Views & Interviews

Q&A: Planning your holiday calendar

January 2018

If you’ve always wondered how members of your family can be on the same page on a holiday calendar, please read on – you’re not alone, when it comes to aligning everyone’s free time in the year.

Planning a holiday these days is a lot more than finding a free slot on your home resort website - within your preferred week / month in the year. It’s got to do with coinciding vacation time at school, and when your boss can allow you to take a break during the year. For others, even aligning dates between spouses is a big challenge. We have even come across people finding it difficult to go on a vacation because of elderly parents, or grandparents at home, or a pet that can’t be taken with you on a holiday.

At the end of the day, it’s about going on that vacation totally guilt-free, or worrying about things back home or at the office. So let’s talk to a few vacation seekers and listen to their side of the story. Each one of these people has a different story to tell . . .

123RF / using member credits

Rajesh Nair – HR Consultant

I’m a freelancer in the space of HR consulting services. But being a freelancer does not really mean I have total control over my time. In fact it’s far from that. My workday is packed to the last second, I don’t get time for a breather and my lunch hour is only 15 minutes.

So, how would I ever plan to take off one whole week when I can’t even take time off over the weekend? I guess I might need to take small steps to make this work – calling for commitment and follow through. I’m willing to make a start as soon as possible.

Would Rajesh love to take an annual vacation? Yes [*] No [ ] Maybe [ ]

Vincent Paul – Event Manager

I work for an event management company and though work is totally fulfilling, this is not always as exciting as it appears to be. There are times when we work six days in a row without going home, to meet a deadline – and when the job’s done it’s almost like jet lag.

But if you think we get a breather between projects, you’re welcome to a ring-side seat at the office. Well before one project gets done, we have others that have turned ripe for picking and processing. It’s like bumper to bumper traffic that goes on and on and on.

Vincent Paul is planning to get married, but wonders about the kind of quality time he will spend with the family. But he knows he needs to fix things somehow – because along with working hard, you need to play hard as well. And an annual vacation is a wonderful way to do this.

Would Vincent love to take an annual vacation? Yes [*] No [ ] Maybe [ ]

Meenakshi Krishnan – Interior Designer

I’m a single mother with one child who is a young teenager. When I travel by train or take a bus, I don’t seem to have much of a problem in terms of prying eyes. But a single mother going on vacation gets a lot of people curious. (What’s she doing alone? Is she a single mother? Where’s her husband?)

This year, I want to put all that behind me - I don’t really care what people say. And I have a strange feeling that going on a vacation with a timeshare plan gives me a sense of privacy and security - because I feel like I am part of a community – sometimes, your home resort can make you feel really secure.

And believe me, that’s a very comforting thought.

Would Meenakshi love to take an annual vacation? Yes [*] No [ ] Maybe [ ]

Mohan Kumar – Design Professional

I’ve been married five years and love the idea of taking a break, but we can only manage weekend getaways at the moment. This is primarily because my elderly parents live with us and we just can’t leave them alone for more than a couple of days. They have serious health issues that prevent them from travelling – even a trip to a local mall calls for a great deal of logistics.

The concept of a timeshare week is very tempting and we could start I guess by breaking our holiday week into smaller, manageable segments. We’re also working on the possibility of hiring a full-time caregiver who can stay with us and take charge of the care giving to a large extent. This is something we need to work on and solve.

Would Mohan love to take an annual vacation? Yes [*] No [ ] Maybe [ ]

So, there you are – going by these stories and our conversations with other professionals, people really want to take that break. It’s just that they need to plan their work equation better and attempt to cross other hurdles that come in the way.

In a sense, there’s no guilt involved out here. There’s life outside the confines of your work place and maybe you need to make small adjustments at home as well.

All it takes is one small step and you’ll be soon packing your bags.