Sharpen Your Pencils, Get out Your Calendars, and GO!
Now’s the time to get out your calendars and check them against our dates – we NOW are taking bookings for your 2024 Sea Ranch vacation!
Do you have yours on the calendar yet?
Join the Inner CircleAre You First to Know?
AND… if you are an INNER CIRCLE MEMBER you must be dancing with joy, because YOU 😁 KNOW when I’m releasing even more new dates and that they are discounted just for YOU!
Not to Worry…
If you’re not an Inner Circle Member, no worries. We have you covered too…Just click here and you too will be in the know.
Special Savings for our Elite Inner Circle Members
We remain honored our Inner Circle Members return to Abalone Bay year after year, making it their preferred vacation location. As a token of our appreciation, we now offer a 20% discount on your third booking and all future bookings at Abalone Bay.
1. Don’t Stockpile Days Off ~ Use Them!
Now all you have to do is take count of your vacation days and actually use them!
Every year more than half of Americans fail to use all their time off, creating a stockpile of 768 million unused vacation days, in 2018. And 236 million of those days were forfeited completely, totaling more than $65 billion in lost benefits.
Yet, while everyone says they want or even need a vacation, just a little more than half of America’s households actually set aside time to plan the use of their vacation time each year. This past year is not different. In fact, it may be worse with the pandemic ruining travel plans. As a result, many workers remain reluctant to take time off.
Did you find your work-life boundaries became blurred while you worked or studied from home? You might even say they vanished. Were you always on the clock if not for your company’s sake, then for your family’s with the added tasks of home-schooling tossed in for good measure?
NOW is the time to reward your exhausted and burned self and your family with a holiday.
Companies Offer Cash Bonuses for Taking a Vacation
Don’t be that exhausted worker any longer. Even your managers want you to get off the treadmill and start breathing again! Company managers have found that amid all the health and safety uncertainty plus worry that travel plans would be quashed due to the coronavirus, many employees continue to refuse vacation time. This has increased the worries of many managers across the nation who have even relaxed restrictions to allow the days to carry over into next year. Others, for fear of having their staff burn out, are requiring employees to take their vacation. Others will gladly pay you to unplug, grab the family and go…anywhere… as long as it’s not back at work.
Take the Money and GO!
According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, employers are practically packing up your backs and pushing you out the door with added cash in the hopes you return relaxed and ready to work. For instance, Google offers a bonus vacation day for those who book time off now. PricewaterhouseCoopers, the accounting and consulting giant will pay its U.S. staff $250 for every full week of vacation booked, up to $1,000 a year.
Key to Using More Vacation Time
As we begin to move through 2022, are your vacation days beginning to pile up too? If they are, we offer you the most effective remedy to assure your vacation is not lost again this year.
1. Planning: The Key to Using More Vacation Time
At the start of each year we try to remind you to plan your vacation for the rest of the year. But nearly half of American households (46%) don’t do this simple step—and they lose out on their time off and the benefits it brings.
That is why we decided to get a jump on things for 2022 by encouraging you to think ahead of the crowd for the year.
Planners are Vacationers
According to Project: Time Off, planners are more likely to take all their vacation time in a given work year and take more extended vacations than non-planners. They’re also happier with their jobs, relationships, and health, so don’t knock the planners who get out the door to vacation!
Jump in and follow their lead this year on January 25.
2. Get Planning!!
Sure, you’re thinking, “Just like those resolutions made one day and fizzled and forgotten when the sun comes up the next, You tell me all I need to do is plan and Bam! I’m on my way to vacation?!”
Yup, that’s what I’m telling you. When it’s on the calendar and the reservations are made you are more likely to actually go.
Really!
Planning a vacation doesn’t have to be a monumental task. In fact, there are plenty of travel apps that will help you plan and share your plans with your travel mates:
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Helps plan and organize group travel. It lets you share options for flights, accommodations, and activities. Group members can also vote on their favorites and keep itinerary numbers in one place.
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Helps keep family matters in one place. It lets you create a centralized schedule that everyone can access. You can add times and locations for rendezvous, and avoid the need for constant text or phone call reminders.
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A free, complete trip planning tool that helps you create, organize, access, and share all your vacation plans.
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Helps you organize who is visiting or using your vacation home. It lets friends and family see when there are good times to visit or let them see when the house is not being used.
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Lets you add your vacation or out-of-office time so all members of your group can see when you’re gone.
Digging Deeper For Successful Planning
Ok, I know, those using those apps and tips are easily stated. But if you’re someone who continues to avoid booking a vacation it can still be a challenge. So let’s dig into these tips to make sure you actually are successful in enjoying your vacation time this year!
How Much Time for Each Trip?
Will you take a long weekend getaway, a 2-week trip, extended travel, or something in between? Depending on where you live and the amount of time you have to travel, certain destinations will make more sense than others. For instance for the North Bay Area of Californians a short trip to The Sea Ranch is a great 4-day vacation idea. If you have a week or two available and the funds then consider visiting another part of the country or even traveling to a foreign country. Of course, you could always return to Sea Ranch for an extended holiday and save on the airfare.
Match your time to your dream vacation to avoid frustration and making vows you’ll never take another vacation. This works whether you want a Zenful break from the stress of your life or want a trip that gives you the thrills of your life. Fit the event with the time to avoid traveling too far or cramming in too much.
Share Calendars with Your Travel Buddies
The practicality and success of any vacation trip will depend on who joins you or if you make it a solo trip. Are you traveling as a romantic couple, with young children or teens, for a girl’s retreat or a guy’s getaway? If you are vacationing with others, be sure to invite them to help coordinate planning too.
Other things to consider include your comfort zone and your desire to test it. Are you hoping for a novel experience of repeating a favorite one? Naturally, seasonal weather preferences for your getaways are another factor in determining your destination.
Book it and Put it on the Calendar
Now the only thing left to do is to actually write it on the calendar and book those reservations!
To help you book your vacation safely and still have money to spend on your time away from the office be sure to review our three-part series that explains the mystery of booking fees and to instruct you on how to directly book vacation rentals and how to do it securely whether you stay with us or others.
So What’s Stopping You from Vacation Planning?
Are you still expressing any of these top barriers to taking a vacation?
- If I go on vacation I’ll just return to a mountain of work
- No one else can do the job
- Taking time off is harder with seniority
- I cannot financially afford a vacation
- I want to show complete dedication
Let Go of the Martyr Complex
American workers’ martyr syndrome combined with a corporate culture of silence where negative perceptions thrive is the vacation killing culprit. As a result, you feel chained to your workstations rather than free to recuperate from the stresses of the job.
Even senior business leaders overwhelmingly recognize the importance of using time off. Tim Ryan of PricewaterhouseCoopers states, “100% physical attendance doesn’t equal 100% heart and mind, mental attendance.” For that reason, he is pushing his staff out the door and paying them up to $1000 to rejuvenate.
Rejuvenating Power of a Vacation
Hopefully, now, you really do recognize the rejuvenating power of vacation. Vacation time is essential for strong bonds with family and friends, a productive workforce, and a fulfilled life.
When you take a vacation you’ll return to work relaxed and recharged. Nearly two-thirds of employees say their concentration and productivity at work improve with taking time off. This sentiment is echoed by senior business leaders. In fact, business leaders believe employees return from vacation recharged and renewed—and ready to work more effectively.
Time to ProActively Plan Your Sea Ranch Vacation
Now that you know how much time you have for vacation and you’ve committed to actually use those days, it’s time to fulfill those dreams. Of course, a Sea Ranch Vacation would be our first recommendation.
Abalone Bay Announces Availability to Inner Circle Members
Naturally, we suggest you book Abalone Bay for that Sea Ranch Vacation! Our calendar is opened but highly anticipated dates are going fast! So be certain you are signed up as an Inner Circle member now to learn if any have canceled or more have been added!
Remodel and Construction Completed!
As a member of the Inner Circle, you received progress reports of our construction and reopening. You’ve seen how our home progressed:
New Decor, New Amenities:
Winter’s Sunset viewing
Conversion of the Garage into a Game Room:
Addition of a two-car garage
Your Sea Ranch Vacation Resource for Saving
We are now open and taking bookings!
Of course you can always book Abalone Bay through Airbnb and VRBO, but those prices are significantly more expensive!
That’s why we recommend you book directly through our website as an Inner Circle Member. And don’t forget to use your Discount Code!
Join the Inner Circle
[…] Here’s to Taking a Vacation […]