Stop Letting Your Vacation Days Expire: 5 Game-Changing Strategies to Actually Take Time Off

We’ve reached the mid-point of 2025 – do you know where your vacation is?! 

If you haven’t taken a single vacation this year, you’re not in the minority. Many times, project deadlines and pressing issues take front seat, and taking breaks from work are in the back seat – or packed in the trunk with beach towels and grocery bags. 

But we all know the value of stepping away and recharging. We know it, but sometimes it’s more difficult to actually do what we know. Here are some ideas to turn vacation planning on its head so that all of that recharging becomes a reality. 

Use your Thanksgiving break to plan out the following year

Yes, you read that right! Before you tumble into holidays and year-end craziness, get out your calendar and do some dreaming with your family. Put some dates and locations down in pen and share them with your colleagues as soon as possible. Even if the actual vacations won’t happen for some time, you’ll have the dates locked in and plenty of time to make your plans. 

Can’t see yourself going on week, two-week, or three-week vacations? Plan mini-vacations

Using the same guidance to plan over Thanksgiving break, look at several long weekends that can give you something to look forward to in the new year. You might try alternating mini-vacation destinations with ones that require air travel, but you can be super flexible with destinations and dates. The alternative would be staycations or locations that are a very easy drive from your home base. 

Don’t underestimate the fun and relaxation of staycations

Staycations require the same discipline and planning as a go-away vacation but are much kinder on your bank account and present fewer hiccups. A staycation can mean everything from hiding your alarm clock, not leaving your home, and staying in your pajamas for a long weekend to playing super tourist in your hometown. They can be a solo adventure or include the whole immediate or extended family. 

Here's where the discipline part comes in: clear your calendar and resist the temptation to check in with the same rigor as if you were leaving the country. This staycation is for you to recharge and enjoy your leisure time so don’t do it halfway. 

Trade planning with a colleague or friend

What’s a huge reason why vacation time does not get used? The burden of planning it! Doing the research and making reservations can be very time consuming. And sometimes you’re just too close to the dream and get overwhelmed in creating the perfect vacation. 

One solution to consider is trading off with a trusted colleague or friend. Offer to help them calendar their breaks and create a dream itinerary to get them rolling. Ask that they do the same for you. A professional travel agent may or may not be needed (and many times are worth the investment for sure!). But that relationship and bartering can be just the push you both need to achieve your much-needed time away. 

Consider spiritual retreats for a wonderful change of pace 

Another fantastic way to recharge and change things up is to take a weekend (or longer) retreat. Retreat centers of every faith are located around the world and offer a great deal of flexibility. Most have lots of planned content to deliver that may appeal to you, and many of them offer unstructured time just to enjoy the quiet pace. A lot of retreat centers are available to reserve for family reunions or gatherings of friends in that unstructured format. 

Typical time frames are 3-4, 8, or 30 day retreats. But some have even found great energy from a half or whole day retreat – at a retreat center or somewhere you create. I knew a marketing director who would religiously take a retreat day every single quarter. Her formula for this retreat: sleep in, get coffee & a light breakfast, head to a different local museum, stroll the museum with zero agenda and no deadlines – just take in the art as it came, grab a snack at the café and people watch, then go home to a dinner that someone else prepared. The time surrounded by art inspired her and gave her new ideas for projects – and just the break she needed from pressing deadlines and ruts. 

As a retreat junkie, it would be my pleasure to help you find one that suits you. And I’d also be delighted to be your vacation planning swap friend. 

Here’s to not letting another year of unused vacation time go by – enjoy! 

Take care of yourself to take better care of others. Block time for your next break today – your wellbeing fuels your impact.

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About the Author

Catherine Fuss, brings over 20 years of corporate experience from GE to help professionals achieve better work-life balance. A Duke University graduate and certified Six Sigma master black belt, Catherine combines strategic thinking with practical solutions for busy professionals seeking meaningful time away from work