How Travel Makes You Better at Work and Tips for Recharging on Vacation

Key Takeaways

• Time off work may support well‑being and productivity.
• Practical steps to help disconnect and recharge.
• Travel protection may support uninterrupted vacation time.*

You’ve probably heard the numbers on Americans’ vacation habits. They’re not pretty.

Last year, according to Generali Global Assistance’s 2025 Barometer Survey, Travelers are planning vacations averaging 5 weeks, typically taken in groups of 2.4 people..

In addition, this Expedia study found that in 2024 almost 62% of the world’s workers say they feel vacation-deprived.

 In the never‑ending quest to work harder (or at least more days) than the rest of the world, many workers overlook an important fact: people actually perform better at work when they take more time off. There’s a large body of research – not just from Generali Global Assistance but from academic sources – supporting these findings.

Celebrate National Plan for Vacation Day by Using All Your Vacation Time

For instance, a study conducted in Germany, where people have and take many more vacation days, found that, “One single short vacation of four nights has positive effects on the well-being, recovery, strain, and perceived stress of middle managers, independent of the mode of vacation.”

Then there’s the study from Destination Analysts that found that 8 out of every 10 employees feel vacations are important to their job satisfaction, and the one from Capital One that found more than half of business owners don’t take vacations.

We’re not getting away from it all, and when we do, too often it’s a “workcation,” where the laptop comes along and the Zoom venue changes from the basement to the hotel room.

What’s the answer? Taking a real vacation every now and then, obviously, but it’s more complicated than that.

Also read: Spring into Travel and Reconnect with the World Around You

Before we can feel comfortable packing up and heading out, we often need to take a few transitional steps—both to validate our need to recharge and to reassure ourselves that we’re still seen as productive employees. How do we do that? Here are some tips:

Work For An Organization With A “recharge” Mindset

To the extent that you can control who you work for, and under what terms, it’s ideal to seek out firms committed to their employees’ overall well-being, including their attitude towards paid time off.

An organization that actively encourages its employees to maximize their PTO use with no strings attached is showing its dedication to its employees’ need to recharge and rejuvenate.

There are all kinds of research supporting the connection between vacations and positive mental-health outcomes. With mental health becoming a focus of concern in so many ways, there may never be a better time to focus on that yourself.

Also read: Travel and Our Health -- The Surprising Connection

Block Off The Time

Even if you don’t know where you’re going to go or what you’re going to do, block off at least a solid week of vacation on your calendar, and commit to that time.

Get Support

If you’re having trouble breaking the cycle of work, get support from someone who doesn’t have that problem.

Ask them their mechanisms for ensuring work-vacation balance. Ask them where they go, how they flip the switch – whatever’s useful for you to know and emulate. And then once you’ve gleaned that answer, go and emulate. Maybe even take a vacation with them so their habits rub off on you.

Also read: Why Travel is so Important for Families, Especially Kids

Fight The Workcation Urge

If your phone is always on and your work laptop goes with you, how much of a vacation is it really?

Your vacation is your time to unplug. Make sure your superiors and co-workers know that and then you need to follow through and make it happen.

Don’t check work email. Don’t accept meetings. Don’t work on presentations or run the numbers. Don’t do any of it. This might be the hardest thing you have to do in conjunction with your vacation, and it may require baby steps to get you there.

For instance, if you absolutely, positively believe that the work world will come crashing down if you don’t rifle your inbox, block off time on your calendar to check email – no more than 45 minutes a day – and stick to it. If you’re on a longer vacation, see if you can taper off to 10 minutes by the end of your time away.

Workcations have their benefits, but they can also be a trap. And the best way to avoid a trap is to not walk that direction in the first place.

If your trip happens to be a work trip and not really a vacation, read our advice on How to Weave Wellness Travel into Any Trip.

Vacation time is vital for our well-being. Because of that, it’s important not to jeopardize that precious time, but to help protect it with a travel protection plan from Generali Global Assistance. Our plans are designed to give you the peace of mind you need to recharge fully. And getting a quote is easy.

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Disclaimers Section

Include standard Generali qualifiers:

·       Coverage subject to plan terms and conditions.

·       Mention that referenced studies are from specific years (list them with dates).*