Anyone who has discussed vacation time with friends in foreign countries (other than the US) has experienced that pain in the gut after hearing things like… “What? You only get 15 days off? That’s horrible!”…. Then you ask the question..”Well how much time do you get?” And the reply is always a little blurry to remember because you pass out immediately afterward, falling to the floor and hitting your head.
Mercer Resources performed a study recently on this subject. (Time-off, not passing out) They have published the results of 44 countries they polled. The results are crazy and were used on CNN recently. Here are the juiciest parts.
- The US ranks 39th out of the 44 polled
- The US gets an average of 15 vacation and 10 holidays, totaling 25 days off a year
- Finland gets 30 vacation days and 14 holidays, topping the list with 44 days off
- Indians get 19 paid holidays
- Along with Finland, United Arab Emirates and France also get 30 vacation days per year
- 35 of the 44 countries get 20 or more vacation days per year
- 9 of the 44 countries get 15 or more paid holidays per year
- 34 of the 44 countries get 30 or more total days off per year
The figures above are “averages” for each country. Proceed to vomit.
August 23rd, 2007
Elizabeth is at it again. This time with a review of a killer sleeping bag from REI. She was very excited to get her hands on this just before we headed to South America to go trekking in the Andes. This would be a real test with temps ranging from frosty-sub-freezing to humid-sweatin-your-booty-off.
REI’s Sub Kilo +15 Women’s Sleeping Bag
- Retails for $239
- 750 fill power goose down
- Comes in Regular and Long lengths
- Weighs 1.9 lbs
- Internal Pocket for watch, headlamp, etc.
- Sleeping Pad Loops
Talk about love at first sight, that’s how I felt when I rubbed my hands down REI’s silky Sub Kilo +15 lavender sleeping bag. It looked perfect and with the temp rating, interior zip pocket, and 750 fill power goose down filling I was sure it would perform on my four day, 15 thousand foot Incan trek to Machu Picchu in Peru.
Pros:
This bag cinches way down for easy packing and it weighs almost nothing – 1.9 lbs. There was room for my pillow to fit in the hood and on really cold nights I cut the draft by closing up the neck area using the drawstrings.
I stretch out when I sleep and found plenty of leg room, plus the bag is soooo soft and fluffy!
Cons:
I am a very cold sleeper and found my feet and hips got cold whenever they touched the inside of the bag. I ended up wrapping my fleece around my feet and a thin jacket around my waist and had no problems getting to sleep.
If you sleep on your back or stomach this is the bag for you, but side sleepers may need more room.
August 23rd, 2007
