If you are considering taking a family vacation, you might want to keep in mind that American families spend an average of 1100 dollars per person to get away from it all. While there certainly are closer to home vacations that cost considerably less than that, there are also international getaways that cost far more.
The point is, no matter how you look at it, any vacation is expensive. For most American families, spending even 500 bucks on a modest weekend getaway is nothing to take lightly. After all, that is more than enough to make an auto payment, and maybe a utility or two. Unfortunately, the United States is the only wealthy nation in the world that does not guarantee full time employees paid vacation time.
Among the 21 wealthiest countries in the world, the United States ranks dead last in the average number of paid vacation days and holidays. Sure, there are a lot of American workers who receive plenty of paid vacation time, but there are so many more that receive none that the average number in the United States is less than one day per year! In France and the U.K. their workers receive an average of 30 and 28 vacation days, respectively; and tied for third place are Norway, Denmark, Finland, and Sweden, with 25 days a piece. Even the stereotypically hardworking Japanese, who come in next to last to the U.S., average 10 paid vacation days annually.
Depending on your perspective, you might take pride in these stats or just find them plain sad. Regardless, this is the reality of American culture and we have no choice but to accept it. Unfortunately, most 99 percenters are working stiffs who do not have the luxury to camp out for weeks on end to picket futilely those lucky one percenters. However, we do have the option of saving money by consulting video travel guides and budget travel videos online.
Although you may not be one of those fortunate Americans who receives two or three weeks of paid vacation a year you can still afford to get away. If you plan wisely and are savvy enough to find the best deals via travel videos online, even the most exotic foreign destinations can be within reach. While we may have to put in a little extra effort, as Americans, we are already used to that, are we not?
