(Photo Source)
As if you need another reason to move to France…the latest poll by Harris Interactive shows that the French enjoy the most vacation time compared with 12 other countries, including the US and Japan.
By far, European countries get the most paid time off for vacation, with France and other Mediterranean countries leading the way. The French get the highest number of vacation days off each year with an average of 37.5 days. For all those who are counting – that’s 7.5 weeks!! The Japanese fell on the low end of the spectrum with a mere 16.5 days, but the US wasn’t much better with an average of 17 vacation days per year.
Average Vacation Time By Country
- France – 37.5 days
- Italy – 32.5 days
- Spain – 32 days
- Denmark – 29 days
- Britain – 28 days
- Norway – 28 days
- Germany – 27.5 days
- Sweden – 27.5 days
- Australia – 20 days
- Canada – 20 days
- New Zealand – 19.5 days
- United States – 17 days
- Japan – 16.5 days
Hmm…and I thought my 15 days of vacation was a generous amount. How wrong I was – I don’t even fit in with our national average! Obviously, the Mediterraneans know a thing or two about work/home life balance. Maybe they could persuade the US to follow suit!
The real question is, what would I do if I had 37.5 days of paid vacation time per year. A trip to Europe comes to mind…ah, but you know me too well by now!
Q for you: What would you do with 37.5 days of paid vacation time?
I think with 37 days, I’d have time not only for vacation, but also to pursue personal projects AND to take an odd long weekend here and there when I need to “reset”. I could also use some more time for exercise (long distance bike rides come to mind).