What Is Vacation Shaming And Where To Spot It

Have you ever been told you go abroad too much? That you’re always on holiday? Or if you ever actually do any work? I’m talking about vacation shaming; the phenomenon where colleagues, bosses, friends, and family choose to judge or discourage your choice to travel. Let’s change that, shall we? 

I recently came across this Forbes article on how vacation shaming is a serious management issue for companies. It got me thinking a number of comparable situations I’ve encountered, both in the workplace or in my personal life which I thought would make for an interesting post.

I tend to felt uneasy about discussing holiday leave. I know it is a huge privilege to have paid annual leave the way we do in the UK (compared to some countries), and I often take long haul flights to places such as New Zealand and Australia so understand that this too is extremely lucky. Nonetheless, should I be made to feel guilty for taking those trips? If I explain why I choose to take fewer, longer trips does it make a difference to people’s opinions?

Here are a few of my own observations around the problem of vacation shaming, and where it most commonly occurs.

What Is Vacation Shaming?

Vacation shaming is where a person is made to feel guilty, ashamed, or even discouraged from taking holiday time off. The term is most commonly used in reference to a work environment, however, can also apply to a number of situations where travel is frowned upon.

Vacation shaming is an especially modern issue, most prevalent in the millennial age group who have shown in studies to list “nervousness” and “guilt” as top reasons for not taking holiday that they are entitled to.

Annual leave can feel like an awkward topic to talk about. Sometimes it feels like letting people in on a secret, or revealing personal details about yourself. Or maybe that’s just me. I feel my excitement to get away on a break could call into question how much I value my career, friends, and family.

Does taking my allocated annual leave make me selfish? Lazy? I really don’t believe so, in fact, there are numerous reasons to argue that why travelling and taking time off is great for your physical and mental health. So why are we so reluctant to do so?

Granted, not all of us feel the pressure from vacation shaming. And to those people: Thank you! Thank you for continuing to show us (currently) less courageous folk that there is light at the end of the tunnel, and freedom awaits. Thank you for being the examples to prove a healthy work/life/holiday balance IS possible.

Who Experiences Vacation Shaming?

I thought long and hard about why there is an increase in vacation shaming in recent times. Surely years ago our parents and grandparents were not made to feel regretful when taking a holiday? Travel and holidaying were celebrated and no one gave two hoots as to whether you were doing it too much or too little. Why have things changed?

From my perspective, a lot comes down to the highly connected world we now live in. Long gone are the explorers discovering new mysterious places. Nowadays it’s a quick Google search and you’ve got thousands of pictures, guides, tips, and info on any given place in seconds.

It literally looks like people are travelling and living their #bestlife at every click.

Being bombarded with so much stuff online has changed the way we live, and the way we travel (Note: I’m super aware this is written on a travel blog… Sorry). There is so much more to learn, so much to do, so much to cram into each day. And, that means we’re seeing so many more people travelling, and it looks like it never ends! Our saturated minds are filled with others’ doing amazing things from every corner of the globe, yet our realities feel so, so different.

In a nutshell, this means that pretty much anyone and everyone can experience vacation shaming, such as the world we live in has made it so.

Do you agree with any of the following scenarios where vacation shaming occurs?

The Influencer Lifestyle

The influencer lifestyle is one of extravagance, and can often appear self-indulgent and excessive. It’s important to remember that when complaining about influencers’ seemingly constant jet-setting, this might not actually be the case. Furthermore, for some this is a real job that they work hard for.

Influencers are some of the most-judged travellers.

In fairness, their worlds seem so far removed from real life, it can be hard not to think that yet another retreat to Bali just sounds unnecessary. But that’s a whole industry and subsection of marketing now, and there are many aspiring influencers out there also highlight-reeling their travels in this way.

So, instead of shaming we might consider appreciating the context behind such posts and remember that they take a lot of effort and time to create this content.

Social Media FOMO

Social media presents a fake reality. We know it, but we don’t always accept it. I’m not always abroad but I work hard on editing photos and enjoy sharing stories from my trips, even when I’m not there!

Maybe this delayed photo sharing is caused by a habit of taking way too many photos on my part, or maybe it’s my unwavering wanderlust that causes permanent nostalgia. Either way, the comments of…

“But you’re ALWAYS away!”

…sound like a subtle dig for sharing photos from abroad. I’d rather not caveat every post with a disclaimer, instead it would be great to treat photo sharing as simply that – a place to enjoy inspiration and appreciate beautiful places! 

Bloggers

In some awful companies, taking holiday could be considered a sign of weakness. That you’re not committed enough to the job. That you don’t even care. With every 20-something looking for the next step in their career, it’s hard not to feel easily replaceable. And taking annual leave is just another mark against you in many offices, especially when there are so many willing and eager, and incredibly skilled, workers ready to take your place.

Have you ever had an interview go really well, everyone clicks, and then right at the end you’re asked

“So do you have any holidays planned?”

Mood killer or what. Panic sets in and you instantly reply “No, none at all!”. Followed by an awkward giggle trying to mask the fact you and the girls are going for a long weekend to Amsterdam in 2 months. But that doesn’t count, right? It feels like the ultimate example of vacation shaming. To feel so guilty about taking leave from a job you don’t even have yet. I’m sure there have been plenty of instances where job seekers have avoided booking a trip in case in disrupts their job search.

The fear that you could be rejected from a job because of your holiday plans are frankly absurd. Sure, it could be really annoying to fit around, or it might stunt a small part of your training, or might not work with colleagues’ holidays but if someone is right for the job, why not make it work? It’s only going to be a fraction of an employees total hours they put in, and if they’re not worth the sacrifice of compromising a couple of weeks holiday then it’s a real shame to lose that talent.

Maybe the hiring decision doesn’t come down to being rejected or not based on holiday plans, I truly hope not. But in some cases an honest answer could sway the vote if a company hasn’t already implemented an appropriate or organised system to allow for vacations for their current AND new employees.

Finding a company that respects your personal circumstances and interests outside of work is crucial to avoiding vacation shaming in the workplace. I’m fortunate enough to have such a company to work for, and despite my own concerns and stresses around taking annual leave, knowing it’s encouraged by my boss it’s a huge relief!

Management Miseducation

Working harder means working better. Doesn’t make sense, does it? A lack of proper training for managers, or even a gap in the knowledge of how staff work styles differ, might be causing dissonance between managers and employees.

A manager sees that their team member is not working to the full potential. Rather than think this might be caused by burnout or a sign that they need some time off, the manager may assume, incorrectly, that the employee needs to work through that struggle, rather than step back from it. A reluctance of speaking up, or possibly a misunderstanding of their own state, means the employee goes along with it and continues to be overworked.

In such a fast-paced world where young startups pop up and grow exponentially, industries are saturated with bright talent and eager-to-please workers, it can be easy to see why managers miss the mark when it comes to time off.

An “all hands on deck” attitude indicates that looking for time off makes you less of a team player. But in reality, each person in a team is pretty darn unique and requires to be treated so. Some people don’t necessarily enjoy longer chunks of time off. They might be satisfied with a few days sprinkled throughout the year. But that’s not an excuse to assume ALL staff will be similar.

People work at their full potential in vastly different ways. From early risers to night owls, from complete silence to headphones at full blast. Managers should listen to what their team needs, and remember that the way they work isn’t the way everyone else does.

Millennial Fears & Finances

This one is more of a personal observation than anything else. I’m by no means knowledgeable about actual stats and data around millennial behaviours, so it’s really a guess from my experience. I’ve noticed that my peer group are very reluctant to take their annual leave, because they want to grow and progress as much and as quickly as possible. Somehow, we’ve got it into our heads that holidays could hinder that?! We so silly.

On top of our crippling fears that we’re inadequate if we even contemplate taking our eye off the ball, we simply struggle to afford it. As mentioned, extortionate rent and living costs in places such as London mean that saving for a trip anywhere is practically like taking out a mortgage. But we don’t have those either. Sigh. Even moving out of our parent’s home is a challenge. How can we even begin to consider spending money on going away?!

Wherever we’ve got these ideas that we CAN’T take time off are really the crux of the problem.

I believe that the attitude towards time off and travel have been changing slowly, and very much so in line with the rise of technology, social media, and a work/life shift. All of these examples of vacation shaming express those exact areas of modern life, and until we start changing our attitudes as quickly as our smartphones, we’ll be stuck with vacation shaming.

These are just some of the circumstances I can think of where I’ve observed or experienced vacation shaming, and I highly doubt that’s all of them!

Subscribe to my blog to keep up to date on the next instalment of this topic, where we look at unlimited annual leave and whether it’s too good to be true.

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