Mashable 8.13.15

Not only are Americans not using all their vacation time, they aren’t doing much relaxing during the days they do take off.A majority of Americans spend vacation days dealing with various errands, and many of them feel guilty about relaxing, according to a survey of 1,000 U.S. adults by Princess Cruises.About 54% of respondents used their vacation time to deal with personal obligations, including family emergencies, medical appointments or taking care of loved ones. And 42% of respondents said they felt guilty for relaxing.

“In the six years that Princess Cruises has commissioned this survey, we’ve continued to see stress levels rise year after year,” said Jan Swartz, president of Princess Cruises. “This is an unsustainable trend that can have a genuinely adverse impact on our society as a whole.”

When the cruise line did the survey last year, 38% of respondents said they felt guilty about relaxing.

Summer seems like the time where we should all be slowing down and expending as little energy as possible, especially with the kids out of school. But the survey respondents tell a different story: Some 77 percent of respondents who are parents said they were busier during the summer than the rest of the year.

More than half of the respondents said that when they get home, they feel like they need another vacation to recover.

Source: Mashable