Two work days left until we leave on our trip. I've been closely guarding my PTO since I started my new job, as new hires have to accrue vacation days. Having long tenure at both of my previous companies, it's an unusual feeling to not have time off. Knowing I had both New Zealand & Greece in 2026, I've been very sparing with my days off.
I have taken a total of one day of PTO (split into two four hour chunks) to accommodate an early flight for Christmas, and similar flight for the Las Vegas trip in October. I got "lucky" in that I also had to travel on a holiday 2x, and earned a comp day for each. At my previous company, you also received a comp day if you missed an entire weekend day. Not the case here, which is... not the best, let's just say. Anyway, whatever.
This is the longest trip DH & I have ever taken, and I'm pretty sure it's my longest vacation from any job I've been at. I'm excited & looking forward to relaxing. I've been at the company for 7 months, so I'm definitely looking forward to the break.
I've been mapping out other planned time off, and here's what's on the agenda. Reviewing this helps me track my PTO, and creates mini milestones to look forward to.
- February - New Zealand. President's Day falls during this trip, saving me one day of PTO
- March - Nick will be home for spring break, and then I'll fly to Las Vegas & spend a night there + hike at Zion with a couple of friends
- April - at the very end of April, I'll fly to Boulder & hang out with Nick & help him move his college stuff to my BFF's garage (bless her) & then Nick & I will fly back together
- May - nothing currently booked
- June - likely US work travel + Greece
- July - likely Tokyo work travel + our company closes for three days. If everyone else can make it, we will rent a house at the Oregon coast. If that doesn't' work out, M & I will likely take the boys to a California national park.
- August - Nick's move back to Boulder
- September - family weekend in Boulder
- October - I'm tentatively running a half marathon with my sister + BFF (assuming I can get my hip issue treated) in Portland, which will be a long weekend. And, then M & I are going to Sedona for a hiking trip.
- November - Nick flying back for Thanksgiving
- December - Nick flying in for Christmas, Christmas at my parents house.
A friend of mine went to NZ for a wedding and she mentioned how long the trip was. Hope you manage a bit of sleep.
ReplyDeleteWe kind of plan our trips, but being retired that is relatively easy. However our family reunion and our river cruise are awfully close together. That kind of bugs me.
God bless.
Luckily, there's a direct flight from SFO to Christchurch, which is 14 hours, plus don't forget the hour of pre-boarding, given it's international. Then we arrive, get our bags, clear customs & move on to a flight to Queenstown, which will be our final destination. We opted a lot of other moving parts (so much to see!), but for this trip, we will stay in the south of the South Island. - HP
DeleteI love that you say "That's it". You are one busy woman. I'm glad you have fun travel in there as well as the grueling work travel. While I love reading vacation blogs, I hope you and M fully dive into everything and we get caught up on your return.
ReplyDeleteOnce I add in Nick's travel (and, anything we are doing related to that), things do stack up! Luckily, we like Boulder & my BFF is there, so it's a really enjoyable destination for us, even when we are in a hurry & hoarding PTO days. I'd say zero chance for any updates the first week, with maybe a few pictures the second half. We are pretty good about focusing on the moment. - HP
DeleteMan! You have more than earned this PTO. I wish companies were more flexible, give folks the time without them having to hoard the days. My friend got married a month or two after starting a new job and she only had enough vacation time for maybe a few days off? The rest had to be unpaid. I felt bad for her!
ReplyDeleteI'm at the YOLO point of my life, age & finances, where as needed, I'd definitely take unpaid time off. But, I was able to hoard it and had a bit of time to accrue time off before my two big international trips. - HP
DeleteCompanies are really cracking down on how much time people get off. My Lil siss company just took away all health benefits. Luckily, she is retired.
ReplyDeleteM's company is almost worse. He gets "unlimited" time off, which means people actually take less, and when you leave, you don't get paid out for any accrued PTO. It's been shown to be much worse for employees, of course. - HP
DeleteI envy your travels, even with the PTO issues.
ReplyDeleteThank you! We are very excited - HP
DeleteThe agency I work for does not require our bosses to follow the normal merit state employees days allowed off. Consequently, for full time employees they get two weeks combined for sick and comp time, which starts over at the beginning of every year so no carry over. If you leave you also do not get paid for that time. If you use more your pay is docked.
ReplyDeleteSince I am 3/4 time I get zero paid time off although I am supposed to get every Friday afternoon off. The reality is that I get called for emergencies when on “vacation” to visit my grandkids on the other side of this country. Not ideal but nothing I can do about it except quit. I also am technically on call, even when not on call. If we have a dead body in the middle of the night, I am going to get called. We do not receive comp time, unlike law enforcement, who do. It is what it is and I look forward to the day I am completely retired!!! Of course, years ago, when I was in private practice and doing divorce work, I would get called in the middle months night from frantic clients if, say, there was a fight. If self employed, there is no PTO. … lol. So I am kind of used to this and come from a long line of farmers who never got time off either. Cindy in the South
That sounds really awful, Cindy. Reiterating my take that you are a hero! My parents, while not well paid, both worked at a public school, so there was plenty of time off, although not flexible. My two previous employers before this were slightly more generous than my current employer. I'm always technically "on call", but I don't keep my phone on ring at night, so.... ;-) I also have folks in two other time zones who can get called. I've also warned my boss that i'm not bringing my laptop (a major red flag normally) because i'm hiking through the rain forest. It's true, and... a great reason not to work. She still has my number on Whatsapp, however. - HP
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