Vacation

Vacation time, time for friends and adventure. On the deserted beach, seashells and crustaceans. And I hear the train whistle, I hear the train whistle.

Those lovely summer camps, thanks mom, thanks dad.

It’s vacation time Vacation and silence Silence and absence

That vacation?[;)] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gN59oMMIyW0

Hi Dolma, nothing changes, yet nothing is the same on an individual level. Fifteen years already—time flies by without telling us. Our aspirations aren’t the same anymore; sometimes we wish they’d stay that way, and we fight for it.

Among the big dates, I remember 2008. For several years now, I can’t really talk about vacations because retirement age has kicked in. I hesitate to even say it, given how tough the debate is these days about whether we’ll go back to 62.

But clinging to illusions about longevity and trying to believe in them is a great morale booster—no need for happy pills.

Anyway, once again, I’ve gotten pretty serious about climbing, and I’ve got high hopes for some big routes. The secret? Surrounding yourself with friends who push you, challenge you, and don’t let you wallow in nostalgia for the past. The results are there: sure, we can’t pull ourselves up on a single finger in an overhang anymore, but foot technique in climbing is like riding a bike—it sticks, and you quickly rediscover those incredible sensations. Just like when you started, you’re still amazed that climbing shoes can hold on to almost nothing—or at least, not much.

The thrill of leading a climb, far from the last piton, gives you this feeling of invulnerability, maybe even eternity—a real sense of youth. After eight months of relatively consistent training, I wouldn’t say I move like I’m twenty again, but the joy is definitely there. I feel it almost as raw as my first big route—wow, that was a long time ago. It was at Mont Aiguille; I must’ve been seventeen or eighteen. I remember it vividly, even if it wasn’t a super difficult route. The rock wasn’t even that solid on the east face. They say great loves can fade or lose their spark over time, but the real, intense, unforgettable ones that sweep you away soar beyond the years and stay intact—or even become more sublime.

So, I’m heading out for some beautiful walls with the same emotion and apprehension I had at twenty, even if my wife gives me that slightly exasperated look, thinking (but not saying), *When will he realize he’s not that age anymore?*

Anyway, Dolma, I hope you have a wonderful vacation—maybe on that Atlantic coast we’ve heard so much about on this forum.

Vacation time is all year round.[;)]

July and August are just school holidays... The best time to work![:p]

Obviously, for those who do 8 travel journals a year, it's vacation all year round [:P]

You should complain to Martine A. [:p] ( You still seem to have a few gaps in math, though...)

Who's Martine A?

Maybe a minister from the Jospin government?[;)]

The only policy that’s really changed my life for the better! 😊

The only policy that truly changed my life for the better!

By letting you travel so often ;)

Yes!

I can’t remember how I managed with 5 weeks off!

Well, I can also partly thank some Macron government for restoring the right to phased retirement for civil servants—something the private sector has had for ages! [:p] But since I’m now forced to work until 64, it all balances out in the end... [:/]

Hopefully, they won’t change this before I turn 61! !

How I managed with 5 weeks, I don’t remember anymore!

Some people deserve a slap! [:P]

Up until last year, throughout my entire career, I got by with 25 days of paid leave per year and not a single RTT. That dear A. simply forgot about certain professions…

The right to gradual retirement, a huge perk granted for ages only to the private sector![:P]

With the employer’s agreement, which means very rarely.

This dear A. simply forgot certain professions...

I chose my job for the advantage of paid leave... Precisely because I’d tasted the joy of 5 weeks off...

Maybe a passion-driven job would make me forget about leave, but then we’re no longer talking about making a living!

With the employer’s agreement, which is to say, very rarely.

True, but it did exist.

If unions fought for workers’ rights instead of turning their struggle into some interplanetary or unrealistic mess, maybe workplace well-being would move in a better direction...

I think few people ask for gradual retirement due to lack of information (for those who can afford it financially).

And then, unions can enable a form of gradual retirement that employers can’t oppose: the strike...

I had barely started working when I found out that the departmental secretary of the CFDT was playing tennis with the deputy director general of services. It’s a nice name, comrade, a really nice name you know...

It could just as well have been the CGT, Solidaires, or FO...

Maybe, but I doubt it. Solidaires didn’t exist back then.

It’s crazy to think we’re privileged in France when it comes to time off. And yet, when I was younger, even double the amount wouldn’t have been enough...

Yeah, we can’t complain. And once you’ve tried it, you can’t do without it anymore!

Unless you’ve got a really passionate or super social job, but I don’t know any of those. You can’t have it all!

I did a little research, and if what I read is correct, in the United States, only 15 days of vacation per year are granted at the employer’s discretion! In most Asian countries, it’s 5 to 10 days per year depending on seniority. More fortunate, Austrians get 38 days. Topping the list for public holidays: Colombia with its 18 days.

Things really need to change by putting all these folks back to work! We’ve got to pay for our pensions (well-earned at 55, mind you) after all [;)] We’re counting on our government

Hi there, if you're going on vacation, enjoy it to the fullest because things might get rocky when you return. Today, the CAC 40 is in the red, and if you're a manager in a company, you might even be called back to the office in August. All because of the unpredictability of the person leading the USA. Seeing that their measures aren't working, it wouldn't surprise me if they pull another Trafalgar on us.

I did a little research, and if what I read is correct, in the United States, only 15 days of vacation per year are granted at the employer’s discretion! In most Asian countries, it’s 5 to 10 days per year depending on seniority. More fortunate, Austrians get 38 days. At the top of the podium for public holidays: Colombia with its 18 days.

I once read that it was one week at the start of a career, two weeks later, and if all went well, three weeks by the end of a career. At least for those who could have a linear path in the same company.

That's what some Americans told me.

More seniority, more vacation days!

We could adapt this for France.

Retirement at 65, but one extra week of vacation per year starting at 60 (funded by the state, not the employer, based on a minimum wage, for example)!

60: 6 weeks 61: 7 weeks 62: 8 weeks 63: 9 weeks 64: 10 weeks 65: time to retire...

And here’s the provisional lineup for the shadow government:

Dolma is appointed Minister of Culture Attila is appointed Minister of Holidays, in charge of Labor Mathews is appointed Minister of the Economy and Phynances JojoOne is appointed Secretary of State in charge of Remigrations Djalma is appointed Undersecretary of State for Soft Mobilities, in charge of Vacuity

And of course Voyajou in First Class Disaster.

Dolma is named Minister of Culture Attila is named Minister of Vacations, in charge of Labor Mathews is named Minister of the Economy and Phynances JojoOne is named Secretary of State in charge of Remigrations Djalma is named Undersecretary of State for Soft Mobilities, in charge of vacuity

Still that irresistible need to display your superiority? To feel above the fray, pulling the strings and handing out the good and bad points?[:(]

Djalma is named Undersecretary of State for Soft Mobilities, in charge of vacuity

It's funny, but this role you so easily assign me—I can just picture you already having done it as a petty bureaucrat behind a desk somewhere in South Africa or in a Parisian closet[;)]

Wasn’t that the Ministry of Free Time? [:p] So, I’m taking over from Edwige Avice.

I don’t know if I can handle work *and* everything else in just 35 hours a week... I’m a realist, me!

Wasn’t it the Ministry of Leisure Time? [:P]

Yes, the Ministry of Leisure Time actually existed. But now it’s become the primary ministry since civil servants do all the work in its place. All that’s left is to delegate....

Mathews is appointed Minister of the Economy and Finances

I’d have preferred the Ministry of Culture so I could hang out with artists, especially at Hellfest or Printemps de Bourges...

Civil servants do all the work for him.

I don’t understand the meaning of this sentence?

now it’s become the top ministry since civil servants are doing all the work for him.

But isn’t he currently, right now, sweating it out and working hard?

I don’t understand the meaning of this sentence?

What I meant was that politicians are mainly there to do PR, so all the actual work is delegated (which is what I wrote) to the administrative services.

But isn't he currently, right now, sweating it out?

yes, most definitely [:)] If he wants to save money, retirees might take a hit. So that’ll mean fewer trips to Thailand, Portugal [:P]

I don’t think a small non-indexation will make much of a difference. At most, they’ll dip into their full savings accounts and other life insurance policies. Nothing new—it’s always us who end up paying for other people’s mistakes; our spot in travelers’ paradise is already secured.

all the work is delegated (that's what I wrote, after all) to administrative services

To ministry employees who aren't necessarily civil servants and even less so "small hands."

The result wouldn't be such bureaucratic nightmares otherwise.

@ everyone

Four words that intertwine and two pages of replies ! Wow, that’s something else

Comments on politics, retirement, work, and vacation (seems like ecology is missing) are bickering and applauding, questioning and congratulating each other. I think we’ve just formed a new National Assembly that, of course, looks just like the previous ones—because, as we all know, nothing ever really changes.

I’m really enjoying reading you all [:)]

Just one thing that strikes me: I wonder how it’s possible to choose a job (with little interest?) just to get the vacations. A passionate job is still a huge advantage when you calculate how many years we spend working!

Unless you're really passionate, even a job you love can't withstand the wear of time. Everything becomes routine so quickly.

Many who chose a boring job probably don’t have an exciting private life either. My job didn’t often excite me, but once I was out, I enjoyed the pleasures and freedom it afforded me even more. I think some people deliberately choose a well-paid but less interesting job over one they’d enjoy but that pays less.

You could even write a poem about those first moments of vacation—a gulp of pure happiness. A blank page, broken chains, a vast horizon filled with dreams and discoveries, a long-lost energy returning as if by magic, a life coming back to life.

hi there,

4 words that intertwine and 2 pages of replies ! Wow, that’s too much

Not that off-topic... isn’t *otium*—briefly, free time—a contradiction of work? Etymologically, and everyone knows this, *travail* means torture. But boredom can also be mental torture [;)] It’s certain that when traveling, you eventually get really bored, whether on vacation or in retirement. Patong Beach or Miami Beach or Ibiza—it’s almost deadly dull... No retirement reform on the horizon since retirees are happy being retired and living by the sea, QED. But that’s another topic, already discussed on this forum, I think, ha ha. [;)]

Unless you're really passionate, even a dream job won't stand the test of time. Everything becomes routine so quickly.

It's true that if you want to reach the holy grail at work, it's tough. But I feel like saying "Get out of here, Sisyphus!" You should consider a craft job like watchmaking, for example. The Swiss do it that way.

I wonder how it's possible to choose a job (with little interest?) just to get the vacations. A fulfilling job is still a huge advantage when you calculate the number of years we spend working!

Well, you start by diving into something that should be enjoyable: working in a travel agency.

Then you realize it's poorly paid, that travel is more for others given the measly 5 weeks off, and that management can be real jerks.

So you turn the page and try something else you're not cut out for either, even if the vacations and salary were good this time.

You end up in a place where employees can speak their minds a bit, where the pay is decent, and where there’s more vacation time than elsewhere. You know this because you did your research.

At first, it's new—there might be a good vibe, the pay increases regularly, and you have some autonomy in your work, which, depending on the office, can be mind-numbingly boring or just interesting enough.

But then things change. The atmosphere gets worse and worse, the rules suffocate you, and the nonsense piles up. The pay stagnates, you count the days, it's too late to escape, and the exit door isn’t so far away...

I forgot to mention: only a tiny fraction of workers have a job they're passionate about. Most would quit in a heartbeat if they won the lottery.

The worst is when you're stuck with a bad work environment, a boring job, *and* lousy pay.🤪

Not that off-topic...

Where do you see me going off-topic when I write "4 words that intertwine and 2 pages of replies ! Wow, that’s a bit much "?

I think some people have chosen a less interesting but well-paid job over one they’re passionate about but pays less.

That said, it can also be a boring, poorly paid job versus an interesting, well-paid one—yes, it does exist!

But hey, I’m splitting hairs 😄. The important thing is that everyone can choose what suits them best!

It's really sad to hear all that [:/]...

my bad, sorry!

Oh, the world of work... I would’ve loved to be a lighthouse keeper at sea. A waking dream. But alas, the job doesn’t exist anymore.

Ah, the world of work... I would’ve loved to be a lighthouse keeper at sea. A waking dream. But alas, the job doesn’t exist anymore.

The Freudian angle might be worth digging into. Nah, just kidding

You could ask about taking the position of keeper at the Albrand lighthouse in Ambodiatafana on Île Sainte-Marie in Madagascar. The lighthouse, in very poor condition, hasn’t worked since 1986, but there’s still a keeper!.. Near the end of his career. The position is open... Down there, jobs are protected [;)]

Is this a good deal in your opinion, but isn’t the position tied to Malagasy nationality?