Travel

Survey Shows Generational Divide Over Relaxation Habits

Posted: 10/11/2012

According to a recent survey, boomers and millennials approach their vacation time in very different ways.

(NAPSI)—When it comes to leaving work behind, not everyone vacations the same way. That’s a key finding of a recent survey that revealed that boomers (individuals approximately 48−66 years of age) and millennials (individuals approximately 18−31 years of age) have very different approaches when it comes to what they want from a vacation. These differences can be seen in various areas-from how they approach social media while on vacation to how they maintain a work/life balance.

Celebrating Relaxation

The 2012 Princess Cruises Relaxation Report was commissioned by Princess Cruises with Wakefield Research. Princess Cruises, which annually helps more than 1.3 million passengers escape completely aboard its worldwide fleet of ships, conducted the survey to examine Americans’ ability and approach to relaxation and vacation trends.

“It’s evident through our survey findings that Americans’ approach to relaxation and vacationing is changing with each generation,” said Jan Swartz, Princess Cruises executive vice president.

Making Time for Relaxation

For starters, it appears that boomers take their vacation time seriously, with only one in three finding it impossible to go an entire vacation without doing anything work related.

In contrast, nearly six out of 10 of younger millennials would not be able to completely escape and disconnect from work on vacation. Millennials are also leaving relaxation time on the table. Of those employed with vacation time available to them, less than half used all their paid time off. Boomers, on the other hand, appreciate their vacation time and nearly 60 percent used all of their allotted time last year.

To Do or Not to Do

Of those surveyed, 57 percent considered themselves “relaxers”—someone who enjoys sitting back and doing nothing—as opposed to the other 43 percent surveyed who described themselves as “doers”—someone who wants to fit as many activities as they can into each escape.

Managing Social Media

In addition to Americans’ varying views on relaxation, many respondents were divided on whether social media is a must-have while on vacation.

For example, 85 percent of millennials reported that a vacation won’t stop them from making a social media update. In contrast, only 48 percent of boomers said they would update a social channel while on vacation.

The No. 1 social media outlet for Americans vacationing is Facebook-nearly six out of 10 Americans said they would likely make an update. The survey also revealed that 16 percent would reportedly visit YouTube and 15 percent would likely visit Twitter while vacationing.

Parenting and Relaxation

Sixty-four percent of parents have taken a vacation without their child, although that comes with a guilt price tag. Of the parents who have vacationed without their kids, 46 percent felt guilty for not taking their kids along. More than half of moms felt guilty about leaving their kids at home but just over a third of dads share their guilty feelings.

Pop Culture Escape Break

On the celebrity vacation buddy front, one in four females said they would like to hang out with Chelsea Handler on a relaxing beach day, whereas 25 percent of all men would rather share their sunblock with Jay Leno.

Dream Escapes

When asked to describe their perfect vacation libation, 37 percent of females think their dream escape as a mai tai—tropical and beachy—whereas 27 percent of men think of their dream escape as a bottle of beer—party time!

To learn more, visit www.princess.com.

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