How I Took 17 Trips With 10 Vacation Days: Maximize Your Time Off

Today, I work a very flexible job that allows me the privilege of regular travel, but I wasn’t always on this path. 

For 5 years after college I worked a regular office job, with very minimal time off. Even then, I was so passionate about travel, I couldn’t get enough of it and regularly squeezed in as much as possible. 

In fact, one year I took a total of 17 trips… with only 10 vacation days. 

That year I traveled to Montana, New York City, The Hamptons, Mexico, Austin, and more.

I fit all this in while working a standard, full-time job which offered just 10 vacation days for the entire year, plus very little time off flexibility. I couldn’t sneak out of the office early, I couldn’t take an unofficial day off without anybody noticing, and I couldn’t even work from home.

To be frank, it wasn’t ideal for somebody who enjoys travel as much as I do, but I still managed to travel a lot during my time at this job.

How did I do it though?

Quick trips and weekend getaways were my schtick, but I did have one big trip which took 5 of my vacation days alone. 

Below I’ll go into every trip I took, how my time off was allocated, and I’ll include tips regarding how to follow in my footsteps and travel more, even with a restrictive job. 

Maximize Your Vacation Days: How I Took 17 Trips With 10 Vacation Days

Below’s a list of the trips I took and how my vacation time was allocated:

• Phoenix, Arizona – 3 day trip, 1 PTO day
• Breckenridge, Colorado – 1 day trip, 0 PTO
• Broncos Super Bowl Parade – not a trip, but 1 PTO day
• Pray, Montana – 3 day trip, 1 PTO day
• Buena Vista, Colorado – 2 day trip, 0 PTO
• Moab, Utah – 2 day trip, 0 PTO
• Steamboat Springs, Colorado – 1 day trip, 0 PTO
• Lake McConaughy, Nebraska – 4 day trip, 0 PTO
• Steamboat Springs, Colorado – 2 day trip, 0 PTO
• New York City & The Hamptons – 8 day trip, 5 PTO days
• Austin, Texas – 3 day trip, 1 PTO day
• Dallas, Texas – 4 day work trip, 0 PTO
• Lake McConaughy, Nebraska – 3 day trip, 0 PTO
• Colorado Springs, Colorado – 3 day trip, 0 PTO 
• Buena Vista, Colorado – 2 day trip, 0 PTO
• Boulder, Colorado – 1 day trip, 0 PTO
• Omaha, Nebraska – 5 day trip, 0 PTO
• Puerto Vallarta / Sayulita, Mexico – 3 day trip, 1 PTO day

(In the second half of the article, I break down this travel/ PTO schedule in much more detail).

How I Maximize My Vacation Days

Utilize Paid Holidays

Most employers offer a handful of paid holidays in addition to standard PTO — days like Memorial Day, Labor Day, the 4th of July, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s.

It’s also becoming more common to have additional paid holidays for occasions like Martin Luther King Jr. Day, President’s Day or Juneteenth.

When I looked back at my own calendar, I realized I had 10 paid holidays that year — on top of my 10 vacation days. Of those 10, I used 6 for travel, which helped me stretch short weekends into longer getaways.

Making the most of these free days is an easy way to extend your trips and travel more without using extra PTO.

Take Quick Trips

A brief glance over the year’s 17 trips and you’ll notice they averaged around 3 days.

With only 10 official vacation days, and a single trip which ate half of those, weekend getaways were my only option.

Slower travel has many, many benefits, and if it’s possible for you, by all means do it. 

However, if your life looks like mine did back in 2016, then book the damn weekend trip. 

Keep Travel Within A Small Region

When you’re limited on time, you’ll probably be limited on distance too.

At least that’s been true for me — road trips and short flights became my best friends for weekend getaways.

Of the 17 trips I took that year, the average distance was 492 miles. The farthest was around 1,700 miles away; the closest, just 29.6 miles from home.

Even staying mostly regional, I still managed to visit seven states and one country outside the US.

You might be surprised how much there is to explore within a few hundred miles of home (especially looking at you, East Coasters).

Romanticize where you live, no matter how you feel about it. Vacation in your own backyard — and don’t try to tell me there’s nothing to do where you are. I vacation in Nebraska multiple times a year, on purpose, and have the best time.

Turn Travel Obligations Into Vacations

Weddings, work trips, family visits — they can all be turned into mini-vacations.

As I mentioned earlier, there’s beauty everywhere. Every destination, whether or not it’s trending on social media, has something to offer.

Four of my trips that year were for weddings, which took me to Montana, New York, and Arizona — plus a new city in my home state of Colorado. A bachelorette weekend and a work conference also brought me to Texas twice, and I had a blast on every one of them.

Take whatever travel obligations life gives you and turn them into opportunities. Gratitude for what you have — without conditions — often opens the door to even more of what you want.

Make Travel A Priority & Plan That Trip 

If you truly want to travel, make it a priority.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard, “I don’t have time to travel” or “I don’t have the money to travel.”

When I ask, “How much does that trip actually cost?” or “How much time would it take?” most people can’t answer — they haven’t even looked.

Maybe it’s true that you can’t afford it right now, but how can you know that if you don’t run the numbers?

Plan the trip. Price it out. See how much time it really requires. You might be surprised to find it’s more attainable than you thought. And even if it’s not possible yet, now you’ll know exactly what it takes to make it happen later.

How I Was Able To Afford These Trips

You’re probably wondering how I afforded all these trips.

At the time, I was earning about the median household income for a Colorado resident (according to the 2016 Census). Despite living in an expensive city, my cost of living stayed low — minimal debt, shared housing costs with my partner, and no kids.

I know not everyone is in that same situation. But most of my trips were inexpensive. I saved money by traveling with groups, camping, and taking advantage of wedding room blocks.

Admittedly, I had a big cost-saving advantage in that many of my friends traveled often too. I’m now in a chapter where those same friends are juggling young kids and mortgages, so group trips are fewer and farther between.

These days, without eight friends to split an Airbnb, I’ve gotten much better at cutting travel costs as a solo traveler. I rely more on hotel and credit card points for free or discounted stays and save where it matters less to me — grocery store meals instead of restaurants, so I can splurge on experiences instead. What feels “unnecessary” will look different for everyone, and that’s okay. Find what works for you.

As for flights, I rarely pay cash thanks to travel rewards. Southwest is my go-to for domestic trips — low fees, friendly service, and a hub right here in Denver make it easy to rack up and redeem points.

I also love using Thrifty Traveler for flight deals delivered straight to my inbox. Thanks to them, I’ve found roundtrip flights from Denver to Paris for $450 and Denver to Helsinki for $350 — during peak Northern Lights season. You can use code AMY for $20 off your first year, or just sign up for their free version to start getting deals.

And one last reminder: plan the trip first. Once you’ve visualized it, it’s much easier to figure out how to make it affordable.

Exactly How I Turned My Vacation Days Into 17 Trips

Below is exactly how I used my time off, month by month.

January

My first trip of the year fell in January. My best friend was getting married in Tempe, Arizona which required taking one vacation day.

I left Denver after work on Thursday and returned home Sunday.  

Because I was in this wedding, we did not do any vacation activities during this quick getaway. However, I had a wonderful time celebrating my friend and her family. Plus, I got to stay at a gorgeous hotel, The Buttes, for a low room block price.

February

I spent a weekend in Breckenridge, Colorado visiting the same friend who had just gotten married. No vacation day was used for this one.

We drove up to Breckenridge early Saturday morning, spent one night, and returned home Sunday morning. 

We’d originally planned to spend all day Sunday in Breck as well, however, had to leave early due to an incoming snow storm.

While I don’t ski, Saturday was spent at the base of Peak 8 at Breckenridge Ski Resort, sun shining, drink in hand. Something about après ski at the base of the slopes will always feel like home, despite the fact I haven’t actually skied since I was 10. 

While Breckenridge was my only trip in February, and didn’t require PTO, I did use one vacation day this month.

I very, very rarely use PTO for anything other than trips, but this was a special circumstance. 

The Denver Broncos won the Super Bowl and I simply could not miss the parade. So, I took a Tuesday off work and watched Peyton Manning carry the the Vince Lombardi Trophy through the streets of Denver.

It was absolutely worth it. 

March

Another wedding took me out of state in March, this time to Montana. This trip was quick but did require one day of PTO.

We flew to Bozeman, MT on Friday morning, then drove an hour to Chico Hot Springs to celebrate my cousin and his wife. 

Before returning home Sunday, we were able to enjoy Bozeman and spend lots of time soaking in the hot springs, in addition to the actual wedding festivities. 

I wish I had been able to stay here longer. Many of my family members added an extra day and went to Yellowstone National Park, this didn’t work with my available PTO though.

Following the wedding, I spent a weekend at Mt. Princeton Hot Springs Resort near Buena Vista, Colorado. This is one of my favorite hot springs in Colorado.

My friends and I have done this trip numerous times. We rent out one of the resort’s large log cabins, then spend the entire weekend soaking in the creekside hot springs and exploring nearby St. Elmo Ghost Town.

We drove up Friday after work and returned home Sunday evening, which required zero vacation days.

April

I took zero trips and used zero vacation days in April.

May

In May I spent a weekend camping in Moab, Utah with friends. We made the 5.5 hour drive Friday after work and returned home Sunday, using zero PTO.

For the record, I do not recommend driving from Denver to Moab after work and then attempting to set up your tent in the dark. Moab is an International Dark Sky Community, meaning it has one of the darkest night skies in the world. I cannot exaggerate how pitch black it was, and therefore, incredibly difficult to set up a tent.

I can’t help but laugh when thinking back on that one.

During the weekend I hung out with friends and visited Arches National Park twice. It was extremely fun.

June

In June I did one very quick trip, this time to Steamboat Springs, Colorado. I drove up to the mountains Saturday morning and returned home Sunday morning.

The short trip, relative to drive time required, was not ideal. However, it wasn’t possible to visit for any longer due to work. My friend was celebrating her birthday and we didn’t want to miss out.

Obviously, no vacation days were used.

July

July was a very busy one in terms of trips. 

First up, I visited Lake McConaughy in Nebraska. This is a huge camping trip I do each year with family and friends.

We spent the long weekend boating, lounging on the white sand beaches (yes, Nebraska has natural sand beaches!), playing games, and in general, having a really fantastic time.

This was a four day trip, July 1st – 4th, which was a Friday through Monday. Work gave us a four day weekend for the holiday, so no personal days were used.

The following weekend I did another quick getaway, returning again to Steamboat Springs. I did the 3.5 hour drive up to the mountains after work on Friday and returned home Sunday afternoon.

This was to celebrate another friend’s birthday. We soaked in the beautiful Strawberry Hot Springs, attended the Hot Air Balloon Rodeo, and went rafting down the Yampa River (I also saw a wild bear for the first time!).

It was a quick, but action-packed weekend, requiring zero vacation days.  

Next up, and still in July, is the biggest trip I took of the year and one that ate up half of my vacation days by itself.

This vacation took me to New York City and The Hamptons for a family member’s wedding.

The trip was a full week, Saturday – Saturday, and required half of my 10 vacation days.

I spent one day and one night in New York City, where I shopped, did all the touristy things, and met up with a friend living in the city.

I then hopped on the Jitney and headed to Sag Harbor for the remainder of the trip. 

During my time in the Hamptons I lounged at the beach, hung out poolside, ate a ton of ice cream, and wandered through the absolutely adorable hamlet of Sag Harbor. 

Of course, this was in addition to a lot of wedding activities. My brother-in-law and his wife got married at beautiful Wölffer Estate Vineyard in Sagaponack and had two pre-wedding celebrations in the form of a beach bonfire and a family party at the home of my in-laws.

(Psst — years after this trip I ended up moving to Sag Harbor for a year. I adore this region and am incredibly grateful for the time I’ve spent here. I have tons of posts on The Hamptons, if you’re heading that way, check out my guides The Hamptons Travel Guides. Also, if you’re curious, read about How I Quit My Job & Traveled For A Year.)

August

August took me to Texas twice.

First was a bachelorette party weekend in Austin. We left Friday morning and returned home Sunday night, meaning I used one vacation day.

I had an absolute blast in Austin, the city reminded me a lot of my home, Denver. 

During the weekend bachelorette trip we took in the tourist attractions, hung out at our hotel’s rooftop pool, spent an afternoon at Barton Springs Pool, and frequented a variety of fun bars.

After just a few days at home, I returned to Texas for a work trip in Dallas.

I visited for a 4 day conference, and since it was a business trip, it didn’t require any vacation days. I know what you’re thinking, a work trip doesn’t count as a vacation, and I mostly agree with you. 

However, I did make the most out of this work requirement, and actually had quite a bit of fun.

The conference was at a hotel in Arlington, near the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium. By luck, the Cowboys had a pre-season game during my visit and I was able to attend. This stadium is insane, it was such a cool experience.

I also managed to meet up with a girlfriend who lives in Dallas on the final night of the work trip for dinner and drinks.

This was in addition to attending the actual conference, of course. I even won a sales achievement award!

Below is me accepting my award from the CEO of the company, yay! (See, I swear I work in addition to travel…)

September

September had one quick weekend away, when I returned to Lake McConaughy in Nebraska. This was for another camping trip over a three day weekend courtesy of Labor Day. 

I completed the 3.5 hour drive Saturday morning and returned home Monday, I used zero days of PTO. 

Labor Day here is relatively quiet compared to the 4th of July, this weekend was spent boating and chilling by the campfire.

October 

At the beginning of October, I spent a weekend in Colorado Springs. This is only an hour from home, but I was in a wedding and therefore needed to spend two nights here.

I left Denver Friday afternoon and returned Sunday afternoon. This is the only half day I took during the entire year, and didn’t use a vacation day for it. I was given the half day thanks to the weekend spent in Texas for work.

The wedding was in a beautiful, small church overlooking the mountains, and we got to enjoy some wedding festivities at the immaculate Broadmoor Hotel.

This wedding also happened to fall on my birthday, so I had a great time celebrating my friend and her new husband while dancing the night away, craft beer in hand. 

Next, I enjoyed another quick weekend at Mt. Princeton Hot Springs Resort near Buena Vista. I told you, this is one of my favorite hot springs in Colorado.

We spent the entire weekend, again, soaking in the creekside hot springs, exploring nearby St. Elmo Ghost Town, and playing card games in our cabin.

Per usual, I left Friday after work and returned home Sunday afternoon, therefore using zero vacation days.

Still in October, we took a quick trip to Boulder, Colorado. This was such a quick trip, and so close to home, that I considered not counting it.

But, it was a night away from my own bed, which is how I count a trip, so it’s in the tally.

We drove up to Boulder Friday evening after work and spent the night at a friend’s family home — which happens to have absolutely incredible views, I feel so lucky whenever we stay.

We spent Friday night here before the University of Colorado homecoming football game on Saturday. CU won, we had a great time with friends and hung out on The Hill for food and drinks after the game.

We were supposed to spend Saturday night in Boulder as well, but ended up heading home earlier than planned. We were quite burnt out after three consecutive weekends away from home.

November

Each Thanksgiving my family does a trip to Omaha, Nebraska.

(Yes, I vacation in Nebraska multiple times a year, on purpose, and I like it).

While my dad is from the Cornhusker State, we actually don’t have family here anymore. But we continue to do Thanksgiving in Omaha annually because it’s a convenient meeting point for my immediate family, who live in Denver, and extended family in Chicago.

This trip was from Wednesday to Sunday, which required no vacation days thanks to the holiday.

In Omaha I spent lots of time hanging out with my cousins, aunts, uncles, brothers, and parents. I also explored the boutique shops, bars, and restaurants in Old Market, and meandered over to the casinos in neighboring Council Bluffs, Iowa for some late night shenanigans.

December

For the final month of the year I took one trip to the Riviera Nayarit region of Mexico.

This was a last minute, super quick trip, which I somehow pulled off with my one remaining vacation day.

I left Denver very early Friday, flew 3.5 hours to Puerto Vallarta International Airport, then hopped in a cab for a 1 hour drive to the vacation rental. Here, the concierge set me up with another taxi to take me about 30 minutes to Sayulita where my friends were spending the day.

(This is the part where I should mention that my friend worked for a super-luxury travel company called Exclusive Resorts. As a perk she got to rent out extravagant vacation homes, equipped with insane conveniences like personal concierge, chef, etc. — all for a hilariously low employee price. I got to tag along sometimes, this was one of those trips.)

Anyway, by Friday afternoon I was sitting in a flimsy plastic chair, toes in the sand, drinking a cold beer and chatting up brand new friends. 

We partied on the beaches of Sayulita that night, then spent the entire next day on a boat — sort of a questionable decision, I admit.

Marietas Islands National Park made it 1,000% worth it, though.

By Sunday night I had a fresh passport stamp, a stomach bug, some fantastic memories, and was back in my own bed, with my final PTO day used.

To wrap up the year, I spent the holidays in Castle Rock, a suburb of Denver where my family lives. I didn’t have to take any time off for this. 

And while I did technically spend a few nights away from home, I have a really hard time including Christmas at my parents house as a trip. Therefore, I didn’t count this in my vacation totals.

Being with my family on Christmas is more like being at home than on a trip. 

I’d be amiss not to acknowledge the privilege and luck that made a year of travel like this possible.

This was a season in my life that offered a huge abundance of vacation opportunities, which I was determined to finesse into my unbending work schedule. Living in Denver helped too, with easy airport access and quick mountain getaways nearby.

But more than anything, I made travel a priority. I turned down other plans, turned wedding invitations into mini-vacations, and said yes to trips I barely had time for (looking at you, 48 hours in Mexico).

Traveling is my passion, and I look back on this chapter with so much gratitude. If you’re feeling frustrated with your current season, know that mine have varied too — with some years full of trips, and others much quieter.

Enjoy the opportunities you have now, trust there’s more ahead, and if you’re on the fence, take this as your sign to book that trip.

As always, thank you for reading.

Additional Travel Tips:

• How I Quit My Job And Traveled For A Year
• Everywhere I Visited While Living In New York & Traveling The East Coast
• Tips To Avoid Crowds While Traveling
• Holiday Travel Tips For The Anxious Traveler