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Comment by llamataboot | Hacker News Reader

I like travel. I like traveling outside of the US. It undoubtedly does all sort of great things. But first you have to realize, that paid vacation isn't even guaranteed in the US, at least 1/4 of all workers get no paid vacation, and of the ones that do the likelihood that it is enough time to get to another country and back is pretty slim.

Edit: typos

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I don't see this as a criticism of Rick Steves / traveling — this highlights the need for reforms in the American labor system. People do better work when they vacation, the hard part from an institutional perspective is compensating for the absence of critical contributors. But it can be done.

Was able to get 6 nights in Japan on 4 vacation days by leveraging Thanksgiving. Told relatives I would miss Thanksgiving but attend Christmas, everyone thought that made sense. For those who celebrate and enjoy Christmas, I don't recommend missing Christmas for solo travel overseas, did that once and felt very isolated. People in the place I was visiting were celebrating their own Christmases and people I knew back home were celebrating Christmas and I wasn't there. With Thanksgiving it's likely not a holiday in the country you're visiting so everything is open and for me at least, I don't really care about missing Thanksgiving, a better version happens 1 month later.

In a similar vein, I've taken to traveling over the July 4th holiday every year now. For many people, it can be a very long weekend, or is easy to turn into an entire week+ trip. It's not really celebrated outside the US (except for maybe a bar or two, go get one drink with the expats and have fun for an hour), and I don't find the celebrations back at home to be particularly fun anymore. Plus, with the way it falls at the edge of a month/quarter/fiscal year for some, it's likely a slow time at work anyways. This year with it falling on a Thursday, you could probably take off 6/29 to 7/7 and barely miss any work.

I spent the Christmas holiday solo split between Zurich/Dublin/Amsterdam a few years ago and i can not agree more. A lot of shops were closed, i knew nobody, and felt very isolated as a result. I spent a lot of time on the phone with friends back home. The open air Christmas markets in Zurich were wonderful, though!

>Was able to get 6 nights in Japan ... For those who celebrate and enjoy Christmas, I don't recommend missing Christmas for solo travel overseas, did that once and felt very isolated. People in the place I was visiting were celebrating their own Christmases

I'm pretty sure Japan doesn't celebrate Christmas. So if you don't care about celebrating it, or would really like to just get away from all the Xmas hoopla (esp. if you're single; Christmas is a terrible time for single people, and suicide rates go way up at that time of year), Japan seems like a great place to go. Stay away from the European countries though.

Japan apparently celebrates Christmas with KFC [0].

[0] https://www.businessinsider.com/how-kfc-became-a-christmas-t...

I prefer traveling over holidays, although I not alone since I'm with my wife. We have often seen places in their much more natural state. Plus, there is a whole host of other things to do since it's typically winter. Ice skating in Budapest and then going to a steam bath was a great experience.

http://budapestchristmas.com/budapest-outdoor-ice-rink-in-th...

Yeah and then you have to travel in November, which sucks. And it's only one week.

Heh, I like Paris in November/December. No tourists. Their poor approach to HVAC is a non-issue. And I can deal with the week of overcast because I have clear skies before I leave and after I return to N. America.

For many people, 1 of the 2 weeks you get allotted is going to be spent with family in some capacity, which really gives most people 1 week each year to decide what to do for a vacation. 1 week to travel to europe and back is a tough sell.

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