The Bangladeshi taxi driver chatted as we drove to the airport and he remarked how December was a slow month for him as everyone went on vacation.
As we approached Dubai International Airport’s Terminal 1, there was a long, snaking queue of polished and gleaming cars and Toyota taxis.
“Drop us here [about a kilometre from the airport] and we will walk to the terminal,” I told him.
The walk through the construction area of an overpass ruined my shiny, black shoes and made my wife’s feet look like she had run through a pile of wheat flour.
Behind us was a Pakistani gentleman pushing a trolley through the sand-covered walkway. His wife was perched on top of the suitcases and they were chatting as if they did this sort of thing all the time.
“So cute,” said my wife, and touched her head so that they do not get an evil eye.
The airport was jam-packed with expats leaving for various destinations. The only other time of the year when the streets of Dubai are deserted is during summer, the time when schools are closed and the exodus to home countries starts as dust storms make shiny cars look like they are abandoned and humidity turns beautiful hair-dos into limp, frizzy wig-like things.
UAE residents enjoy the highest number of vacation days in a year, which 30 days) than any other country, according to a survey done by Expedia.com, an online company that owns various travel brands.
I know people who also work on public holidays and add the ‘comp-off’ (compensatory off in lieu of overtime pay) to their annual vacations and enjoy a work-life balance that supposedly no other country can match.
One year I did not take my annual vacation, scared I will be fired while I was away, and realised there were 60 days to my credit. The house rules warned if I did not take my vacation within a certain period, I would have to forfeit all the accumulated off days.
“We are going on a holiday,” I told my startled family that evening.
“Dad, I have a class test on Sunday,” said my son.
“I can’t go with you, have loads of school essays to correct,” said my wife.
So I went on the trip alone and spent 45 days away from work.
Studies have shown that vacations prevent cardiovascular disease and help you not to have a heart incident. It was the most boring 45 days I ever had spent and after a week I wanted to get back to work.
Despite having tons of holidays in a year, 68 per cent of respondents in the UAE and Spain said they feel vacation-deprived.
I can empathise with them as four weeks is not enough when you are away from home for 11 months, especially if you have an extended family and have to meet everyone and have lunch and dinner at each relative’s home and also try to arrange for your crazy sister’s marriage, who is more interested in arranging marches for the oppressed.
The report showed 40 per cent Indians usually do not take all their vacation days as their work schedules do not allow for any time off.
The survey also showed people know it is important to chill from time to time, but the main reason why some Americans do not take all their vacation days is they think their employers will perceive it negatively, and they have huge feelings of guilt.
The other countries that enjoy the highest number of vacation days are: France, Brazil, Finland at Spain, all at 30 days; Germany (28), and Italy, Austria, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK (25).
The workaholic nations are South Korea (eight days); the US, Thailand, Mexico and Malaysia (12); Canada, Singapore and Hong Kong (14); and Australia and India (15).
