What kind of jobs do you have or are you retired?

[CanadaFour]

DH and I are both university professors. We travel several times a year either to conduct research or to present at academic conferences. We take the kids with us (on our own nickel) and add on a week's holiday (at our own expense, of course) after the work is done. We realize how incredibly blessed we are.

[Ms belp]

We get 12 days vacation per year plus 10 extra days after 10 years. This is wonderful for us. 12 holidays. We try to take $250 extra to book a future cruise and then find a deal for the future. We have had to cancel some and rebook others. But, at least I'm cruising.:)

[Ladder55]

Oh sure, laugh it off ;) It's tough work.

 

whats the DSC with this job?(laughin)

[GORDONCHICK]

I buy surgical instruments and medical supplies, and get 8 weeks of vacation a year. DH is a CFO and only gets 4, and some of that gets taken up by Boy Scout stuff. We are averaging one cruise per year and another driving vacation (sometimes two) during that same year. We only cruise in inside cabins so we can continue to cruise once a year and do the other vactions as well. We have a soon-to-be 8 yo DS, and are now having to stick to summer breaks and spring breaks for the vactions, so they are little pricier than they were before....

[Bocadude85]

I am VP of a family owned marketing company and my DDP is the service manager of a credit union. We try to cruise 2-3 times a year.

[bqkali]

I'm work at an investment firm - guess "financial analyst" is the broad term that would describe my job, but I'm more entry-level than that :rolleyes: I get three weeks vacation time and I intend on using all three weeks for vacation and not random days off lol, which means I have to save and be careful about how I spend my money. This year looks to be Alaska (cruise) and Spain (land).

[CastawayCruiser]

I get 3 weeks of vacation a year so I book 3 cruises a year. Because airfare from Canada is so expensive we have started doing 2 of the cruises as a back to back - this way we get two cruises and only have to pay for airfare once!! We can afford to cruise 3 times a year because we don't have any children...

[sitter]

I'm a stay-at-home-Mom that raised 4 children of my own & 30yrs. day-care provider. When you have to deal with Parents....& sometimes not so great children....you need a vacation twice a year!!

The Parents are all good with that too...I'm much more refreshed to then again handle their children so they can get away from them....I mean go to work!;)

I ~play~ travel agent on my own....so I am a very savy traveler. I usually research all my vacation to death! Then relax while enjoying them!

Hubby works for a snow-plow company....so here in Wisconsin....business is good!:p

[Budget Queen]

I am fortunate. I travel 12 weeks/year, 8 paid time off as a state employee, 4 swapped off with coworkers. My husband is a retired airline employee- FAR superior benefits compared to travel agents- MIL is one. Significant travel industry discounts throughout, plus free flights. Life is very good, and have been in this mode for over 20 years. :)

[Dukegirl5577]

I'm a federal gov't attorney and would cruise more (because I can easily get away from work) if my husband's job would allow it. He *technically* has unlimited vacation time, but I stress the "technically" part. He's with a law firm and is still responsible for billing a certain ungodly number of hours per year, so he rarely wants to take time off because when he does, he gets way behind.

 

But all that changes tomorrow! His last day!!!! He starts at the same federal gov't agency where I work on Monday. Yay!

[gooch47]

We cruise 4 times per year. Our record is 5.

 

We're both retired, but my husband has the perfect "part time" job, too. He is the IT consultant for a big private high school. Not only does he have summers off, he can just take off when he wants to since he works on a per hour basis! He does try to be available during busy computer times like the start-up of school, but he is pretty much free to cruise whenever he wants to be.

[McDebbie]

I'm an accountant and DH works in air conditioning which means we can never travel in November and December (my work) or during the summer (his work). We almost always cruise in September and October when the rates are cheaper and we live in Florida so there is no air fare. We did cruise during spring break one year but probably won't do it again. Last year was two cruises but this year will only be one because we are going to Alaska and that will require air. Unless Sky has some really get deals we can't resist.... :D

[basebare]

I work as a dosimetrist in a cancer center for almost 17 years. I need my cruises to relax and refresh myself to deal with my sometimes depressing job. (I do radiation treatment planning). We live in South Florida so there is no airfare issues. We like to do one cruise a year as a family (usually spring break) and then hubby and I try to do one on our own as well. It hasn't worked out so well lately, but this year we are back on track for that!

[macdadsjaw]

I am fortunate. I travel 12 weeks/year, 8 paid time off as a state employee, 4 swapped off with coworkers. My husband is a retired airline employee- FAR superior benefits compared to travel agents- MIL is one. Significant travel industry discounts throughout, plus free flights. Life is very good, and have been in this mode for over 20 years. :)

 

 

You wonder why the govts have no money.....

[retiredonthesea]

We have a ranch/farm in ND that we leased out a couple years ago. DH still works Mar.-Oct., for a road construction company--welder, mechanic, truck driver, cat operator.ect. (10 to 12 hr days--Fri, Sat. Sun. off) Still wants to add some to SS. So he can fully retire at 62? Because we worked together on the ranch that was enough work for me! I did do some home based business, but still teach by belly dance classes off & on.

 

We can pretty much come and go as we please, but like to cruise in Oct./ Nov. and Feb./Mar. We always book suites and use some of our lease money for that. It's nice to be pampered---We can take and have done two cruises in a year, but because we have a fifth-wheel and a couple of Harleys we like to take in a week at Sturgis and do 3 day weekend road trips. We're doing an Alaska road trip next summer up the Yukon highway, taking 6wks. YA:D

[LOWTYD]

I run the Purchasing Dept for a small contract manufactuter. Been here 11 years this past Monday! Get 3 weeks vaca. and at 15 years get one more. Wish I could retire and travel all the time but we've got a ways to go. DH lost his job last year and is working PT and making waaaaaay less so we will try to cruise at least once a year and will be poor forever, but at least we had fun.:)

Sandy

[islandgirlejfan]

This will only be our 4th cruise, but we do travel a lot in general. I am a receptionist for a non profit and I get three weeks off and will gain another week next year. I usually go in conjunction with my husband's travels which makes is very cheap for us because all I have to do is pay for food and anything I want to do.

 

My hubby is a computer analyst and world traveler. His company pays for his airfare, food and hotel. They allow him to keep all his points/miles that he accumulates. That helps us when we *do* plan a cruise or when we plan a trip. We flew to Miami on his mileage for our cruise on the Sky. The next cruise we booked in December we have a room at the Marriott reserved and used more mileage for the trip back to Miami. He looks for specials and is very loyal to American Airlines and all their member airlines. Some of the places he flies he ends up with scads of mileage because of the specials. When you see the points he has racked up with both the airline and hotels, you can see that loyality pays off! :D

[popsec]

We're pretty lucky :D.....DH is retired from the Navy and also drawing SS. I sell full time on eBay so we're pretty flexible as to when we can cruise. The hardest part is finding someone to move in with the pups while we're cruising. We've been averaging 7 cruises a year since our 1st one 3 years ago. It's a good thing we don't live near a port or we'd never be home!:eek:

[paulgduck]

Own my own IT consulting company and DW is a stay at home mom. Only get paid the hours I work, and can take time off when I want, so theoretically, we have lots of time to cruise. Our two kids however put a crimp in that lifestyle, so only manage to cruise spring break or summer, not the cheapest of seasons. Now that my DD is 16, she needs more "privacy", so we tend to book two rooms, yet another limiting factor. Back in the early days of their childhood, when kids were cheap and not in school, we would cruise two to three times a year, now only once per year. Another 6-8 years, and DD will be out of college and DS in college, so we should be back to that 3 times per year. Bring on the scholarships !!

[suse]

Not retired, not really wealthy, but self-employed. That means I can take time off whenever I want! It also means I don't get paid when I do. But, since my retirement funds have recently all but vanished, I figure we may as work forever and cruise when we can.

[cv322]

I'm a Research Manager at Cornell University & get 26 days a year (23 vacation days & 3 personal days). I cruise out of NYC most of the time, therefore no airfare. I've done 2-3 cruises a year since 2005, less per year before that....and I'm taking 2009 "off" darn it :(. But I'm so look forward to April 2010 :D.

[Stillfloatin']

I'm a business co-owner with 53 employees. Fortunately, my business partner is younger and more interested in money, while I'm more driven by time off so we have an agreement that any time off I take above our usual vacation, I still get paid, but she gets double pay. It's a total win-win. I'll be retiring in 2 years and she'll be buying out my shares so I hope to travel even more then. I take 2 cruises per year and several shorter land vacations. My DH is retired and my 2 sons are grown so this is the traveling time of my life. When the boys were younger, our vacations were usually camping/rafting/visiting grandparents trips.

[sjbdtz]

I'm a Research Manager at Cornell University & get 26 days a year (23 vacation days & 3 personal days). I cruise out of NYC most of the time, therefore no airfare. I've done 2-3 cruises a year since 2005, less per year before that....and I'm taking 2009 "off" darn it :(. But I'm so look forward to April 2010 :D.

 

 

That's very interesting :) I spend my days selling information to Research Managers (and libraries). Cornell is no longer in my region however (I moved...it didn't).

 

I have 4 weeks vacation, but a spouse who is looking for work....and is reluctant to take a break....so I'm carrying over 2 weeks from last year too.

 

We try to do 1 or 2 cruises / year, but we cruise to exotic locales....neither of us are 'sun & beach' types, preferring history / cultural exploration.

 

This year we're going to the Ukraine for the first time (Jade, Sept 29th) and looking forward to it.

 

I'm also doing an online Master's degree program which may limit us to 1 break per year for the next couple of years...so I can get it out of the way.

 

We've been in a suite once, when I had a very good year; and otherwise travel in inside cabins. I also travel a LOT, and keep all of my hotel & airline points....so vacations are first-class airfare and nice hotels.....free (well..taxes only)

[fin]

Good topic. I have often wondered how Garden VIlla cruisers were able to do it one after another in these rather depressing economic times. I was also interested to see what percentage of the voters had actually last used it.

 

I have been a traveler for a long while and have been a lot of different places long before I began cruising. My first cruise was thru the Panama Canal because that was something I had always wanted to do, and it was enjoyable enough for me to then do quite a few more subsequently, mostly on NCL, which treated me exceedingly well.

[dtracker]

I spent 13 years as a construction project manager, 20 years as an Engineering Planner for an Aerospace Company building and testing satellites, and then retired at 57.

 

We vacationed in our RV for 10 years (32 states and about 50 nights a year); next 10 years or so, did long (4-week fly/drive) trips to various parts of the US and Canada (now up to 42 states and 4 provinces); and have taken 3 cruises so far (MexR twice and AK IP once), and looking forward to our next (11-day NE/Can) in September. Wahoo!

 

Out of all the various vacations, I think I love cruising the most and my DW still loves the fly/drive type. I guess we'll have to keep compromising.

 

DT