Happy July 4th Weekend!

On this Friday before a holiday weekend we jump right into the pool (pun intended) with vacation and travel...

In January we posted on the blog (click here) that Expedia.com found out that Americans left over 421 million vacation days unused in 2005. That number from Expedia.com is expected to go up over 36% in 2006 to 574 million. In this article from Amy Joyce of the Washington Post, the topic is delved into even further: click here

Other interesting facts from the article:

• One in four workers plans to work while on vacation this year (according to CareerBuilder.com's annual survey).
• The number of vacation days employees are skipping this year increased by one over last year
• On average, Americans leave at least four days unclaimed annually.
• Compared with other developed countries, Americans receive the fewest vacation days per year on average -- 14 days, as opposed to 17 in Australia, 19 in Canada, 24 in Great Britain, 27 in Germany and 39 in France (according to the Expedia survey).
• 20 percent of 400 workers surveyed had not taken a vacation, which is considered three or more consecutive days off, in the last three or more years.
• 91 percent of respondents said the amount of vacation offered is very or somewhat important when applying for a job. But only 26 percent said they had considered changing jobs because of insufficient vacation time.

AAA estimates that 40.7 million people will travel more than 50 miles from home over the July 4 holiday, a 1.2 percent increase over last year's 40.2 million travelers, according to the Orlando Business Journal. I certainly will be one of those: click here

And from Tuesday's New York Times, an article about tools that are now in place to catch expense account padders. I wouldn't go booking that July 4th getaway on the company credit card anytime soon: click here

We will be closed on July 4th but we will be in the office on Monday, July 3rd which means you'll only miss one day of the blog next week...Have a great weekend!