PTO and Vacation Time

I work a full time job, and one of the perks of the job is that I get vacation time. My husband’s job calls it PTO, which is paid time off. His PTO can be used for either sick or vacation time, whereas I get separate amounts of time to use for vacation and sick time. Understandably, he doesn’t want to use all of his PTO for vacation, because he wants to bank a few days just in case he gets sick and needs to use some PTO for sick time.

Unfortunately, we do not get the same amount of vacation time as each other each year. I get more vacation time than he does. He has told me that he is okay with me traveling on my own if I would like to so I can use my vacation time and also see the world. I truly appreciate that! I miss him terribly when I travel solo, but I love to travel and I want to go to new places and see new things! He misses me too, but he doesn’t want me to lose my vacation time if I don’t use it.

I wish everyone would get the same amount of vacation time and then get a separate account with the same amount of sick time. It would make planning things so much easier! And that way, we could go on more vacations together!

Also, I feel that it would be in the best interest of companies to offer more vacation time. People are more productive when they’re well-rested and can take care of their mental health. For me, travel improves my mental health. It helps me look forward to something, and the act of traveling is fun and enjoyable! When I go to work after traveling, I feel re-energized and ready to tackle all of the emails waiting for me in my inbox! But sometimes when I get back, I dread opening my inbox to see tons of emails! Overall, it is worth it to go on vacation and get out of the house!