My friend and I were recently sitting in a restaurant on the Danube sipping a G&T and watching the sun set, acknowledging how lucky we were to be there and the fact that although I live and work in Budapest, it feels like I am on holiday every night. It can’t be bad if that’s how you feel about your evenings. We started discussing the fact that we both get a generous amount of annual leave from work, and there are various ways that you can maximise your holidays if you are smart about it.  Here are some great tips to help you take as many holidays as you can each year.

1) Take 9 or 10 days over 2 weekends rather than taking 2 weeks

If you take a 9 night holiday over 2 weekends you only have to take 5 days leave. This means you can literally go on double the amount of holidays than if you were doing 2 weeks. This obviously has a cost element attached to it as you will spend more on holidays but if you objective is to go on as many holidays as possible this is a good trick. You might want to take an extra night and do 10 nights, especially if you are looking for a package holiday, as these will be easier to find.

2) Plan your leave around public holidays

If at the beginning of the year, you calculate when all the public holidays are, you can plan your leave around them so you need to book less days off work. This is especially useful where there are 2 public holidays next to each other, or near to each other. At Easter you can often book 4 days leave and get a 10 night holiday.  

3) Organise long weekends away

If you take 1 or 2 days before or after a weekend, you can get away for a long weekend. If you go straight after work on the Thursday night, then you have until Sunday night, this can feel like a really good break away and can be long enough to see many places. Depending on your journey times, you could also stay Sunday night and travel back early on Monday morning in time for work. This can be tiring, but it can really extend your weekend.  

4) Work from holiday location

If you are in the situation where you can work remotely, you might want to head off on holiday and then work 1 or 2 days from that destination. This will only be possible if your job allows you to work remotely and the location you are traveling to allows you to connect with work. It will give you the advantage of having a couple of extra nights and being able to start your holiday as soon as you finish work without having to travel anywhere.

5) Organise a mini break from Friday afternoon to Sunday night

You can explore places closer to home at the weekend. If you go away as soon as you finish work on a Friday (or whatever your last working day is) and stay somewhere until Sunday night, or even Monday morning, you are fully utilizing the weekend and it will feel like you have had a mini holiday. Often getting out of your home town makes the weekend feel much longer and gets you into the holiday spirit!

6) Extend work trips

If you are traveling with work, organize your trip around a weekend and stay for a couple of extra nights to explore the place. The key advantage of this is that there is no additional travelling time or cost to get there as you are already there with work.  It can be a great way to see more of the places you are travelling to.

My friends are always asking me if I ever actually do any work as it looks like I am always on holiday! I can assure you I work hard, but I am smart when it comes to organizing my holidays and weekends away. I think its really important and helps me to be more energized when I am in work as I have had time away to relax and switch off.

If you have any other hints and tips about how to maximize your holidays, please share them in the comments below.