Yearning for a getaway? Here's some exciting news – there's a dedicated day for planning your vacation! National Plan for Vacation Day falls on the last Tuesday of January, encouraging individuals to take a moment to envision and organize their upcoming holiday.

Two red light towers stand against blue sky and white clouds near the entrance to the muskegon channel. to the right of one of  the piers is  a sailboat

Remarkably, American workers currently forfeit an average of over four days of paid time off. Despite this, 64% of Americans express a need to vacation. This year, mark your calendars for January 31st, as it is the day to delve into travel tips, discover resources, and find inspiration for your upcoming adventures in 2024.

Here are good reasons to start planning YOURS!

Planning Vacations Reduces Burnout:

Couple sits in striped beach chairs, beneath brightly colored Beach umbrella looking toward the blue waters of lake michigan at muskegon state park beach

• More than two-thirds (68%) of American workers feel at least moderately burned out and 13% are extremely burned out.

• More than half (53%) of remote workers are working MORE hours now than they were in the office and 61% now find it more difficult to unplug from work.

• According to a 2022 report by Zippia, 55% of American employees don’t use all of their PTO.

• Nearly 79% of Americans believe vacations are important to their overall health and well-being.

• Avoiding burnout is a top-rated motivator for booking a trip - ranking EVEN HIGHER than travel discounts/deals.

 The Impact of Planning:

and orange and blue kayak are banked on the shoreline of lake michigan at Meinert Parkin muskegon michigan

• Americans who plan on how to spend their time off will actually take time off to travel. However, 24% of American households don’t do this simple step. As a result, they lose or have to forfeit vacation days.

• Planners actually do travel more than non-planners. More than half of Americans (56%) who planned on how to spend their time off took an overnight vacation in 2021. Only 33% of non-planners took an overnighter.

• This next point is very important! Anticipating and planning travel makes you happy! 74% of vacation planners reported feeling extremely or very happy anticipating the vacation they were outlining.

a young boy and girl face, and point toward, entrance to Camp Snoopy at Michigan's Adventure

According to Destination Analysts, 80% of Americans report high degrees of excitement about travel in 2023*. We hope this includes you, and that you will make a plan to visit Muskegon. It’s your vacation time: make sure you use it! 

little girl in blue dress stands on beach looking out toward blue waters of lake michigan