Workplace

Americans spend more time in the bathroom each year than on vacation, said Arthur J. Magida in the Baltimore Sun. “Compared with Europeans, Americans are vacation-phobes.” The Italians unplug for an average of 42 days a year. The French get 37 vacation days, the Germans 35. “We Americans average 13 days, a full 50 percent less than our slacker neighbors to the north—those sloths, the Canadians.” When we do take time off, it’s in fits and starts. Only 14 percent of Americans take two weeks or more vacation at a time, according to the Family and Work Institute.

“Now, more than ever, we need to take a break—a real break, not just a long weekend—from our stressed-out lives,” said Alina Tugend in The New York Times. “Vacations are not simply a luxury.” For some, they’re a necessity. Research has shown that men and women who forgo vacation have a significantly higher risk for heart disease and heart attacks. It’s not enough to just get on a plane or lie on a sandy beach. You need to get away both physically and mentally. “Checking your BlackBerry every few hours or rushing to the nearest Internet cafe doesn’t cut it.”

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