How to make the most of your annual leave in 2024

I’m sure we can all agree that the Christmas break just didn’t seem quite long enough to catch up on all the relaxation and down time we may have required, and the return back to the working world has not been the smoothest transition for many of us. With the year stretching out in front of us, January really should be used to plot out the coming months and book in those precious annual leave days early.

I, for one, seem to always leave myself with a bulk of days to use up at the end of the year, and my vow for 2024 is to take regular breaks and up the ante in terms of travel over the months ahead. While the temptation to book off a bulk of days for a lengthy summer escape is always there, making good use of well placed bank holidays will help break up the year and stretch out the enjoyment.

In 2024, there are 10 bank holidays, the first of which took place this past New Year’s Day. In days gone by, the next bank holiday didn’t make its way around until Saint Patrick’s Day, but since last year, Ireland’s newest public holiday comes to the rescue on Monday 5 February. The celebration of Saint Brigid’s Day or Imbolc, the traditional beginning of the Celtic new year, means that you can stretch out your time off to nine whole days if you use four annual leave days from 6-9 February.

This year, Paddy’s Day falls on a Sunday, making Monday 18 March a bank holiday, which means that if you book the rest of that week off (until Friday 22 March), you can get nine days off for the price of four annual leave days. But I ask you, dear reader, why stop there?

Easter falls on Sunday 31 March in 2024, meaning that you’ll likely have Good Friday and Easter Monday off, so if you throw in Thursday 28 March and Tuesday 2 April, you’ll stretch the break out to six days, using just two annual leave days. However, if you were feeling particularly stealthy, you could book off four days (25-28 March) and combine your Paddy’s Day celebrations with your Easter holidays and say sayonara to work for a whopping 17 days, using just eight annual leave days. Mic drop.

Fast forward to May, where you’ll find another long weekend thanks to May Day on Monday 6 and you can once again nab nine days off for four annual leave days. In June, with the grand aul stretch back once again to banish our seasonal depression, there’s a bank holiday on Monday 3, allowing for another four annual leave days to be transformed into nine. The same goes for the public holidays on Monday 5 August and Monday 28 October.

Though it may seem crazy to be talking about next Christmas already, needs must. A planner’s gotta plan. Christmas Day 2024 falls on a Wednesday, so if you book off Monday and Tuesday of that week, and from Friday 27 December to Friday 3 January, you’ll have extended your holidays from seven annual leave days to a whole 16 days off. Pretty decent end to 2024, if you ask me.

Featured image via oxana_v on Unsplash