We're all familiar with the concept of "all work and no play", and even those who love their jobs need a break occasionally. With winter approaching and the weather turning colder, many of us are likely looking ahead to next year - and holidays.
If your annual leave begins on January 1, this means you'll bring in the new year with a fresh batch of time off. How you use it is up to you, whether you take some family trips, hang out with friends, or simply enjoy some alone time.
Whatever you choose to do with it, a simple hack could see your standard 28 days of holiday turned into a whopping 61 days off work. It's all to do with bank holidays and some clever planning. While similar hacks have been available in previous years, unfortunately, it only applies to those who don't work weekends, are given bank holidays off as standard, and do not have to take them as a holiday. Experts at Go2Africa have explained how it works.
To start with, book Thursday and Friday, January 2 and 3, off to get five days off in a row following the New Year's Day bank holiday. Then, in April, you can take a huge 16 days off with just eight days of leave.
You'll need to book off April 14, 15, 16, and 17, and April 22, 23, 24, and 25, and this will see you off from Saturday, April 12, through to and including Sunday, April 27. That's because Easter falls on Sunday April 20 so we have bank holidays on Friday April 19 and Monday April 21.
May's two bank holidays then provide two separate chances to extend long weekends into significant breaks. To enjoy a whopping 18 days off in two lengthy periods, book leave from May 6-9 and then May 27-30. This will use up eight days of your leave and will see you off work from Saturday, May 3, until Sunday, May 11, and then again from Saturday, May 24, until Sunday, June 1.
You can get then get nine days off in summer with four days of leave, by booking off August 26-29. This will see you off work from Saturday, August 23, and not back in until Monday, September 1.
And at Christmas you can swap six days of annual leave for 13 days off. You'll need to book off December 22, 23, and 24, as well as December, 29, 30 and 31. This will see you away from your job from Saturday, December 20, until the New Year.
