Spring Break! Perfect time to catch up on grading, the journal manuscripts that needed editing, recommendation letters that needs writing…
Spring Break is my …. Break.
I have been a professor for about a decade and I’ve always treated Spring Break as a perfect time to explore a new place. I have an aversion to cold weather, so I find places that are warm in March. Few years ago, I visited Belize and Guatemala, it was Hawai’i in 2020 right before the plague, and in 2021, I visited Oaxaca City, Mexico.
If you haven’t been to Oaxaca (pronounced Wahaka), I highly recommend it, especially for us in a FIRE mindset. I could get an amazing meal (vegan black mole’, anyone?) at a lovely restaurant for $10. A private room in the super nice Casa Angel hostel with breakfast will cost you $60/night, or even a hotel with a pool for $60. I enjoyed TONS of little hole-in-the-wall restaurants with delicious food for a few dollars. I don’t know any Spanish, but I got by, even took a bus. In case you’re wondering, Oaxaca City is incredibly safe.
I work on a 9-month contract, but as most faculty (and school teachers) can relate, it’s really a 12-month job. I just get paid for 9-months, with no PTO (Paid Time Off) other than the scheduled holidays. I get ~3-weeks off at the end of the year, a Spring Break, and a 2-day Fall Break in October. While 4-weeks off is great (amazing, actually), it’s not exactly PTOs for needing a day off for being sick, a mental health day, take a pet to the vet, or waiting for the internet company to arrive “between 12 and 6.”
So why do we still insist on working during the breaks? Because we’re educators and it’s altruism? Because we don’t know what else to do? Because we feel guilty if we don’t? Why do most faculty work 12-months when we’re getting paid for 9-months? Is this FIRE friendly? We can earn more outside of academia at a 12-month job, so why do we work for 12-months in academia for much less money?
I don’t, anymore. I use my breaks for living life. Traveling, napping, doing community service, sitting under a tree watching the squirrels, listening to FIRE podcasts and audio books, and simply… enjoying life.
Do you take Spring Break off from work? To travel or to simply clean your home? To spend daytime with your loved ones and pets? To hit the grocery store when it’s not busy?
