Is there really a holiday called “National Plan For Vacation Day” and when is it celebrated? The U.S. Travel Association came up with this annual holiday to remind Americans to plan a vacation at the start of the year. In 2020 the date is Tuesday, January 28. Are you going to mark your calendar to “celebrate” this made-up holiday by planning your next trip? Be inspired to travel more in 2020 by using all your vacation days.
We could all use a reminder to take our earned, accrued, and paid time off from work. The New Year is the perfect opportunity to look at the calendar and make a plan to take your vacation days. That is why the U.S. Travel Association, an organization that promotes travel and tourism in the USA, are behind this annual event. They want working people to not just value their limited time off, but to use that free time for vacationing in America.
U.S. Travel Association Key Facts
“National Plan for Vacation Day helps highlight the importance of taking time off to travel—both for our personal health and well-being and for the overall economic prosperity of our nation.”
- 55% of Americans left vacation time on the table in 2018 (that’s a total of 768 million unused vacation days!)
- 83% of American workers want to use their time off to travel (whether that’s flying, a road trip, or visiting a nearby place)
- Planners are more likely to use their time off to travel (we all get busy so make time in January to plan future vacations)
- 86% of Americans say they have not seen enough of their own country (it is a huge country from coast to coast plus Alaska and Hawaii)
National Plan For Vacation Day Factsheet (PDF)
How to Celebrate Plan For Vacation Day
OK there’s no official holiday to “celebrate” on January 28th, but you can still take time out of your workday to think about travel. I would have preferred a Plan For Vacation Week as that give us more flexibility to plan our vacation days and also suggests that we take a week off this year. 2020 has 12 months of vacation opportunities, so get planning!
- Look Up your Vacation and Holiday Benefits at your job
- Get out your Work Calendar to flag potential Vacation Days
- Make a List of Places and Destinations you want to visit this year
- Calculate your Vacation Count to plan to use all your time off
- Get your Vacation Day requests approved by your employer
- Start Your Vacation Planning by booking travel today!
The key takeaway is to get excited about vacation planning at the beginning of the year. How many vacation days will you earn, what trips are you hoping to book, and what improvements can you make to your work-life-vacation balance? Before you get busy with life’s responsibilities and you feel stressed about work, add vacations to your calendar and get planning!
Americans who take vacations report they are
Source: U.S. Travel Association
happier with their job, company, relationships
and health. Join us on January 28 for National
PlanForVacation Day and commit your days off
for the rest of the year.
Plan For Vacation USA Map
Think about places you want to visit this year. Google Maps is a great place to start planning your next vacation. You can also Google: Top Places to Visit in 2020 for vacation inspiration as written by experts in the travel industry.
Vacation Planning Calendar Tool
Besides Google Calendar, Microsoft OneNote, VacationCounts and other popular time off tracking apps, try this simple vacation planner tool built by the U.S. Travel Association. Follow the directions to enter your vacation benefits (number of days you’ll earn this year) in the big box. Next allocate days by creating trips with dates and details to use up all your PTO.
It’s not nearly as full-featured as VacationCounts, but it’s a fun tool to quickly map out your vacation calendar. When you are ready to get serious about scheduling paid time off and organizing your travel plans (past, present, and future), give the VacationCounts travel tool a try.
Top 25 Places in the USA to Visit in 2020
Forbes recently revealed their annual list of the best places in the United States of America which includes all 50 states and territories. If you are planning a American vacation, consider choosing a destination from the comprehensive list below. It’s a great starting point for the diversity of places that should be on your travel radar. I also suggest that you search for “best places to visit in the USA” with past years in the search box. Top ranked destinations in the USA from last year and years earlier might be even better.
- New Orleans, Louisiana
- Vail, Colorado
- Hudson Valley, New York
- Memphis, Tennessee
- Greenville, South Carolina
- Orlando, Florida
- Sun Valley, Idaho
- Indiana
- Martha’s Vineyard
- Key West, Florida
- St. Louis, Missouri
- U.S. Virgin Islands
- Scottsdale, Arizona
- Redding and the Shasta Cascades, California
- Denver, Colorado
- Southern Utah
- Lake Tahoe, California
- Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- McCall, Idaho
- Philadelphia
- Miami, Florida
- Puerto Rico
- Plymouth, Massachusetts
- Los Angeles, California
- The Ozarks
Source: Forbes – US Travel: 25 Best Places To Visit In 2020
For vacation packages and hotel deals book with the Expedia travel search engine. Enter your FROM and To airport names along with departing and returning dates. It will return a list of cheapest flights or switch tabs to search vacation packages, tours, and cruises that are in your budget.
Don’t be Too Busy to Plan For Vacation
We all get busy with life and with work, but January is usually a quiet month on the work-life calendar. That is why it is the perfect time of year to make goals for using your your paid time off benefits.
Advice: 7 Ways to Overcome the “I’m Too Busy to Plan A Vacation” Syndrome
So what are you waiting for? Open your calendar, schedule vacation days and also plan to travel during the official US holidays in 2020. For a travel app that runs in any browser, try the free vacation tracking tool to maximize your paid vacation days, company holidays, personal days, floating days, and bonus days. It’s the secure and private way to plan vacations AND remember your past vacation memories. Learn more…
Track Your Vacation Days
The VacationCounts web app is your free vacation calendar to plan taking all your paid time off.