Today is a good day. This evening I will be setting off on a two-week vacation, for the first time in about 3 years. OK, it’s not that I haven’t had any time off for 3 years. But, apart from some long weekends locally and a trip to somewhere a bit more exotic for a friend’s wedding, I have been using my (meagre) vacation allowance to go home and see friends and family, and while that is wonderful, it is not the same as going on holiday!
I don’t want to get into too much of a rant when I’m in such a good mood, but US vacation allowances are one of my favourite grievances. I come from a country where it’s normal to get about 25 days off a year, plus holidays (plus more or less unlimited sick days, because people don’t choose to get sick; but that’s another topic). My postdoc contract officially allows me 5 days off plus holidays. 5 days! It would be miserable even if I were from here; since I’m not, it basically means I can just about get home twice a year but don’t even think about trying to do anything else. Luckily, my PI is little more flexible than my contract, so I do take more time than that, but it still feels restricted. At home, I would probably take all of my allowed time off and no one would think anything of it. Here, I wait with a mixture of guilt and trepidation to see if my boss feels like I deserve a holiday this year. Travel is one of my passions but pretty much the only way I can pursue it is by only seeing my family once a year. I don’t believe that taking more time off would make me less productive either. In fact, it would probably make me more productive.
My boyfriend thinks that my situation is not typical. I say most people I know in my field in the US take even less time off than I do. He says his experience has been that research scientists take more time off than I do, especially the ones that come from overseas. Any thoughts?
Anyway, I see I have been somewhat unsuccessful in avoiding a rant, so I will leave it there and go back to feeling excited about my trip. I have been running around like a maniacal headless chicken all week trying to finish up experiments, so it is only now sinking in that I am off for two weeks of pure fun! I can’t wait. See you in two weeks.
The Human Scientist 