Bank Holidays are a brilliant time for workers across Britain. It’s a chance to enjoy a great holiday away with your friends or family and have a great time. You don’t have to wait for the summer when there are a few months with multiple Bank Holidays to enjoy. Use these the right way and you can make sure that you get an extended break. Of course, there are a few mistakes that you need to avoid too so that you can make sure that you are getting the most out of these mini vacations.
Dodge the Abroad Disaster
You might be thinking about heading somewhere far away and tropical for a Bank Holiday. The problem with heading abroad is the trip you’ll need to take to get there. Flights can last for hours and if there’s any type of jet lag then you’ll also miss a good few hours in bed through the afternoon. Holidays abroad can also be incredibly stressful. You might find that you need to contend with lost luggage or missed connecting flights. You’ll be able to cope with this if you have another two weeks ahead to enjoy your vacation. But perhaps not when you only have five days.
Another issue with going abroad is the sweltering heat. Yes, it can be fun to go back to work with a gorgeous tan and make all your coworkers green with envy. But you do need to remember that getting too hot can put people on edge. As well as this, you have to be prepared for the potential issue of burning. You don’t want to go back to work after your holiday with a hot mark on your back that burns you every time you lean back in your chair.
Instead, it’s worth spending the Bank Holiday exploring the British Isles. There are plenty around Britain that are perfect for spending a few days exploring the hills, relaxing on the beach or perhaps touring some cities. You can even head to a spa for the weekend to enjoy some good old-fashioned R&R.
Avoid the Bank Holiday Binge
If you’re looking ahead to a nine or even sixteen-day break due to Bank Holidays – they are possible – your first inclination might be to head to your nearest pub. Take your friends, your coworkers and anyone else in need a well-earned break for a night or two by the bar. Well, while this might seem like an enticing idea, it’s definitely the wrong decision. Sure, the first couple of hours might be bliss and it can actually be rather fun vaguely watch the troubles of the week slip from your mind. But then comes the next morning. You know the one? Where it feels like someone is taking a sledgehammer to your skull and you’re vaguely aware of a gun being fired. As it turns out it’s not a gun at all but instead the ticking of an incredibly annoying clock. You feel like you’ll be alright if you can just get to the kitchen for a glass of water. If only the darn room would stop spinning! It’s at this point that you’ll resort to simply finding your pillow and letting your head sink into it.
There it will stay for the rest of the day and possibly the evening. The next time you wake up it’ll be the day before you’re back at work or possibly even the day of work! If it’s the day of work, you’ll have fun spending a whole nine hours in the office with coworkers constantly shouting and typing that sounds like a dentist’s drill.
The key thing to be aware of here is if you do succumb to the temptation of getting drunk you could actually miss a lot of the weekend. It’s alright to have a couple of glasses but you don’t want to spend the majority of your time hungover. Nor do you want to have to go into work hungover and in a daze at the end of the break.
Don’t Be Put Off by The Weather
One of the mistakes people often make around a Bank Holiday is seeing rainy skies and immediately resorting to staying inside. There are lots of fun ways that you can spend a rainy day out of the house. You could head with your friends to an escape room, an indoor theme park or any other number of great possibilities. So, don’t let a rainy day put a dampener on your mini vacay.
Extend Your Time to The Max
Finally, our last recommendation would be to explore ways you can use a Bank Holiday to expand your time off. This is possible if you make sure that you save up those days you have off and use them the right way. Plan this correctly and you can take 8 days off but actually, have 16 full days without a gap to enjoy with friends or family. You can typically do this if you explore when the Bank Holidays fall. At some point throughout the year, there is a time where there are two Bank Holidays in the space of two weeks! That time has already passed this year but there’s always the upcoming year.
Alternatively, other times will allow you to take 4 days off and have a total of 9 consecutive days. Typically, there will be a couple of Bank Holidays that allow you to do this throughout the year. Later in the year through December if you take 5 days the Bank Holiday will allow you to get 12 consecutive days off.
The trick here is to make sure that you understand which days are important so that you can plan ahead and jump in front of your fellow colleagues. Don’t forget, you won’t be the only one with this plan, so it’s always a good idea to get in early with your requests.
We hope you find this advice useful when planning your Bank Holidays this year. As long as you make the right choices, you’ll find that these little treats are more valuable than you think and can lead to the kind of break from work that you will definitely need after a busy few months.