If you’re American, you’re likely bad at taking vacations from work.

Why? Because we’re so stressed about it. According to a 2023 Pew Research Center survey, U.S. employees cited feeling bad about falling behind on work or feeling bad about having co-workers take on additional work as some reasons for not using all the paid time off their job gives them.

This undercurrent of anxiety might explain why so many “PTO hacks” for maximize your time off go viral every year. But many of them boil down to this simple yet sage advice: Strategically schedule around federal holidays to extend your limited days off.

Bonnie Dilber, a recruiting manager with app-automation company Zapier, said she has created videos on how to make the most of PTO using federal holidays every year. It’s advice she follows herself:

“Because I work remotely, I will sometimes work a day or two from another destination,” she said. “For example, I may spend 10 days visiting family adjacent to a federal holiday to get two weekends out of the trip ,but work two of those days, which can mean using just three days of PTO.“

For 2025, here is one way to take time off if you want to make the most of major federal holidays:

• President’s Day (Monday, Feb. 17)
  Take Feb. 14 off, so one vacation day becomes four days off in a row (Feb. 14-17).
  
  
• Memorial Day (Monday, May 26)
  Take May 23 off, so one vacation day becomes four days off (May 23-26).
  
  
• Juneteenth (Thursday, June 19)
  Take June 20 off, so one vacation day becomes four days off (June 19-22).
  
  
• Independence Day (Friday, July 4)
  Take July 3, so one vacation day becomes four days off (July 3-6).
  
  
• Labor Day (Monday, Sept. 1)
  Take Aug. 29 off, so one vacation day becomes four days off (Aug. 29-Sept. 1).
  
  
• Indigenous People’s Day (Monday, Oct. 13)
  Take Oct. 10 off, so one vacation day becomes four days off (Oct. 10-13).
  
  
• Veterans Day (Tuesday, Nov. 11)
  Take Nov. 10 off, so one vacation day becomes four days off (Nov. 8-11)
  
  
• Thanksgiving Day (Thursday, Nov. 27)
  Take Nov. 28 off, so one vacation day becomes four days off (Nov. 27-30).
  
  
• Christmas Day (Thursday, Dec. 25)
  Take Dec. 22-24 and the 26th off, so four vacation days becomes nine days off (Dec. 20-28).

Keep in mind these perennial viral “PTO hacks” that promise to “turn 13 days of PTO into 45 days off” only work if your job recognizes federal holidays (or at least, all federal holidays). As one commenter put it: “Cries in healthcare.”

If you do have an irregular or less flexible schedule, there are still ways to make the most of a vacation. Here’s how:

Work the holidays and take vacations in off-seasons.

This works well if you have a job that offers comp time for working holidays. One big plus? You avoid the holiday spike in prices for flights, cruises and tours by taking your time off when everyone is busy.

For example, you could beat the summer crowds by visiting Italy and Greece in October this year, and still get mild autumn temperatures, experts say.

Take a “hush trip.”

This strategy can be high-risk, high reward, but it works for jobs that are not entirely desk-bound. In a “hush trip,” employees work remotely from a location other than their usual one, without informing their bosses.

Hush-trippers avoid the headaches of getting a manager’s approval and get to work from a beach or with their families. Just watch out for unreliable internet connectivity or significant time zone differences that could jeopardize your deadlines or tip off your location to your employer.

Give your boss advance notice. And if you’re a boss, be fair about schedules.

Ideally, when there is trust between you and your manager, you can be open about asking for time off. If you are planning a big vacation, ask for it with advance notice so your boss knows who will be in the office when.

Bosses are also responsible for helping staff feel comfortable for taking time off. Good bosses are clear about explaining the expectations for vacation lengths and working holidays, Dilber said.

“For example, if only two people can be out at any given time, let your team know in advance that this is how things work, and it’s first-come-first-serve,” she said. “Have a way to rotate time off when there are periods where everyone wants to travel at the same time. Incentives for those who do work less convenient times can also be a great way to get folks to opt in to being present.”

Whatever you do, take a break.

Please do not fall into the trap that you have to “earn” your breaks from work. You are in a transactional relationship with your employer. You give up hours of your life each week and in return, you build up vacation time that is necessary for restoring your energy and mind and preventing burnout. If you have the time, make the ask.