Clock in Prague, Czech

What is the optimal duration of a travel period? Is it a year? A couple of months? 10 Days? A Short Getaway? Well I can say that my travelling has taken me on several months long journeys to a weekend gateway and everything in between. What I have discovered is that the optimal time for me is 10 days for any trip where the flying time is under 12 hours. A maximum of a week for anywhere the flying time is under 5 hours and no more than 16 days for vacations where the flying time is greater than 12 hours. Here are my reasons for the optimal 10 day vacation:

1) You do not have enough time to get home sick. On the last day, you may feel like having that salad that you know you can’t have in this country due to water or in the case of my American friends a great hamburger.

2) On day 10, you are still impressed with a new church, as opposed to a month long vacation in Europe, where all churches start looking alike and you are sick and tired of eating local food.

3) It is enough time to squeeze in a couple of cities and depending on an area, even a short beach vacation.

4) You save vacation time from work, and you can go away again in a couple of months. This usually is the best cure for post vacation blues.

5) You can get away with travelling with a carry on. Making it a more enjoyable and hassle free vacation.

6) If you do not like your current destination, you do not have to continue to stay there longer than a couple of days. While, I was in Egypt or Amsterdam, where I was not having a great time, I knew that the end was shortly away. Had I booked a longer time in those destinations, I would have been miserable and probably would have ended up changing my flight back. (Assuming I had the money in my bank account to do so.)

When I was touring Europe for a couple of months, I had stopped appreciating the beautiful architecture, museums and new cultures as it all looked alike. Whether I was in Rome, Vienna or Paris, after a while, it all looked alike. Even though looking back, having gone back to those places I was astonished at its beauty and found a new grown enthusiasm. I have also done a couple short getaways where jet lag was so bad that it took me most of my time there to get over it making the trip way too short.

The only time, where I think more time is preferred is if I know the destination where I enjoyed myself previously, it is near a beach (I am a bit of a beach bum) or I have a purpose of being in that destination (school, work, friends).

What is your breaking point in travel?