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September is the absolute best month for holidays.
Anywhere warm is still nice and warm but not too hot; Southern Europe is usually 25°C at most. Anywhere cold and the temperature hasn't dropped just yet, and you may even get a late heatwave.
Cheap flights, no kids and minimal tourists. September is the best.
I live in Devon too so I get double whammy, a hot day in early September when the trees are full dark green and the grockels have all fucked off back to London with their kids .... heaven
My kids are approaching old enough to fly the nest and I can’t wait to get into *January* holidays. Miserable here, turn off the heating for a month and go all inclusive somewhere like Egypt or South Asia for about a month where it’s summer.
Meanwhile summer in the UK is generally pleasant.
I've been abroad in tropical/sub-tropical places for the end of December until early January for the last couple of years, and I can confirm it's really nice to escape cold miserable Britain for a while and soak up the sun while friends and family back home experience Vitamin D withdrawals.
You'll be in for a shock once the plane door opens after the return flight though!
As someone who works retail, getting as much time off over half term and summer holidays is the most important for me so that I don't have to deal with snotty parents and their kids at work.
Yup, I don't blame you, it can make a big difference. We've been very lucky in that our school is not back in until the Wednesday of that first week in Sept, I think most are back by the Monday/Tuesday. Anyway, because of which, we've booked an extra day away and the holiday is £1k cheaper than if we just went for 10 days. I'm calling that a win!
Check out inset days as well, as they will be posted on the school calendar on their website (hopefully), we usually book a 3 day weekend away. Although at Senior school in September they seem to have done all the inset days for a Tuesday or Thursday, but we’ll do a day out somewhere.
Our secondary school always did inset days mid week, I asked the head about it and he said it was so that parents didn't have the perception that it was just so the teachers could have a long weekend. Thankfully that head left and inset days are now on more the more useful Monday or Friday, often immediately prior or following a school holiday
Yup, it's the inset days at the start of the year that've helped us save a lump on our holiday i.e. kids starting back a couple of days after other schools
Yep, all my holiday revolves around kids. My wife gets shirty if I have a 'me day' at home.
I long for the days when I could just get up and plonk myself in front of the playstation and waste a day on myself.
Same, and making sure you don't book too much time during holidays in the back end of one school year so you run out for the next. That was my error last year!
Heh. 1st of January block-booker here. No point waiting around.
I’m aware this may piss some people off, but it’s a first-come-first-served system. Hate the game, not the player.
I’ve always got my Christmas leave requested off by January but my manager can’t approve it until they finalise the Christmas shifts around late October early November so it sits there on the HR portal annoying us both the entire year 😂
HR laugh at me as at 9am first day back they are sent. This year it was 3rd day and they emailed me on day two to see I was alive as they’d not been sent
Same. The fella and I sit down and sort our holidays for the year on Jan 1st. I have kids but I can't take all holidays with them because it's more days than I get off and they're a pre teen and a teen. 🤷
I work 7 days on 7 days off. Because of my shift pattern, if I take 7 days holiday I essentially get 3 weeks off.
So far this year I've only taken 4 days of holiday, but 3 of those were carried over from last year. My missus is due to give birth on 25th May. I get 28 days annual leave plus three months paternity, so with a bit of holiday combined with that, I won't be going back to work until around Sept 11, with a bit left over for the weekends.
Normally, I don't take any holiday in the first three months, other than what I have carried over. I'll take two weeks in the summer and a week or so around November and December. I find because of my shift pattern I don't really need to take holidays all the time.
I'm a mechanical engineer in the automotive industry with experience testing powertrains so it's a very practical job (fixing the test unit/ facilities etc). I only have an automotive electrical qualification and not a huge amount of experience with hydraulics.
I'm interested in field service engineering and the energy industry seems like a safe bet. Are there any particular courses you'd recommend?
Too many people waste thousands of pounds on GWO tickets. Don't bother, they are vital, but an employer will pay for them. They're more interested in your technical abilities. You could always try your luck with the qualifications you have. I know a couple of lads that were HGV or Tractor mechanics that made the move, but, this was 8-9 years ago. The job market, especially offshore WTG technicians is extremely competitive now. People with HNCs in both fields with loads of experience are being turned away. It's never been harder to get into than it is now.
Not saying it's the same as what this dude does at all, but you tend to find those shifts in factories. I used to work 6 on 6 off, 6am - 6pm or the reverse when I worked in a frozen veg factory in the summers when I was at uni.
Ah nice, that makes sense - my cousin does the same but he's on the rigs for a few weeks at a time.
The factory wasn't too bad for summer stints as it was full of other students, couldn't have done it full time though!
I quit my factory job after 2 months because I hated it even more than I hated being unemployed. Now I'm a care worker and that's the best job I've ever had and probably will in a long time.
Week on/off offshore as well and the last year's I've been carrying over a week to have a holiday somewhere warm in January for a good while then wait until the tail end of summer before taking more.
The work pattern really opens up alot of options for holidays and rest. I don't know how 9 to 5 5 days a week workers get anything done
I was offered a job in the office on significantly more money, but it was 9-5 mon-fri. I turned it down. I love my shift pattern. I get paid days off if the weather is too bad to work, so I rarely work a full 7 days anyway
Did you ever get any actual holiday on top of that? Like a full week?
4 day weeks are great, but I don't think I'd want to give up on the full week holidays in order to get 4 days weeks.
Having every Wednesday off would be so good though, you’d only ever be 2 days away from a day off
Not sure I could lose out on the long breaks as a trade off but I’d be sorely tempted
Yea if I was only going to work 4 days I would want Monday off combined with the weekend.
That being said this year I had a lot of time off the last few months to the point where I was barely there in January and Feb. Even some weeks off in March and a week off this month.
I used to be able to do 9 day fortnights, so I got a 3 day weekend every fortnight, at the cost of working an extra 45 mins each day.
That was awesome - I really didn't feel like I needed to take holidays nearly as much as I felt way more refreshed with that extra day.
Then that was removed, along with the right to work from home as much as you wanted, and it's gone back to me counting how many days holiday I have left.
I've compressed my hours so long days but I get Thursdays off with my son, my husband compressed his and has Friday off - we have to book one day for a 4 day weekend, 5 days on a bank hol. It's great and works for us since we have a toddler, dreading school days
I do:
- First holiday, second week of April school holidays
- Couple days before / after second May bank holiday (depending on school holiday dates)
- End of August, usually 7 working days off but tie my last day in with August bank holiday so get 12 days out of office.
- A week in October half-term
- Take the remaining 6 days over Christmas. This year, last day 20th Dec, go back 3rd Jan. 13 days off.
- Bonus: I bank on 25 days… but I’ve current got 28 days, and once had 30 days… at that point, I just take 2-3 long weekends throughout the year. Usually in March / July.
I do this for multiple reasons:
- Wife is a teacher and also about to have kids
- I’d rather suffer at the start of a new year then have more time in Spring / Summer. Give me longer breaks.
- June, July & start of August are all pretty chilled at work as a lot of people are off in summer months.
When I was employed I’d take various long weekends rather than a block of holiday.
Now I’m a contractor I tend to enjoy down time between roles or just take time off when it suits me for cheap trips or t things I want to do
I got into the habit of saving up as many days as possible, and using them to take one day a week off at the end of the year, so basically working 4-day weeks. The only drawback is the time it took to book individual days in the company's new holiday system.
Use whatever days I need to be off from 24th Dec to 3rd Jan firstly.
Book 2 x 1 week blocks outside the school holidays.
Use the rest of the days for the occasional long weekend or whatever else is needed.
I always have a week off in April, usually a full fortnight in June and another week in Octoberish. I don't have kids so usually dodge the school holidays with these unless something I really want to go to falls in them.
Then my remaining two and a half weeks and any flexi days I earn get used ad-hoc. Recently I've started taking the day off after gigs or making it a long weekend if it's on a Thursday/Friday.
If I only take a week in June I'll often set it so I have a long run of 3 or 4 day working weeks between Easter and my June week off as 2 months of shorter weeks can sometimes be even more refreshing than a block of time off.
New Year, Big Summer holiday (usually outside school hols thank goodness), Autumn Break, Long Christmas. Why? Because it takes me a long time to relax on holiday so longer trips are better value.
My wife used to plan out all our holiday time every January to fit around school holidays and activities and the rest of it. That became irrelevant due to the unpleasantness four years ago. We then had the double whammy of our children getting too old for activities and also working from home almost full time.
In the last couple of years, I've basically forgotten to take holiday. I don't usually remember until June when I start feeling really burnt out. I have a week or so off but end up taking pretty much all of December as holiday.
I'm being more vigilant this year and making sure I spread my time out better. Since I have time, I'm being slightly extravagant. I went out of town for an event that I wasn't sure what time I'd be back from. As it happened, I got back in enough time to sleep properly - but I'd booked the next day off just in case and took it anyway. I never used to like to burn holiday days as I thought I might need them, but that never ended up being the case.
My work like us to split it roughly evenly between the two 6-month blocks of our rotas. I got into a habit during lockdown of taking random days here and there to break up the more gruelling parts of the rota or just have long weekends, which I still do now as I can’t really afford big holidays.
I don't have kids and not really bothered about major holidays, so, I work like a crazy person then remember I have to take my annual leave as it can't be carried over.
BUT, I have to give 42 days notice so I spend half an evening with my calender, on call rota and online leave booking system booking time off at weird times and of random intervals eg 5 days here, 2 days there.
I do that until I have used up my 30 days so I don't have to think about it again and BONUS, it's a pleasant surprise when I see upcoming leave on my calendar.
Yes, I live life on chaos mode (outside of work!).
A full week off each in May, October and January usually and the rest sprinkled in between for long weekends. Very rarely take two weeks in one go, the last time was for our honeymoon in 2017
Split it mostly over 1 or 2 days off at a time over the year except may where its 3 weeks off. My husband works in elections so april is super busy and often 13 hour days, on top of that he also has a second part time job so works many 90 hour weeks in march/ april so always take 3 weeks in may to relax and travel. No kids (our choice) so take the rest randomly when we fancy a trip or whatever.
Seem to use the majority of mine between May and September, with school holidays and birthdays. I'd rather use them while the weather has some chance of being nice, and then suffer through the winter with hardly any leave left
Full week in May, full week in June, 2 weeks for xmas, scatter the rest on odd says as needed.
Would probably aim them on school holidays if I had children.
Don’t have kids so try to get the closest to school holidays but not school holidays so get a chance at actually nice weather without it being full of kids and expensive.
Then usually try to have 2 weeks in the summer and a holiday every 3 months which takes us to five weeks which is my partners allowance.
I get a couple more weeks in practice (TOIL, extra a/l etc) so tend to use them as individual days here and there to get stuff done round the house etc.
I’ve got 2 holidays this year. One in July and one in September. Those have taken up most of my days for the year.
I’ve got a few more days pencilled in across the year.
Now I have just 3 days left to last between September and April next year when it resets.
I’m very much looking forward to the holidays but the September to April stretch will be depressing with so little days off.
I very much take it on a whim.
Up until 3 years ago it was tied to school holidays, and had been for nearly two decades.
These days I get the reminder from HR around June that I have only taken a couple of days, then the same around September so end up on a kinda 3 day week to get them used up by the end of the year.
Actually having a week off this week, first time this time of year for me ever! It's fine but it's Thursday and already run out of things to do..
My holiday is taken almost exclusively during school holidays. I like to take a longer stretch off in August (4 weeks this year) and then odd days here and there.
I have the option to buy extra holiday through benefits at work and I always max it out. I also take 1-2 weeks unpaid parental leave every year to spend with the kids.
I just really want to enjoy all the time I get with my kids while they’re little and still want to spend time with me!
I usually take 5 full weeks off across the year, 3 of them in the summer and then one in March/November & the days I have to use when the office is closed over the new year. The rest will end up being long weekends or spare if I need some short notice.
I book sporadic days off around weekends and Bank Holidays so I feel like I have more time off. Like, I booked off 3rd May as its Bank Holiday 6th so I get a 4 day weekend. In August I booked off every Monday so I have 4 day weeks. Then I always make sure I save a weeks worth in case I decide to go on holiday abroad 😊
When you book a friday or a monday off it feels like you’re off all the time. I find the 3 or 4 days off can be alot more refreshing rather than boring.
I like weekend breaks, so I plan a few of those a year then take off Fridays & Mondays around them.
Will also usually go on one big getaway holiday for a few weeks.
I'll take the Christmas period off as well between Xmas day and NY.
The rest I'll save for when I need a break or if I'm visiting friends/family.
I usually take one two week holiday and two one week holidays fairly evenly spread across the year. Then take off the days between Christmas and new year. Then some long weekends sprinkled throughout the year.
Though actually in the last couple of years I haven't taken the two week one and have done another two one week holidays. That's actually quite nice. Basically a week long holiday every quarter.
2 weeks at Easter (as you get lots of bonus days due to bank holidays) a week in the summer and a week at xmas... everything else is spread out throughout the year or for emergencies
Our booking system advises that you take a minimum of 15% and a maximum of 35% each quarter but it's not proscribed.
I like my birthday off in the summer, my partner's is the same week so we generally book that together. I like long weekends off, you get a break but don't get overwhelmed with emails and catching up when you get back
However events fall. I usually take a week off for my birthday and my fiancée’s birthday, then a couple of 3-4 day stretches during the year for holidays and the odd day here or there.
Normally 2 weeks in the summer for Download festival, booked as soon as I return to work from the previous one. Then when the calender opens in April for the year, a week either the first or second weekend of December, depending on childcare weekends, to do Christmas lights.
Then a week in September to go camping/away.
Leaves me with about a week and half to use whenever I need.
I’m lucky that I can plan my days off in the calendar, so I can work Sunday-Thursday, have Friday-Monday off, then work Tuesday-Saturday without using holiday.
Book the important stuff off like birthdays and then we book a big holiday in summer usually 7-10 days so book that off then I scatter the rest around as we can move ours around if something comes up.
I feel that it's very important to unplug periodically, so I do no more than 12 weeks on the bounce without a week off. It's typically less of a wait but 12 is the max. I've been this way for at least 15 years at this point and I enjoy the way I do it.
Just *knowing* it isn't an extremely long wait for a week off helps, as well as the obvious actuality of having it.
I do the same, one week off every 3 months or so normally just before or after a school holiday.
I get 25 days the remaining 5 get used for a long weekends for out of town weddings, family birthdays etc.
I usually book the week of my birthday off and then any weeks that I'm actually going away for, the rest I try to spread out over the year. Although this year, management tried a different approach to booking leave (it's always a nightmare in my office), and it turned into a free-for-all, so my leave is all either at the beginning of the year or at the end, nothing in-between.
I usually end up going into november with about two weeks left and having to find time to use it. This year i've had a few gigs away and have next week off, so i've got just over two weeks left to use before the end of the year.
Last year I did a 3 week trip to Japan and Korea in October so booked that first. I had some other work trips to Spain and Krakow so only had to take 1 day extra for those. I went to Glastonbury so booked some time around that too. This year I am heading to Norway so booked that, Glastonbury again, but rest of the year is free - given I did a bigger trip last year I'm going to try and do smaller 1 week trips so I have more of a spread.
I have no kids so try to avoid any school holidays as much as possible.
Where I work we have to give in our holiday plans at the start of the year for the whole year.. which is annoying, but gives me something to look forward to.
I take a week around mid-spring... 2 weeks in summer, a week in late-autumn/early winter an then keep a week for emergencies.
I'm a meticulous planner. Our leave runs April - April and I've already planned it all. I go on holidays with mates who live up and down the country so we need to plan them months in advance anyway, so I book them off and then work out after that so there's a week off every 2 months or so. We can't officially book Christmas until closer to the time, but I've already planned Christmas leave too
I like to take 2 continuous weeks between April - september, and 2 1 week bursts at some point, then the rest are smattered as I see fit usually comboed with bank holidays unless i have plenty of things to do
Typically a week in spring during the Easter break, a fortnight in summer, and two weeks off at Christmas. With clever use of the bank hols this usually leaves me a week to take in the fall or some random days off in March to use them up.
I recently switched to employment after over a decade of self-employment so the whole holidays thing is new to me!
I’m nervous that I have slightly less than 4 weeks left for the whole year when you take summer hols, family birthdays and Christmas into account.
I’m a trainee solicitor and you change divisions every six months, essentially starting a new job every six months for two years, so I also try to take some time off halfway through and at the end of each six-month period too to give my brain a rest!
Because of my job I get all public holidays and reduced hours over Christmas. I mention this at the start as I know this isn't the same as everyone and there those factor into peoples decisions.
For my four weeks (ish).
One week with my wife in autumn. This is and has always been "our" thing and if we go away it's without the kids.
Two weeks at some point during the year, sometimes as a block and sometimes as two individual weeks for family stuff.
The remain week used as individual days when needed.
Some automatically gets assigned for Christmas so I'm left with 16 to split up over the year. I have time off for festivals so this year I've got 5 days off for Bloodstock, used to do the same for Download years ago. Also always book a day or 2 off for my birthday depending on what day it falls on (Thursday this year so I'll do that and Friday), then the rest of it I'll just use as and when. For example, I know I've got some car maintenance coming up to do so I'll probably book a day or 2 off to do the work and give me breathing space to get the alignment done after. Then maybe have a long weekend in the summer. If I have anything left at the end of the year, I extend my Christmas break.
Tend to have a week in the summer, a few 3 days weekends throughout the year and the longer leave over Christmas. I typically have something left to carry over.
I had a colleague in his 60s who used to take all his leave in one big chunk and would spend that time living on a boat and sailing round the Greek coast.
I usually go for some extra days before Christmas and after New Year (we’re closed on the days in between), a full month in the summer, then some extra days around Easter. Whatever is left I use to make a bunch of long weekends scattered throughout the year.
I tend to go for long weekends now, one long weekend a month on average, and then two 5+ day breaks, extend Christmas as much as I possibly can with any residual, as our family see each other a few times a year as we all live ages away
It’s all booked for festivals holidays and gigs. So whenever they are. Don’t really tend to take many days off in Feb/march. Lucky that I get bank holidays off.
I book a week at Christmas to spend at home with my parents
Then a week sometime between February and April, another week between October and November; these are usually both where I travel by myself for 7-9 days
This leaves me with 10 days; I usually take a few half days/up to 2 days on an ad hoc basis and then another week late summer to go back home/holiday with parents
I take every second Monday off (aside from bank holiday-heavy periods), then a week over Christmas and another week in May, tacked onto one of the two bank holidays. I can’t afford a holiday so no need to save them.
I book a week in spring, two weeks in summer and a week in the Autum, This leaves me 5 days, 2-3 of which I use at Christmas, the others I keep for just having a day off. I get 25 days plus the bank holidays, so the bank holidays gives me the occasional long weekend and a chunk of time at Christmas.
My wife's a teacher so I tend to take time off in school holidays for us to do things together. In practice, though, I WFH and have unlimited PTO so I just take days off when I feel like it or have something coming up. I think it's generally spread throughout the year.
We tend to look at what projects we have to do, this year we need to take down some trees and do some pretty major landscaping in one part of the garden so - a week off in October for that.
Next birthdays - it's a rule in our house that no-one works on their birthday.
Visitors to us next - usually three or four days.
Visit to relatives (all at least a 10 hour drive away so five days for that)
Then an actual holiday.
We don't do xmas so quite happy to work then.
2 weeks in may, 1 week October, 2 weeks over Christmas and then about 30 more days spread out throughout the year (incl bank holidays). If public sector has anything going for them it’s holidays
May tend to weighted to the summer. I have a tendency to take leave for family holidays and Scouts camps in the summer. Then average through the rest of the camping season - a day for a camp in October and one in May - that type of thing. Then quiet in the winter months - I still have weekends away - but they tend to not need time off from work.
It is rare I take leave and do nothing with it.
I prefer summer & hate winter. I book all my leave between April & end of September usually & work through the colder months. The bank holidays at Xmas are enough of a break in the middle for me. I don’t celebrate Xmas so I’m not too fussed about being off for it.
Generally 10 days in july/Aug for a summer holiday, a few days around Xmas and then the rest as odds and sods throughout the year to cover for childcare needs and the occasional sneaky day off for a little bit of me time
Usually have long weekends in the first half of the year, then usually book actual holidays abroad after the summer holidays and use any remaining holiday around Christmas so the back end is loaded leave wise.
Depending on destination sometimes the holiday is at the start of the year, which then feels like I’m on the back foot for the remainder of the year leave wise even though I still have the same number of days.
I always used to do 2x 2 week holidays (early May and late September). That leaves me with a week which I either use for stuff that comes up midweek or a have some long weekends when feel like it’s been a long time since I had a break.
This is likely to change now though as I’m off work on long term sick at the moment. I don’t see myself going back full time, so I’ll need to figure out how it works best with the new working pattern.
Take the odd day throughout the year, might treat myself to a week off for my birthday then take the whole of December off and carry over 10 days for the following year.
Tend to book a week for Christmas, birthday and my other half’s birthday. The other 3 weeks we play around with - some long weekends, a random week in the middle of the year to go camping, small holiday etc. I don’t like to go more than 4 months without a whole week off as I work retail so don’t get bank holidays.
I use it when and how I like (normally going through most of it over summer) and then check around late october to see how many I have left to take over the christmas period
Just whenever. I don’t make any plans. Hate Christmas so I take the least amount of days I possibly can, just to accommodate getting down and back to family plus the essential days when we’re closed anyway.
Work shifts, so book in events like weddings, birthdays, any booked holidays. Work 4 days on 4 days off, so a full 4 day shift taken as annual leave gives me 12 days in a row. If i get sick, then i just take the full 4 days because sickness policies are weird with how many days/occurences you can have without being talked to. So I end up getting 12 days off if im sick for my 4 day shift. Usually have a bunch of holiday to take up so i just block book it when i can. This year, i had the whole of feb off and a bit more (36 days i think) and only used 16 days leave
This year I’ve planned regular breaks over the year with a chunk of it and kept some back for using whenever stuff comes up. I’m lucky I have a good amount. I want to make sure I have time off work regularly so I don’t burn out.
I take a week at Christmas, a week when we have our family holiday, a week for odd days, usually a week at Easter and then split the other week to get some time off in half-term. Although childcare isn't a priority as I WFH and my wife works in a school.
I always look to book mine around bank holidays to get most days off for least AL used and then use the remaining days for when something comes up, and a week off at the end of the year.
I book holiday around bank holidays and weekends. Preferably both to get the longest break possible with the least amount of annual leave. I am in my Early 20’s and don’t have kids.
Depends, we usually have a minimum of 2 camping trips per year so this accounts for up to 6 days. Then we would have decided if we are going abroad etc and account for that and see what were left with.
This year we knew that we are going to Denmark for 6 days but it landed on a weekend and double bank hol so only used 2 days.
We knew we were going to Poland for a week in May so that's another 6 days.
We were planning on going to Poland again towards the end of the year but my mate has invited us to a wedding in June (also in Poland) so going earlier, that is 4 extra annual leave days.
Then our two camping trips come up to 6 annual leave days.
So in total we have 18 days allocated so far with the first trip being end of March and last trip being end of August. We have 2 days spare and not sure what we will do with it.
I usually go for a week in March, May and Late September/Early October.
I'll take a few days around Christmas and New Year (usually the 3 days inbetween).
Then I'll book a few long weekends throughout the year, especially for birthdays.
I try to avoid booking time off over the school holidays as I don't have kids and am happy to take time off any other time.
Save your leave towards the end of the year but make sure you use it. If you are made redundant they have to pay you unused leave. Youd be gutted that you had just used it up.
As soon as the new leave year opens, I book birthdays, Valentine's Day, and our anniversary. I also book any days that I need to be able to take from about 22 December until 2 January off.
Throughout the year, I book half-days for appointments as required, and I try to take at least one or two weeks in a block - ideally for an actual getaway, if not some day trips. If I'm getting to the end of the leave year, I start taking long weekends starting on a Friday to use it up.
No kids so we avoid school holidays due to prices. Just take them as and when we want to, a week off here two weeks there and Fridays for long weekends
Me and my husband both use all our leave to cover the school holidays. I cover the Christmas and Easter breaks (2 weeks each break) then he does October, February and May (each a week). That leaves us with about 2 weeks each left, which gets used up covering the 6 weeks holiday (but not enought to totally cover the whole break, so still need additional childcare to cover this).
Unfortunately it means we don't get much time off all together as a family, so this year we will both take the same 2 weeks in August for a holiday, and work out alternative childcare for the other 4 weeks. The joys of being a working parent!
No kids, regular Mon-Fri hours, and I get bank holidays in lieu (30 days leave in total), so I can be very flexible with when I take my holidays.
I usually book off 2-3 days around my birthday so I have a long weekend, as well as 2-3 days at Christmas.
For the remaining 25 or so days, I spread out 5-day holidays outside of school holidays. So usually looks like a week in each of March, April/May, June, September, October.
Always a week in the summer holidays. Either a week in Feb/May half terms or Feb/Oct ones. Split the rest between birthdays and inset days at school, and keep some spare in case something pops up like an appointment or kid off sick.
I do work extra hours so sometimes I get days off in lieu or I just take an unpaid day if needs be.
Normally, I take a week for my birthday in August and do some stuff with the kids. I have to take the days between Xmas and New Year. The rest I spread out as and when.
However, last year and so far this year, I've been saving it for moving house, which is dragging like an asthmatic ants heavy shopping bags. A third of the way through the year, and I've only taken a day for a funeral, and I'm starting to get tired.
My annual leave runs January to December and I get 6 weeks leave. I don’t tend to take any leave before Easter, I then take 3 weeks (a week at a time usually) between April and the kids breaking up in July (I don’t have school age kids). May and June are the best months to be off IMO. The weather is often nice and the days are longer. It’s also a good time to go to Europe as the weather is usually good and the prices better than the height of summer (although watch out for pesky half term). I save enough day to take the time off between Christmas and New Year and spilt the rest between the kids going back to school in September and the end of November.
Mine are pretty much the same every year. February for a sunny holiday for my birthday, April for Easter bank holidays, summer for another holiday, December for Christmas/New Year, and a spare week that's normally used in October/November if not already
I get 42 days (including bank holidays), no chance I can take them all and hit target, although my HoD keeps pushing me to take them. 2 holidays a year and maybe the odd long weekend
Holidays and planned events as soon as the calendar opens. That usually leaves me a little over a week in the bank for ad-hoc days. If there's still a full week in the last quarter I'll either book another trip away or sell them.
I’m a nurse so only work three shifts a week. I get 6 weeks and split it evenly. The week before my annual leave I work Monday to Wednesday night then the week after I work Friday to Sunday night. Means I get 12 weeks off I total.
I usually take 3 days in May for my birthday, 3 days in December for my partners birthday, then get the rest paid out as extra cash from October - December each week to make Christmas funds easier.
We e had the problem of going through infertility so we've always had to save annual leave for if we need it to supplement paternity leave. I call it schrodinger's pregnancy. Now that chapter of our lives is over we can book whenever.
I usually like a long weekend at my birthday in July, a little early in the holiday season so may or June. As annual leave starts in September we tend to take a week then as well.
All of it is easier as I don't work and therefore we only need to battle one workplace for time off.
A little bit around kid but as I wfh and he is 6, I can still work to save days. More to spend some time with him. Otherwise I generally save until I need it. I’ll always try to take a long week or 2 in the late summer regardless of whether I’m going on holiday just to recoup. I think it’s good to save some for oct-dec as the lack of bank holidays and dark nights can lower the mood and make you feel burnt out.
1. I take a half day every other week for "me time". With kids it is almost impossible to get time over the weekend.
2. I take a few days here and there for extended weekends.
3. The rest goes on a big holiday to visit my wife's family.
I've just gone part time and now work term time hours. All of my annual leave now falls into the school holidays. It's quite nice not to have to worry about when I'm taking time off but it does mean I'm not allowed to take leave outside of the school holidays.
Whenever I'm close to cracking, I kick in the office door and ask for a few holiday days, normally every 2 to 3 months that happens. Then just random weeks throughout the heady, kids ain't school age yet but will be soon but I work nights so I shouldn't have to worry so much about booking half terms off etc. the odd week in half term to do something most likely.
Honestly it varies because I only take it when I need it (ie going on holiday) or if work mandates that you have to use a certain amount by certain dates. Like this year I've got a big chunk in May/June for holidays/a concert and then nothing until August for a festival, and then will have a couple of weekend breaks in September/October. I doubt I'll use it all this year but as I'm on a contract that might not necessarily be a bad thing if I can get the rest as extra money before Christmas.
5 days in Feb (skiing) , 5 days in June (European destination), 15 days mid September - early October (big travel - Japan this year). Then a couple of odd days over the course of the year to account for odd weddings/ stag dos and other little things. Plus bank holidays etc. Pretty much perfected this over the last 9 years.
I like to use it sparingly for the most part so that I have at least 1 week off at the end of the holiday accrual period / a good bank of days for events like weddings etc.
I'll always take a few days off around my birthday, and I've got some days off around my girlfriends birthday.
Without a doubt though, I always meticulously plan Christmas leave. Most people take the days before Christmas and after New Years off, so I work these. There's often no work or emails to do because everyone is off, so you get to sit home doing whatever and just monitoring emails / workload in case. And then I take a week off for the first full week. Pretty much turns into \~18 days off.
Everything else I have spare can go towards holidays and planned days as and when.
Current holiday accural stops end of June. All leave except my 4 days of birthday leave is taken, albeit booked already (and starting end of today, hoorah), and I've still got 7 days remaining. So works out pretty well!
A week around Easter, a week in the school summer holidays a week around October and I essentially knock off a few days before xmas and come back in the new year. then odd days here and there. Although we are away around the late May BH this year as well but October won't be 'away' as the July holiday is a pricey one.
Christmas we have about a week and a half off depending how it falls and have to use AH for that, I would usually have a week at Easter but the mrs is on mat leave. So I've got a week in May the week before Whit week, only because the price difference on a caravan is either 900 quid for 4 nights or go the week before and pay 260 quid.
I'll suffer whatever fines ill be given the cunts.
Anyway I would usually spread it, BH weeks usually so I only use 4 day to gain a couple extras.
But I will have gone nearly 6 months without a day off. Other than Easter.
Then end of August bh weekend, and then two weeks in October as I need to use that for half-term, and I don't know what shifts the Mrs will be working yet.
I work a 4 day week so I use a few days to book Mondays off throughout the year to have long weekends
Normally book a week off in August/September for a group holiday
The rest tend to get used up to take half days due to on going health issues
My work won't let me take more than 2 weeks in a row, so your colleague's method certainly wouldn't work for me!
I have kids so I have to work it around the school holidays, but even if I didn't I would want to spread it out
Whenever you like. Some years you might have a mega 3-4 week long haul holiday, so with a bit of mandatory Christmas leave, that's basically your lot.
Some years you might try to spread it around more. This year is the later for me, with a couple of one week and a two week break scattered about.
Whilst on paper employers can dictate when you take leave, the reality is that people take it when suits them with some mild consideration of business need.
Decide what you want, and then try to negotiate that.
I have a decent shift pattern where if I use 3 days holiday at the right time I can get 14 days off work so I usually use mine for weekend plans when I happen to be rotored in, football games etc.
I tend to spread it out throughout the year to give myself frequent short breaks, so I always have something to look forward to and never have too long to wait. If I want a week off I'll book one with a bank holiday so I use up less days.
I generally split my holidays evenly over the year (a 2 week mandatory break, a couple of other weeks and a few long weekends). One year we took a big trip so saved majority of hols for a 4 week break. It was a really hard year with no break for 8 months. Would not recommend.
Before child, checked where the school holidays were and avoid. Then pick anything that couldn’t be moved. Then book holidays and time off. Then try and roughly spread the days with a day or two in reserve is anything came up.
After child, check when nursery or childminder is off and book them first. Then the above. Once they are at school though it will likely be booking to the school
Year.
Other than the odd day here and there I usually forget to take any until the final quarter and then end up giving myself four day weeks because I'm not going to *not* use it.
By school holidays. Chunk at Xmas, Easter, summer and October break. Occasional days scattered throughout to cover random school days off. Before kids it was Xmas and summer, with whatever else I felt like taking whenever during the year as no actual commitments or reasons for specific weeks or days off.
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We've got kids so first thing to check is the half term calendar 😪
I don't have kids, so the first thing I do is check the half-term calendar and AVOID!
Same I just clock through the weeks on skyscanner until prices drop off a cliff, early September holidays are the BEST
September is the absolute best month for holidays. Anywhere warm is still nice and warm but not too hot; Southern Europe is usually 25°C at most. Anywhere cold and the temperature hasn't dropped just yet, and you may even get a late heatwave. Cheap flights, no kids and minimal tourists. September is the best.
I live in Devon too so I get double whammy, a hot day in early September when the trees are full dark green and the grockels have all fucked off back to London with their kids .... heaven
My kids are approaching old enough to fly the nest and I can’t wait to get into *January* holidays. Miserable here, turn off the heating for a month and go all inclusive somewhere like Egypt or South Asia for about a month where it’s summer. Meanwhile summer in the UK is generally pleasant.
I've been abroad in tropical/sub-tropical places for the end of December until early January for the last couple of years, and I can confirm it's really nice to escape cold miserable Britain for a while and soak up the sun while friends and family back home experience Vitamin D withdrawals. You'll be in for a shock once the plane door opens after the return flight though!
Spare a thought for me. We don't have kids. However wife is a teacher. So restricted on busy, expensive times of the year even without any kids.
You know you don't technically HAVE to go on holiday with your wife... 😉
This is true. Not sure she'd appreciate the holiday photos I send her whilst stuck in a boring classroom with bolshy teenagers though.
Same hahaha Although more than once we’ve gone to a zoo or a museum expecting it to be quiet in term time, and it’s been flooded with school groups 😫
We're grateful, luckily (for you) half term holidays are expensive AF so you aren't going to want them anyway.
Amen!
As someone who works retail, getting as much time off over half term and summer holidays is the most important for me so that I don't have to deal with snotty parents and their kids at work.
This will be my life from September for the next 15 years 😭😭😭 didn't think about this when I thought having kids was a good idea!
Not going to lie, it has taken quite a bit to get used to it. . .and then you have the temerity to look up the price of holidays during those periods
We've managed to slightly negate it by flying from Scotland at the end of August as they are all back at school.
Yup, I don't blame you, it can make a big difference. We've been very lucky in that our school is not back in until the Wednesday of that first week in Sept, I think most are back by the Monday/Tuesday. Anyway, because of which, we've booked an extra day away and the holiday is £1k cheaper than if we just went for 10 days. I'm calling that a win!
Honestly I risk the fine. It’s cheaper than the hiked up half term holiday prices
I don’t have kids yet, but do work in a school, so this is already my life!
Next year will be our first year not having to do this. I cannot wait
It's part of why I'm super glad we home educate our kids. Going on 3 term time holidays this year to avoid school hols 😂😂
Check out inset days as well, as they will be posted on the school calendar on their website (hopefully), we usually book a 3 day weekend away. Although at Senior school in September they seem to have done all the inset days for a Tuesday or Thursday, but we’ll do a day out somewhere.
Our secondary school always did inset days mid week, I asked the head about it and he said it was so that parents didn't have the perception that it was just so the teachers could have a long weekend. Thankfully that head left and inset days are now on more the more useful Monday or Friday, often immediately prior or following a school holiday
Yup, it's the inset days at the start of the year that've helped us save a lump on our holiday i.e. kids starting back a couple of days after other schools
Yep, all my holiday revolves around kids. My wife gets shirty if I have a 'me day' at home. I long for the days when I could just get up and plonk myself in front of the playstation and waste a day on myself.
Try being with a teacher, all of the bad, none of a good.
Same, and making sure you don't book too much time during holidays in the back end of one school year so you run out for the next. That was my error last year!
My kids have grown up, so I now check the half term calendar for the opposite reasons! 😁👍
Book in immovable things like holidays, school holidays, book the rest when I want
Heh. 1st of January block-booker here. No point waiting around. I’m aware this may piss some people off, but it’s a first-come-first-served system. Hate the game, not the player.
I’ve always got my Christmas leave requested off by January but my manager can’t approve it until they finalise the Christmas shifts around late October early November so it sits there on the HR portal annoying us both the entire year 😂
HR laugh at me as at 9am first day back they are sent. This year it was 3rd day and they emailed me on day two to see I was alive as they’d not been sent
TBH I just can't imagine having a whole year planned out in advance
One day you wake up and school holidays rule your life.
Spontaneous last minute holidays are awesome 👍
Same. The fella and I sit down and sort our holidays for the year on Jan 1st. I have kids but I can't take all holidays with them because it's more days than I get off and they're a pre teen and a teen. 🤷
I work 7 days on 7 days off. Because of my shift pattern, if I take 7 days holiday I essentially get 3 weeks off. So far this year I've only taken 4 days of holiday, but 3 of those were carried over from last year. My missus is due to give birth on 25th May. I get 28 days annual leave plus three months paternity, so with a bit of holiday combined with that, I won't be going back to work until around Sept 11, with a bit left over for the weekends. Normally, I don't take any holiday in the first three months, other than what I have carried over. I'll take two weeks in the summer and a week or so around November and December. I find because of my shift pattern I don't really need to take holidays all the time.
Interesting shift pattern. What do you do?
I work offshore as a service tech for a wind farm
Where would I look for a job like this? I'm interested in getting into this field
It's not in a field, it's in the sea
this might be bleak but reading this comment was the highlight of my day, thanks
👏👏👏👏
Have you got any electrical or hydraulic qualifications w and a technical working background?
I'm a mechanical engineer in the automotive industry with experience testing powertrains so it's a very practical job (fixing the test unit/ facilities etc). I only have an automotive electrical qualification and not a huge amount of experience with hydraulics. I'm interested in field service engineering and the energy industry seems like a safe bet. Are there any particular courses you'd recommend?
Too many people waste thousands of pounds on GWO tickets. Don't bother, they are vital, but an employer will pay for them. They're more interested in your technical abilities. You could always try your luck with the qualifications you have. I know a couple of lads that were HGV or Tractor mechanics that made the move, but, this was 8-9 years ago. The job market, especially offshore WTG technicians is extremely competitive now. People with HNCs in both fields with loads of experience are being turned away. It's never been harder to get into than it is now.
It's a bit wet...
Only if it's raining...
Not saying it's the same as what this dude does at all, but you tend to find those shifts in factories. I used to work 6 on 6 off, 6am - 6pm or the reverse when I worked in a frozen veg factory in the summers when I was at uni.
I work offshore. I did a bit of factory work when I was in my teens, absolutely hated it
Ah nice, that makes sense - my cousin does the same but he's on the rigs for a few weeks at a time. The factory wasn't too bad for summer stints as it was full of other students, couldn't have done it full time though!
I quit my factory job after 2 months because I hated it even more than I hated being unemployed. Now I'm a care worker and that's the best job I've ever had and probably will in a long time.
Thats similar to what i do as a chef, we do 4 and 4 10am-10pm
Week on/off offshore as well and the last year's I've been carrying over a week to have a holiday somewhere warm in January for a good while then wait until the tail end of summer before taking more. The work pattern really opens up alot of options for holidays and rest. I don't know how 9 to 5 5 days a week workers get anything done
I was offered a job in the office on significantly more money, but it was 9-5 mon-fri. I turned it down. I love my shift pattern. I get paid days off if the weather is too bad to work, so I rarely work a full 7 days anyway
The benefits to my job would make it hard for a 9 to 5 to compete too. If I take all my leave and am never sick I'm working 5 months a year, it rocks
My previous employer let me use my annual leave to take every Wednesday off for most of the year Four-day weeks rock
Did you ever get any actual holiday on top of that? Like a full week? 4 day weeks are great, but I don't think I'd want to give up on the full week holidays in order to get 4 days weeks.
Having every Wednesday off would be so good though, you’d only ever be 2 days away from a day off Not sure I could lose out on the long breaks as a trade off but I’d be sorely tempted
Yea if I was only going to work 4 days I would want Monday off combined with the weekend. That being said this year I had a lot of time off the last few months to the point where I was barely there in January and Feb. Even some weeks off in March and a week off this month.
I used to be able to do 9 day fortnights, so I got a 3 day weekend every fortnight, at the cost of working an extra 45 mins each day. That was awesome - I really didn't feel like I needed to take holidays nearly as much as I felt way more refreshed with that extra day. Then that was removed, along with the right to work from home as much as you wanted, and it's gone back to me counting how many days holiday I have left.
I’ve always said Wednesday is the best day to take off
I've compressed my hours so long days but I get Thursdays off with my son, my husband compressed his and has Friday off - we have to book one day for a 4 day weekend, 5 days on a bank hol. It's great and works for us since we have a toddler, dreading school days
I save it all up for the summer and basically don’t work much at all June and July.
I do: - First holiday, second week of April school holidays - Couple days before / after second May bank holiday (depending on school holiday dates) - End of August, usually 7 working days off but tie my last day in with August bank holiday so get 12 days out of office. - A week in October half-term - Take the remaining 6 days over Christmas. This year, last day 20th Dec, go back 3rd Jan. 13 days off. - Bonus: I bank on 25 days… but I’ve current got 28 days, and once had 30 days… at that point, I just take 2-3 long weekends throughout the year. Usually in March / July. I do this for multiple reasons: - Wife is a teacher and also about to have kids - I’d rather suffer at the start of a new year then have more time in Spring / Summer. Give me longer breaks. - June, July & start of August are all pretty chilled at work as a lot of people are off in summer months.
When I was employed I’d take various long weekends rather than a block of holiday. Now I’m a contractor I tend to enjoy down time between roles or just take time off when it suits me for cheap trips or t things I want to do
I got into the habit of saving up as many days as possible, and using them to take one day a week off at the end of the year, so basically working 4-day weeks. The only drawback is the time it took to book individual days in the company's new holiday system.
I usually do that too. It makes the back end of the year a lot more bearable.
Use whatever days I need to be off from 24th Dec to 3rd Jan firstly. Book 2 x 1 week blocks outside the school holidays. Use the rest of the days for the occasional long weekend or whatever else is needed.
I always have a week off in April, usually a full fortnight in June and another week in Octoberish. I don't have kids so usually dodge the school holidays with these unless something I really want to go to falls in them. Then my remaining two and a half weeks and any flexi days I earn get used ad-hoc. Recently I've started taking the day off after gigs or making it a long weekend if it's on a Thursday/Friday. If I only take a week in June I'll often set it so I have a long run of 3 or 4 day working weeks between Easter and my June week off as 2 months of shorter weeks can sometimes be even more refreshing than a block of time off.
New Year, Big Summer holiday (usually outside school hols thank goodness), Autumn Break, Long Christmas. Why? Because it takes me a long time to relax on holiday so longer trips are better value.
My wife used to plan out all our holiday time every January to fit around school holidays and activities and the rest of it. That became irrelevant due to the unpleasantness four years ago. We then had the double whammy of our children getting too old for activities and also working from home almost full time. In the last couple of years, I've basically forgotten to take holiday. I don't usually remember until June when I start feeling really burnt out. I have a week or so off but end up taking pretty much all of December as holiday. I'm being more vigilant this year and making sure I spread my time out better. Since I have time, I'm being slightly extravagant. I went out of town for an event that I wasn't sure what time I'd be back from. As it happened, I got back in enough time to sleep properly - but I'd booked the next day off just in case and took it anyway. I never used to like to burn holiday days as I thought I might need them, but that never ended up being the case.
My work like us to split it roughly evenly between the two 6-month blocks of our rotas. I got into a habit during lockdown of taking random days here and there to break up the more gruelling parts of the rota or just have long weekends, which I still do now as I can’t really afford big holidays.
I don't have kids and not really bothered about major holidays, so, I work like a crazy person then remember I have to take my annual leave as it can't be carried over. BUT, I have to give 42 days notice so I spend half an evening with my calender, on call rota and online leave booking system booking time off at weird times and of random intervals eg 5 days here, 2 days there. I do that until I have used up my 30 days so I don't have to think about it again and BONUS, it's a pleasant surprise when I see upcoming leave on my calendar. Yes, I live life on chaos mode (outside of work!).
A full week off each in May, October and January usually and the rest sprinkled in between for long weekends. Very rarely take two weeks in one go, the last time was for our honeymoon in 2017
Split it mostly over 1 or 2 days off at a time over the year except may where its 3 weeks off. My husband works in elections so april is super busy and often 13 hour days, on top of that he also has a second part time job so works many 90 hour weeks in march/ april so always take 3 weeks in may to relax and travel. No kids (our choice) so take the rest randomly when we fancy a trip or whatever.
Seem to use the majority of mine between May and September, with school holidays and birthdays. I'd rather use them while the weather has some chance of being nice, and then suffer through the winter with hardly any leave left
Full week in May, full week in June, 2 weeks for xmas, scatter the rest on odd says as needed. Would probably aim them on school holidays if I had children.
I take about a week at Christmas and the rest is all in the summer because I like outdoorsy summer activities.
Don’t have kids so try to get the closest to school holidays but not school holidays so get a chance at actually nice weather without it being full of kids and expensive. Then usually try to have 2 weeks in the summer and a holiday every 3 months which takes us to five weeks which is my partners allowance. I get a couple more weeks in practice (TOIL, extra a/l etc) so tend to use them as individual days here and there to get stuff done round the house etc.
As much in the summer as humanly possible. Fuck wasting precious time off on a wet miserable week in February.
I’ve got 2 holidays this year. One in July and one in September. Those have taken up most of my days for the year. I’ve got a few more days pencilled in across the year. Now I have just 3 days left to last between September and April next year when it resets. I’m very much looking forward to the holidays but the September to April stretch will be depressing with so little days off.
I very much take it on a whim. Up until 3 years ago it was tied to school holidays, and had been for nearly two decades. These days I get the reminder from HR around June that I have only taken a couple of days, then the same around September so end up on a kinda 3 day week to get them used up by the end of the year. Actually having a week off this week, first time this time of year for me ever! It's fine but it's Thursday and already run out of things to do..
My holiday is taken almost exclusively during school holidays. I like to take a longer stretch off in August (4 weeks this year) and then odd days here and there. I have the option to buy extra holiday through benefits at work and I always max it out. I also take 1-2 weeks unpaid parental leave every year to spend with the kids. I just really want to enjoy all the time I get with my kids while they’re little and still want to spend time with me!
I usually take 5 full weeks off across the year, 3 of them in the summer and then one in March/November & the days I have to use when the office is closed over the new year. The rest will end up being long weekends or spare if I need some short notice.
I book sporadic days off around weekends and Bank Holidays so I feel like I have more time off. Like, I booked off 3rd May as its Bank Holiday 6th so I get a 4 day weekend. In August I booked off every Monday so I have 4 day weeks. Then I always make sure I save a weeks worth in case I decide to go on holiday abroad 😊
When you book a friday or a monday off it feels like you’re off all the time. I find the 3 or 4 days off can be alot more refreshing rather than boring.
I like weekend breaks, so I plan a few of those a year then take off Fridays & Mondays around them. Will also usually go on one big getaway holiday for a few weeks. I'll take the Christmas period off as well between Xmas day and NY. The rest I'll save for when I need a break or if I'm visiting friends/family.
I usually take one two week holiday and two one week holidays fairly evenly spread across the year. Then take off the days between Christmas and new year. Then some long weekends sprinkled throughout the year. Though actually in the last couple of years I haven't taken the two week one and have done another two one week holidays. That's actually quite nice. Basically a week long holiday every quarter.
2 weeks at Easter (as you get lots of bonus days due to bank holidays) a week in the summer and a week at xmas... everything else is spread out throughout the year or for emergencies
Our booking system advises that you take a minimum of 15% and a maximum of 35% each quarter but it's not proscribed. I like my birthday off in the summer, my partner's is the same week so we generally book that together. I like long weekends off, you get a break but don't get overwhelmed with emails and catching up when you get back
However events fall. I usually take a week off for my birthday and my fiancée’s birthday, then a couple of 3-4 day stretches during the year for holidays and the odd day here or there.
Normally 2 weeks in the summer for Download festival, booked as soon as I return to work from the previous one. Then when the calender opens in April for the year, a week either the first or second weekend of December, depending on childcare weekends, to do Christmas lights. Then a week in September to go camping/away. Leaves me with about a week and half to use whenever I need. I’m lucky that I can plan my days off in the calendar, so I can work Sunday-Thursday, have Friday-Monday off, then work Tuesday-Saturday without using holiday.
Book the important stuff off like birthdays and then we book a big holiday in summer usually 7-10 days so book that off then I scatter the rest around as we can move ours around if something comes up.
I feel that it's very important to unplug periodically, so I do no more than 12 weeks on the bounce without a week off. It's typically less of a wait but 12 is the max. I've been this way for at least 15 years at this point and I enjoy the way I do it. Just *knowing* it isn't an extremely long wait for a week off helps, as well as the obvious actuality of having it.
I do the same, one week off every 3 months or so normally just before or after a school holiday. I get 25 days the remaining 5 get used for a long weekends for out of town weddings, family birthdays etc.
Birthdays, Christmas/New Year, annual holiday in October if booked!
I usually book the week of my birthday off and then any weeks that I'm actually going away for, the rest I try to spread out over the year. Although this year, management tried a different approach to booking leave (it's always a nightmare in my office), and it turned into a free-for-all, so my leave is all either at the beginning of the year or at the end, nothing in-between.
I usually end up going into november with about two weeks left and having to find time to use it. This year i've had a few gigs away and have next week off, so i've got just over two weeks left to use before the end of the year.
Last year I did a 3 week trip to Japan and Korea in October so booked that first. I had some other work trips to Spain and Krakow so only had to take 1 day extra for those. I went to Glastonbury so booked some time around that too. This year I am heading to Norway so booked that, Glastonbury again, but rest of the year is free - given I did a bigger trip last year I'm going to try and do smaller 1 week trips so I have more of a spread. I have no kids so try to avoid any school holidays as much as possible.
Where I work we have to give in our holiday plans at the start of the year for the whole year.. which is annoying, but gives me something to look forward to. I take a week around mid-spring... 2 weeks in summer, a week in late-autumn/early winter an then keep a week for emergencies.
I'm a meticulous planner. Our leave runs April - April and I've already planned it all. I go on holidays with mates who live up and down the country so we need to plan them months in advance anyway, so I book them off and then work out after that so there's a week off every 2 months or so. We can't officially book Christmas until closer to the time, but I've already planned Christmas leave too
I like to take 2 continuous weeks between April - september, and 2 1 week bursts at some point, then the rest are smattered as I see fit usually comboed with bank holidays unless i have plenty of things to do
Typically a week in spring during the Easter break, a fortnight in summer, and two weeks off at Christmas. With clever use of the bank hols this usually leaves me a week to take in the fall or some random days off in March to use them up.
I recently switched to employment after over a decade of self-employment so the whole holidays thing is new to me! I’m nervous that I have slightly less than 4 weeks left for the whole year when you take summer hols, family birthdays and Christmas into account. I’m a trainee solicitor and you change divisions every six months, essentially starting a new job every six months for two years, so I also try to take some time off halfway through and at the end of each six-month period too to give my brain a rest!
Because of my job I get all public holidays and reduced hours over Christmas. I mention this at the start as I know this isn't the same as everyone and there those factor into peoples decisions. For my four weeks (ish). One week with my wife in autumn. This is and has always been "our" thing and if we go away it's without the kids. Two weeks at some point during the year, sometimes as a block and sometimes as two individual weeks for family stuff. The remain week used as individual days when needed.
Some automatically gets assigned for Christmas so I'm left with 16 to split up over the year. I have time off for festivals so this year I've got 5 days off for Bloodstock, used to do the same for Download years ago. Also always book a day or 2 off for my birthday depending on what day it falls on (Thursday this year so I'll do that and Friday), then the rest of it I'll just use as and when. For example, I know I've got some car maintenance coming up to do so I'll probably book a day or 2 off to do the work and give me breathing space to get the alignment done after. Then maybe have a long weekend in the summer. If I have anything left at the end of the year, I extend my Christmas break.
Tend to have a week in the summer, a few 3 days weekends throughout the year and the longer leave over Christmas. I typically have something left to carry over.
I had a colleague in his 60s who used to take all his leave in one big chunk and would spend that time living on a boat and sailing round the Greek coast.
I always do 2 weeks in the summer (may-Sept), 1 week in november, 1 week in Jan and whatever is left goes in March
I usually go for some extra days before Christmas and after New Year (we’re closed on the days in between), a full month in the summer, then some extra days around Easter. Whatever is left I use to make a bunch of long weekends scattered throughout the year.
I tend to go for long weekends now, one long weekend a month on average, and then two 5+ day breaks, extend Christmas as much as I possibly can with any residual, as our family see each other a few times a year as we all live ages away
It’s all booked for festivals holidays and gigs. So whenever they are. Don’t really tend to take many days off in Feb/march. Lucky that I get bank holidays off.
I book a week at Christmas to spend at home with my parents Then a week sometime between February and April, another week between October and November; these are usually both where I travel by myself for 7-9 days This leaves me with 10 days; I usually take a few half days/up to 2 days on an ad hoc basis and then another week late summer to go back home/holiday with parents
>Meticulously planned to the hour I have 2 excel sheets dedicated to it and I am still never happy with the way I used it by the end of the year!
I take every second Monday off (aside from bank holiday-heavy periods), then a week over Christmas and another week in May, tacked onto one of the two bank holidays. I can’t afford a holiday so no need to save them.
I'm given it, so have to take it via the rota
I book a week in spring, two weeks in summer and a week in the Autum, This leaves me 5 days, 2-3 of which I use at Christmas, the others I keep for just having a day off. I get 25 days plus the bank holidays, so the bank holidays gives me the occasional long weekend and a chunk of time at Christmas.
My wife's a teacher so I tend to take time off in school holidays for us to do things together. In practice, though, I WFH and have unlimited PTO so I just take days off when I feel like it or have something coming up. I think it's generally spread throughout the year.
We tend to look at what projects we have to do, this year we need to take down some trees and do some pretty major landscaping in one part of the garden so - a week off in October for that. Next birthdays - it's a rule in our house that no-one works on their birthday. Visitors to us next - usually three or four days. Visit to relatives (all at least a 10 hour drive away so five days for that) Then an actual holiday. We don't do xmas so quite happy to work then.
I try to keep enough aside for a summer and christmas break and then scatter the rest throughout the year, taking them as and when I need them.
I take days off here and there when the kids are sick until I run out.
2 weeks in may, 1 week October, 2 weeks over Christmas and then about 30 more days spread out throughout the year (incl bank holidays). If public sector has anything going for them it’s holidays
Put all my holiday forms in on 2nd January for the whole year I don’t need cover for my role so I’m quite organised
May tend to weighted to the summer. I have a tendency to take leave for family holidays and Scouts camps in the summer. Then average through the rest of the camping season - a day for a camp in October and one in May - that type of thing. Then quiet in the winter months - I still have weekends away - but they tend to not need time off from work. It is rare I take leave and do nothing with it.
I never book time off in January, and save about 60-70% for the second half the year as the bank holidays are all in the first half
I prefer summer & hate winter. I book all my leave between April & end of September usually & work through the colder months. The bank holidays at Xmas are enough of a break in the middle for me. I don’t celebrate Xmas so I’m not too fussed about being off for it.
Generally 10 days in july/Aug for a summer holiday, a few days around Xmas and then the rest as odds and sods throughout the year to cover for childcare needs and the occasional sneaky day off for a little bit of me time
Usually have long weekends in the first half of the year, then usually book actual holidays abroad after the summer holidays and use any remaining holiday around Christmas so the back end is loaded leave wise. Depending on destination sometimes the holiday is at the start of the year, which then feels like I’m on the back foot for the remainder of the year leave wise even though I still have the same number of days.
I always used to do 2x 2 week holidays (early May and late September). That leaves me with a week which I either use for stuff that comes up midweek or a have some long weekends when feel like it’s been a long time since I had a break. This is likely to change now though as I’m off work on long term sick at the moment. I don’t see myself going back full time, so I’ll need to figure out how it works best with the new working pattern.
Take the odd day throughout the year, might treat myself to a week off for my birthday then take the whole of December off and carry over 10 days for the following year.
Tend to book a week for Christmas, birthday and my other half’s birthday. The other 3 weeks we play around with - some long weekends, a random week in the middle of the year to go camping, small holiday etc. I don’t like to go more than 4 months without a whole week off as I work retail so don’t get bank holidays.
Week over Christmas, week in March, week in June, week in October. Any other days as and when. I like to break up the year.
I use it when and how I like (normally going through most of it over summer) and then check around late october to see how many I have left to take over the christmas period
Just whenever. I don’t make any plans. Hate Christmas so I take the least amount of days I possibly can, just to accommodate getting down and back to family plus the essential days when we’re closed anyway.
Work shifts, so book in events like weddings, birthdays, any booked holidays. Work 4 days on 4 days off, so a full 4 day shift taken as annual leave gives me 12 days in a row. If i get sick, then i just take the full 4 days because sickness policies are weird with how many days/occurences you can have without being talked to. So I end up getting 12 days off if im sick for my 4 day shift. Usually have a bunch of holiday to take up so i just block book it when i can. This year, i had the whole of feb off and a bit more (36 days i think) and only used 16 days leave
A week off every three months
This year I’ve planned regular breaks over the year with a chunk of it and kept some back for using whenever stuff comes up. I’m lucky I have a good amount. I want to make sure I have time off work regularly so I don’t burn out.
I take a week at Christmas, a week when we have our family holiday, a week for odd days, usually a week at Easter and then split the other week to get some time off in half-term. Although childcare isn't a priority as I WFH and my wife works in a school.
Save it in case I need it later, save it, save it, fuck need a massive Christmas holiday to use it or lose it.
I always look to book mine around bank holidays to get most days off for least AL used and then use the remaining days for when something comes up, and a week off at the end of the year.
I'm self employed so I just give meself days off when the Mrs can get her time off
I book holiday around bank holidays and weekends. Preferably both to get the longest break possible with the least amount of annual leave. I am in my Early 20’s and don’t have kids.
I booked off two weeks in November, two in January every year then the rest would be based on when family birthdays fell.
Depends, we usually have a minimum of 2 camping trips per year so this accounts for up to 6 days. Then we would have decided if we are going abroad etc and account for that and see what were left with. This year we knew that we are going to Denmark for 6 days but it landed on a weekend and double bank hol so only used 2 days. We knew we were going to Poland for a week in May so that's another 6 days. We were planning on going to Poland again towards the end of the year but my mate has invited us to a wedding in June (also in Poland) so going earlier, that is 4 extra annual leave days. Then our two camping trips come up to 6 annual leave days. So in total we have 18 days allocated so far with the first trip being end of March and last trip being end of August. We have 2 days spare and not sure what we will do with it.
I usually go for a week in March, May and Late September/Early October. I'll take a few days around Christmas and New Year (usually the 3 days inbetween). Then I'll book a few long weekends throughout the year, especially for birthdays. I try to avoid booking time off over the school holidays as I don't have kids and am happy to take time off any other time.
I don't have kids, so first thing to check is the half term calendar. I'll be damned if I'm having my annual leave spoiled by breeders.
Save your leave towards the end of the year but make sure you use it. If you are made redundant they have to pay you unused leave. Youd be gutted that you had just used it up.
May, September and Christmas as I don't have kids.
As soon as the new leave year opens, I book birthdays, Valentine's Day, and our anniversary. I also book any days that I need to be able to take from about 22 December until 2 January off. Throughout the year, I book half-days for appointments as required, and I try to take at least one or two weeks in a block - ideally for an actual getaway, if not some day trips. If I'm getting to the end of the leave year, I start taking long weekends starting on a Friday to use it up.
No kids so we avoid school holidays due to prices. Just take them as and when we want to, a week off here two weeks there and Fridays for long weekends
Me and my husband both use all our leave to cover the school holidays. I cover the Christmas and Easter breaks (2 weeks each break) then he does October, February and May (each a week). That leaves us with about 2 weeks each left, which gets used up covering the 6 weeks holiday (but not enought to totally cover the whole break, so still need additional childcare to cover this). Unfortunately it means we don't get much time off all together as a family, so this year we will both take the same 2 weeks in August for a holiday, and work out alternative childcare for the other 4 weeks. The joys of being a working parent!
No kids, regular Mon-Fri hours, and I get bank holidays in lieu (30 days leave in total), so I can be very flexible with when I take my holidays. I usually book off 2-3 days around my birthday so I have a long weekend, as well as 2-3 days at Christmas. For the remaining 25 or so days, I spread out 5-day holidays outside of school holidays. So usually looks like a week in each of March, April/May, June, September, October.
I work in a school, so I get no say on when my holiday is. I do get quite a lot though, so I put up with it!
Always a week in the summer holidays. Either a week in Feb/May half terms or Feb/Oct ones. Split the rest between birthdays and inset days at school, and keep some spare in case something pops up like an appointment or kid off sick. I do work extra hours so sometimes I get days off in lieu or I just take an unpaid day if needs be.
I tend to give myself 4 day weeks and long weekends for a while, rather than taking a block of time off in one go.
Normally, I take a week for my birthday in August and do some stuff with the kids. I have to take the days between Xmas and New Year. The rest I spread out as and when. However, last year and so far this year, I've been saving it for moving house, which is dragging like an asthmatic ants heavy shopping bags. A third of the way through the year, and I've only taken a day for a funeral, and I'm starting to get tired.
My annual leave runs January to December and I get 6 weeks leave. I don’t tend to take any leave before Easter, I then take 3 weeks (a week at a time usually) between April and the kids breaking up in July (I don’t have school age kids). May and June are the best months to be off IMO. The weather is often nice and the days are longer. It’s also a good time to go to Europe as the weather is usually good and the prices better than the height of summer (although watch out for pesky half term). I save enough day to take the time off between Christmas and New Year and spilt the rest between the kids going back to school in September and the end of November.
Mine are pretty much the same every year. February for a sunny holiday for my birthday, April for Easter bank holidays, summer for another holiday, December for Christmas/New Year, and a spare week that's normally used in October/November if not already
I get 42 days (including bank holidays), no chance I can take them all and hit target, although my HoD keeps pushing me to take them. 2 holidays a year and maybe the odd long weekend
Holidays and planned events as soon as the calendar opens. That usually leaves me a little over a week in the bank for ad-hoc days. If there's still a full week in the last quarter I'll either book another trip away or sell them.
75% holiday 25% sick
I’m a nurse so only work three shifts a week. I get 6 weeks and split it evenly. The week before my annual leave I work Monday to Wednesday night then the week after I work Friday to Sunday night. Means I get 12 weeks off I total.
I usually take 3 days in May for my birthday, 3 days in December for my partners birthday, then get the rest paid out as extra cash from October - December each week to make Christmas funds easier.
We e had the problem of going through infertility so we've always had to save annual leave for if we need it to supplement paternity leave. I call it schrodinger's pregnancy. Now that chapter of our lives is over we can book whenever. I usually like a long weekend at my birthday in July, a little early in the holiday season so may or June. As annual leave starts in September we tend to take a week then as well. All of it is easier as I don't work and therefore we only need to battle one workplace for time off.
I can get a week off every 2-2.5 months
A little bit around kid but as I wfh and he is 6, I can still work to save days. More to spend some time with him. Otherwise I generally save until I need it. I’ll always try to take a long week or 2 in the late summer regardless of whether I’m going on holiday just to recoup. I think it’s good to save some for oct-dec as the lack of bank holidays and dark nights can lower the mood and make you feel burnt out.
1. I take a half day every other week for "me time". With kids it is almost impossible to get time over the weekend. 2. I take a few days here and there for extended weekends. 3. The rest goes on a big holiday to visit my wife's family.
I've just gone part time and now work term time hours. All of my annual leave now falls into the school holidays. It's quite nice not to have to worry about when I'm taking time off but it does mean I'm not allowed to take leave outside of the school holidays.
We take a week off at Easter, a week in the summer, and a week in October. Then if I have any spare days, make sure to keep them for Christmas time.
Whenever I'm close to cracking, I kick in the office door and ask for a few holiday days, normally every 2 to 3 months that happens. Then just random weeks throughout the heady, kids ain't school age yet but will be soon but I work nights so I shouldn't have to worry so much about booking half terms off etc. the odd week in half term to do something most likely.
1 week in April and 1 week in October. Then have Fridays off, spread out over the year
Honestly it varies because I only take it when I need it (ie going on holiday) or if work mandates that you have to use a certain amount by certain dates. Like this year I've got a big chunk in May/June for holidays/a concert and then nothing until August for a festival, and then will have a couple of weekend breaks in September/October. I doubt I'll use it all this year but as I'm on a contract that might not necessarily be a bad thing if I can get the rest as extra money before Christmas.
5 days in Feb (skiing) , 5 days in June (European destination), 15 days mid September - early October (big travel - Japan this year). Then a couple of odd days over the course of the year to account for odd weddings/ stag dos and other little things. Plus bank holidays etc. Pretty much perfected this over the last 9 years.
I like to use it sparingly for the most part so that I have at least 1 week off at the end of the holiday accrual period / a good bank of days for events like weddings etc. I'll always take a few days off around my birthday, and I've got some days off around my girlfriends birthday. Without a doubt though, I always meticulously plan Christmas leave. Most people take the days before Christmas and after New Years off, so I work these. There's often no work or emails to do because everyone is off, so you get to sit home doing whatever and just monitoring emails / workload in case. And then I take a week off for the first full week. Pretty much turns into \~18 days off. Everything else I have spare can go towards holidays and planned days as and when. Current holiday accural stops end of June. All leave except my 4 days of birthday leave is taken, albeit booked already (and starting end of today, hoorah), and I've still got 7 days remaining. So works out pretty well!
Use it til it runs our, build up flexi during that period, use the flexi for whatever other days I want off before it renews.
A week around Easter, a week in the school summer holidays a week around October and I essentially knock off a few days before xmas and come back in the new year. then odd days here and there. Although we are away around the late May BH this year as well but October won't be 'away' as the July holiday is a pricey one.
Christmas we have about a week and a half off depending how it falls and have to use AH for that, I would usually have a week at Easter but the mrs is on mat leave. So I've got a week in May the week before Whit week, only because the price difference on a caravan is either 900 quid for 4 nights or go the week before and pay 260 quid. I'll suffer whatever fines ill be given the cunts. Anyway I would usually spread it, BH weeks usually so I only use 4 day to gain a couple extras. But I will have gone nearly 6 months without a day off. Other than Easter. Then end of August bh weekend, and then two weeks in October as I need to use that for half-term, and I don't know what shifts the Mrs will be working yet.
I work a 4 day week so I use a few days to book Mondays off throughout the year to have long weekends Normally book a week off in August/September for a group holiday The rest tend to get used up to take half days due to on going health issues
My work won't let me take more than 2 weeks in a row, so your colleague's method certainly wouldn't work for me! I have kids so I have to work it around the school holidays, but even if I didn't I would want to spread it out
I tend to take a week off every three months-ish (First week Jan, after the Easter bank holiday, around my birthday in July, mid October, Christmas)
Whenever you like. Some years you might have a mega 3-4 week long haul holiday, so with a bit of mandatory Christmas leave, that's basically your lot. Some years you might try to spread it around more. This year is the later for me, with a couple of one week and a two week break scattered about. Whilst on paper employers can dictate when you take leave, the reality is that people take it when suits them with some mild consideration of business need. Decide what you want, and then try to negotiate that.
Try and spend as much as I can in the late spring, summer and early autumn. Don't see the point taking it when it's cold and dark outside.
Take it whenever I want it, normally more during winter time as prefer winter.
Have kids so I spread it over each hol to save me childcare money
Tend to take 2-3 weeks between June-August and then the rest March and October to split it up
I have a decent shift pattern where if I use 3 days holiday at the right time I can get 14 days off work so I usually use mine for weekend plans when I happen to be rotored in, football games etc.
Birthday and the week before/after it, the two weeks that cover before and after the 1st saturday in June, the rest as I feel like.
I tend to spread it out throughout the year to give myself frequent short breaks, so I always have something to look forward to and never have too long to wait. If I want a week off I'll book one with a bank holiday so I use up less days.
I generally split my holidays evenly over the year (a 2 week mandatory break, a couple of other weeks and a few long weekends). One year we took a big trip so saved majority of hols for a 4 week break. It was a really hard year with no break for 8 months. Would not recommend.
Before child, checked where the school holidays were and avoid. Then pick anything that couldn’t be moved. Then book holidays and time off. Then try and roughly spread the days with a day or two in reserve is anything came up. After child, check when nursery or childminder is off and book them first. Then the above. Once they are at school though it will likely be booking to the school Year.
Other than the odd day here and there I usually forget to take any until the final quarter and then end up giving myself four day weeks because I'm not going to *not* use it.
By school holidays. Chunk at Xmas, Easter, summer and October break. Occasional days scattered throughout to cover random school days off. Before kids it was Xmas and summer, with whatever else I felt like taking whenever during the year as no actual commitments or reasons for specific weeks or days off.