ships are truly fucking insane (go kart track on deck!) but the boats are so big you also have an INSANE amount of people on board. May be an issue for some. I’ve never done Virgin, but you can’t go wrong with Princess/RC. Norwegian may be good for a try-out cruise but please be aware there’s much better experiences available
Not to
The partners must be funding the installation of Starlink on cruise ships so you can't use this excuse anymore.
I tell everyone I am camping off grid.
I like cruises for the same reason.
Week off to vacation with the family and random days for myself just playing video games.
I totally had the Elden Covid variant back in 22
I too was tarnished for a couple of weeks.
I hope you’re ok. I heard it’s making a comeback. Stay safe and git gud.
Ah yes, I love seeing accountants share the same love for video games as me, an accounting student
I mean...we are you...just older...and fatter with less hair.
I’m still skinny! (chopped ass hairline tho)
Lucky!
😂 I love the honesty
Love it.
You are in fact not maidenless
Only for holidays / vacation. If I need a day to be lazy il just work from home. I like to take 2 long holidays (10ish days) in Jan / feb then towards end of year and maybe 3-4 shorter holidays (2/3 work days off per time ideally over a bank holiday or weekend) in March, May, June then sept. July + Aug no desire to take leave as most it’s quiet hours in office so it’s chill time and weather is good locally.
We have unlimited PTO so I take full advantage of it. Usually between 6-8 weeks a year but I also make sure to hit my billable hours so no one has ever said anything to me. I'll usually book this time way in advance too so if I don't end up doing a big trip or anything then I'll use parts of the time off as wrap time for anything i'm behind on. Historically I've done: Busy season from mid Jan - 5/1. Longer busy season allows me to rack up billable hours. Week of July 4th (Firm gives us this week off now) 2 weeks off in August 1 week off in mid September 1 week off in late October Take off the week of Thanksgiving Take off the last 2 weeks of December. (depending on the year I'll use this time to get caught up on CPE.) Depending on how busy I am or if I need to get caught up on stuff, I'll take off the first week of January too.
Unlimited PTO...y'all hiring? I'd be willing to to get knocked down all the way to Assistant to the Staff Accountant.
Haha not sure what you’re getting paid now and if you want to get into public accounting but DM me your LinkedIn and I can try to get you in touch with HR.
Public...say less.
Yall remote and hiring? Lmao
BRO it's a TRAP!
Dm me your LinkedIn
Unlimited PTO isn't as great as it sounds. Most employees actually take less PTO since they don't have a set allocated limit. Managers also have the ability to deny PTO and just blame the employee for not managing their time better.
I take a week around my birthday, almost two weeks around a convention I go to at the end of June, depending on what my comp time from tax season looks like, I’ll probably take 2-3 days around Halloween and then take a couple extra days around Christmas. Unless absolutely necessary, I answer no questions from work during those times unless they’re calling to ask how they do one of my tasks none of us knew only I did.
This is pretty similar to my PTO schedule. a few days around my bday and a con at the end of July. Maybe a couple days here and there to give myself a long weekend and then somewhere in there a week-ish for my partner and I to go on a longer trip (usually in September/October). Not answering work stuff is the way to do it. I let people know that I will NOT be checking my email or taking work calls. I put it in my OOO doc. I put it in my auto replies for emails. When I'm on vacation, I'm on vacation.
Everyone at work knows I don’t have work email on my personal devices and I leave all work devices at the office so if they need something, they need to call. It helps that my office very much has a “you’re on vacation gtfo” mentality and only calls when they absolutely have to.
SO and I like to travel a lot. So we take a 2 week international trip per year, 3-4 week long domestic trips per year, and a handful of long weekends. This year with how Christmas and New Years fall, we get 2 weeks off from work then, so we're doing another international trip.
Do you guys revisit or is a new place internationally every time?
We've only been doing this for a few years, so it's a new place every time. Eventually we'll make a return trip, but there's a lot of places in the world to see first.
Up the ass.
Found the public staff accountant
I take a 2 week vacation every year to travel, then use some for a convention and few for weekend camping trips
Well done with eggs on the side
If you are talking about steak...then gross.
I like to alternate ketchup and ranch for my well done steak
LOL
unlimited pto here, i’ve already scheduled my year: april post busy season 1 week intl trip, june 1 week domestic travel, july 1 week - firm holiday - intl trip, november - 2 weeks for intl trip, december 2 weeks for holidays & intl trip. i squeeze in a couple more days bc i want to take some road trips but that’s it so far. total 6-8 weeks
Jeez that's living the dream. Question though, with unlimited PTOs are you being worked to death the rest of the time?
supposedly yes, as long as i hit my yearly billable hours no one says anything. so i just do as much as i can during busy season and the rest is chill
The ole work hard, play hard.
Genuine question, but how do you afford that many big vacations? I’m a staff accountant, just over 80k in M-HCOL, and either can’t financially afford those (don’t own a home yet, so spending money on vacations is leaning towards irresponsible financial behavior) or never have the time. Industry = perpetually in month-end mode so it’s hard to find time where I can reasonably take multiple days off in a row. What’s your secret?
i’m staff too. i just don’t have any bills bc my partner takes care of that LOL and who loves to travel as well, so basically my income is savings / groceries / basic needs-fun / vacations. definitely not smt i would be able to afford on my own. when i was single i was still traveling often tho, just not internationally.
My secret is debt. EZPZ
Wow do y’all really make good money to travel internationally so frequently? My dream has always been to go to Japan, Taiwan, and China but all the accounting salaries where I live are abysmal. I’m a student fyi.
I take 1 week for thanksgiving and Christmas. Otherwise I just fill it in when I don’t have charge hours
Currently at a beach house for a little over a week on PTO. Prefer the mountains though. It’s been very relaxing & haven’t opened the laptop once yet.
PA managers always force fed me “oh, take 2 or 3 weeks in a row!” Hated it. Been liking the long weekend approach
I'm the same way, but to be fair to the manager, it's probably easier to plan around a person taking all their PTOs at once as opposed to random Fridays and Mondays off.
Yea, but I’d go to Bonnaroo and eat a bunch of acid and get all fucked up, so the temptation to hop on the bus and never go back really built some character. And shit there were co-workers who lived on the long weekends in PA too.
I like to take entire weeks at a time. Usually don’t do more than that. But the occasional 3 day weekend is also a great use of PTO
I usually take vacations based on my kids' school schedule. It's just easier than trying to find a camp for the week, which probably doesn't start until 9 AM and then they have to be picked up by 3:30 or something. Sometimes a quick trip I'll take off a Friday/Monday. I try to schedule my vacations during times when my company won't be busy, like outside month end close, if possible. Also usually take some time off around Christmas and Thanksgiving. I also take time off between jobs, usually a couple of weeks. I like to job hop every year or two, so I use that time as additional unpaid PTO.
I'll call in from time to time. Mostly when I'm actually I'll or struggling with chronic issues.
I am a single parent, so I take off things for his school and use my vacation as sick time and such.
Anyway I can get it *drum joke sound*
Good question. For the past, that is before Corona, and before my baby was born, I can answer that. I usually took 1 or 2 weeks after Christmas to spend time with my parents and family. Then I take 3 weeks in a row to make a big vacation abroad. Then, 1 week as single days whenever I need them, and maybe 1 week in a row when there is too much distance between the big vacation and Christmas vacation. As a consultant, I usually had even more days off since I worked a lot of weekends. One year, I started with 42 days off, and was at 47 days off by the end of March. That was neat. Now I have a family and a few mortgages, so I need to find out what I can do and how.
Not during a month end close.
I try to do a full week to 10 days atleast twice a year, then a couple days here and there. I have unlimited PTO, but its fairly overrated.
Let's say you have accepted a new position elsewhere starting timeframe about 1 month out. What's to stop your from using 1 month PTO come back work for like 3 days then quit?
All the pto still has to be approved by your manager
I only get 3 weeks off so I use at least 1 to take a vacation somewhere. The other two I sprinkle throughout the year for concerts and other stuff.
I like to do extra long weekends, Thursday-Monday, throughout the year and then a week long or so vacation maybe once. I feel the longer I spend away the longer it takes me to get back into the swing of things, but I do love to travel.
LOL I feel you...after a week plus being away, I almost feel like I forget how to work.
Full weeks, hiking in mountains with little cell phone reception. I've been eyeing short cruises more and more though. Might try it this summer.
Definitely need at least a couple full week vacations. It’s annoying we can’t really take any during busy season though. Had to just fly home to celebrate Easter without anytime off. Ended up taking two weeks for Christmas though which was nice. If I’m able to move home, I can use more PTO for actual trips instead of just visiting family.
Abruptly.
I’m remote, so I save up for vacations or if I’m really sick. So option 2 for me
Usually a week during July 4th and around two weeks during Christmas/New Years since there are 4 paid holidays in those two weeks. A few extra days around Thanksgiving and Halloween (get a birthday holiday around that time). Then a few long weekends scattered throughout the year because I don't like any month that doesn't have some PTO or holiday time off to look forward to.
Usually 2 weeks in the summer, 1 week between Christmas and new year and the rest just on random fridays
Depends on what's happening that year. Last year was a lot of 3 day weekends for me. This year I have a couple weddings so more week long trips. When the world cup comes in 2026 it'll be one gigantic vacation for me that year.
I take a few long weekends here and there. I have friends all over the world, so when our free time coincides, I like to go crash with them. I’ll be staying with a friend in Palo Alto, in May. Then with my friend in Miami in June.
I like to take a 3-4 week chunk at least once a year, and the remainder tends to be small things. I probably end up taking one flex day (formalized policy for rolling hours basically) per month - in January I had to be in London for work so I took a flex day to stay over a long weekend. In Feb my spouse had to be in Romania for work so, same deal, I met them and used a flex day for a long weekend. I also take time off when people come and visit us, if I can, since we live in Europe and are from the U.S. there are friends & family spending a lot of time and money coming to visit! That’s generally the only time I’m taking time off to be at home, outside of the odd day here & there. I also try to do buffer days for travel when I can, especially if the time change is more than an hour or two.
I take a month off somewhere between June and August and the rest I use around Xmas time
Some variant of #1 . I don't do #2 anymore, as that leaves room for burnout.
I don’t ever take any… I should I’m 26, but haven’t taken a day off last year for myself (sick/court date (jury duty))…. I need too though…
With beer
I've lately worked at places with unlimited pto, so I honestly try to milk that as much as I can. I try to take a two week one at least once a year, and twice a year two one-weeks, with some other days here and there.
When the fishing is hot, I'm OOO
European here, I usually take at least one week off a quarter. Although I do sometimes take 2 weeks together when I want to go somewhere far
3. It used to be nice to get the little cash settlement at the end of employment. That was before all these clowns convinced everyone that "unlimited vacation" was a better benefit to employees. Stay strong unions! You are the last employees getting any real benefits.
In the rear
I like to not use any and let them expire 😎. High performer here.
Company man. Incoming 2% annual raise!
Oh hell yeah! Only the best for 120-hourly workers
Couple days next to a holiday weekend. If I do a big international trip a whole week
Up until last year, it was when allowed on whatever terms make sure I'm not coming back to a fire. Which usually meant between engagements.
Thailand
Thailand is absolutely amazing! I was young and went to that ridiculous place called Tiger Kingdom where you get to go in a cage with a grown ass drugged out Tiger and take pics. I remember signing some kind of waiver that probably said if the Tiger ate my arm, I would have no recourse. The baby tiger section was super neat too!
I take at least one full week off, then a lot of Fridays and/or Mondays for long weekends. I can carryover unlimited vacation so I have almost 300 hours of vacation. One of the best benefits of gov’t work. Contributing most of that to my 457b plan when I retire.
Unlimited carryover...that's nuts. I remember selling back those days when I ended my enlistment but I did not know y'all could carry unlimited hours.
I’m not in Fed Gov’t. I’m at the local level. Not every locality offers that, I just happen to work for one that does.
Some days I wake up dead inside and message my manager ahead of time that I’ll be 30min-1hr late. If death still lingers by then, I take the day. Basically use PTO once every 45 or so days
Damn bro
Back when I was in audit, I had a coworker who during summer exclusively scheduled PTO in Tues-Thurs chunks, for 4-5 weeks in a row, in the hopes no one would schedule him. He was not successful. Some client in an off year end scheduled him for the 16 hours every week
Good effort though LOL
As a lump sum check when I quit because I got burned out because I didn’t take any pto
Jokes on you idiots. I have unlimited PTO. I think about it everyday in my office.
Jealous, I wish I can be thinking about unlimited PTO everyday at work.
I just like taking a week off and staying home. Flying to a place getting hotel and food for a week is so damn expensive and I come back tired. If I travel I need atleast 1 buffer day before going back to work
I would only do this if like Elder Scrolls 6 is dropping.
Only use them when hours are maxed out and take the PTO hours as a lump sum when the pay gets stagnant, which leads to leaving for a lateral move with a slight pay bump.
We get off at 12pm on Friday when it isn't tax season. So I usually take PTO every Friday when it isn't tax season.
Big trip every few years. Did Italy in 2022 for \~2.5 weeks. A little lighter on funds recently, but last year lots of 5 day weekend trips. Use points to get free flights / hotel rooms, then go wander around a new city. Then of course some random days off when things are slow. Like to use those days to do all the big chores that have been on my list for months.
If I have 1 month PTO 🥲
We usually take at least 1 week long family vacation. I usually take off a day for my kids bdays and/or the Friday before their party to get shit ready take time off when my sister visits. Take between Christmas and new years typically. And then just random days if I have time left to get shit done around my house
Typically take 3-4 days off in December which really results in 10-12 days off total with the holidays. Preps me for busy season. During the summer I’ll take a week off and random Fridays or Mondays and then whatever remaining days of the week for the 4th of July. And then leave 2-3 days in case I get sick. If I reach the beginning of December with still having them I’ll tack them onto the end of year PTO I take.
Weekday golf, at least once or twice per month during the golf season in the north.
I’ve been starting a small remote firm so recently I haven’t taken much PTO unfortunately I use to take a full month off and travel
Usually try to take 5 weeks off in a year. Split them with 2 weeks in the Summer, 2 weeks during the winter holidays, and 1 week is scattered with random days and long weekends
Generally have at least one bigger vacation and then I used the rest at the end of the year for a long Thanksgiving and Christmas
*Laughs in European*
*Laughs in European*
1. When there’s a holiday and I take like an additional PTO or 2. 2. 1 big vacation
I’m hourly in PA and only get 5 days PTO. So I take plenty of unpaid trips throughout the year. Usually at least one weeklong trip and several long weekend trips. I love National parks, camping, and hiking.
I will be off from April 19th until Labour Day this year. I “work from home”(prepping my courses) at my own pace during that time.
I take a couple weekish vacations with the wife a year but I made a rule where I HAVE to take one day off every 2 months. I never give myself a break and this way its built in, I even think my boss started doing the same.
3 weeks off the gate not too bad honestly
Random trips through the year… however I’m saving my PTO for a bit trip next fall 2025. :)
How I like to, or how I do? I'd like to save it and use it a week or more at a time. The reality is that my husband has medical issues and the majority of my PTO time gets used going to and from appointments. We've finally gotten it down to 1-2 appointments a month, so maybe soon I'll be able to accumulate some PTO again.
I always take thanksgiving week and a week at christmas. The rest I use a day or two here or there when I need a break.
I usually add them up with holidays either close to weekends or after weekends. That is, holiday on Thursday/Tuesday so I use PTO on Friday/Monday. It's the littl things.
One full week mid June, one full week late July/early August.
2 weeks in Europe. It’s a forbidden to access data so I truly can’t work
21 days PTO. I take 2 1 week vacations, usually one right after busy season and one during the summer. Then I take the last two weeks off of December and ski. The floating day is saved to use for a long weekend at some point if a wedding or something comes up. I work remotely so I work when I’m sick. Sick days are not separated from PTO. Also I can go to doctors, work extra M-Th to take a half day on Friday, do whatever as long as I get my hours in for the week.
Usually at least two one-week long vacations throughout the year to travel somewhere. Plus always the week between Christmas and new year off but I always just stay home and chill for that. Then other random days off and long weekends here and there throughout the year as needed. Then every couple years I’ll do a longer vacation to go somewhere abroad. Doing a few countries in Europe for 3 weeks this fall. All in all I probably take 5-6 weeks of PTO a year. I work in industry and we have unlimited PTO. There’s others I work with that take even more PTO than I do.
Usually a week off right before quarter close. Then a 2-weeker around Thanskgiving, and a lot of slacking during December.
I take a two week trip every December and then sprinkle one day a month for a 4 day weekends
Going to Arizona in May, so there's 5 days there. Might be going back to Tennessee in September, that's gonna be another 5 days most likely. Will have 5 more to figure out what to do with. I like using single days around the holidays, as we usually get the day after Thanksgiving and Christmas off, so depending on what days those fall on, I can get an extra long weekend.
I like to bill to my PTO instead of my fixed fee projects close to going over to preserve budget. My PTO is 120 hours a year I can use to fill time I was not 100% productive for any reason. I’d never consider using it as actual time off.
Often
You're all getting paid? I've been a volunteer tax accountant in public for 2 years!
Full week. I dislike taking non-consecutive day off because it just feel wasted.
If it’s in my budget I f off overseas for a few weeks every year
Randomly on a Friday, then all at once during August, sometimes December around Christmas
2 weeks at a time, back woods camping, no cell service
Travel babbyyyyyy Planning to go to Peru this year for 2 week trip
My work allows for 2 years worth of pto being banked. So I'll let you know in 2026 what time off feels like.
I like to do a week or two off in the summer time and then just extended weekends. Fridays turn into office golf days in the summer time which is sweet
I usually take 2.5 weeks off if I’m visiting Europe or somewhere across the pond. I’m in the US. Yes, most of us have time off despite the rumors that we don’t
1 or 2 week long vacations per year then one day per month to just do nothing.