One of the questions I’m asked most often is how I’m able to travel so frequently. Well folks I have to admit there’s a method to the madness. I am not blessed with a job that has unlimited vacation days, but hopefully that will change one day. However, I believe in NOT leaving any vacation day behind. I’m fortunate I work for the federal government because it allows me to have all of the major U.S holidays off. As result, I try to schedule my vacations around holidays.  February 2015 I went to Hong Kong over the President’s Day holiday weekend. Roughly I had 5 days in country, which isn’t much but I was able to do almost everything I wanted to.  As result, I only took 2-3 days off . I left on a Friday and came back on Wednesday. In 2016, on my trip to Israel, France, and Switzerland, I was gone for a total of 11 days but I only used 4 vacation days because of the Martin Luther King Holiday.  Check out these simple tips to make the most of every vacation day!

1. Travel over holiday weekends. The majority of my trips are always planned around holidays. 
2. Take more frequent shorter trips. Extend the weekend- Thursday night through Monday. If you live in California, you could easily go to Mexico over an extended weekend.
3. Take advantage of all opportunities to earn comp time instead of overtime pay. I have few opportunities to earn comp time but I always choose having an extra vacation day over more money.

Do you often schedule vacations around holidays too? What is your preferred time of year to travel?