This pasty week my wife and I were lucky enough to get away for a great vacation in Gatlinburg, TN. Neither of us had been down there since we were little so we figured it would be a great destination. It was great, but the one drawback was how expensive everything was down there. We had a large list of things we wanted to do and so we decided to allow one of the street vendors to target us for some time-share presentation in exchange for over $100 worth of tickets to local attractions.
I know that most of you are thinking, “you are a total sucker,” but I assure you that could not be further from the truth because I actually learned something during that terrible 90 minutes. One of the statistics that they presented was that in America the average family only takes 7 days of vacation a year. You’re probably thinking that doesn’t sound so bad, but here’s the kicker. In Europe the average family takes an astounding 28 days of vacation a year. In direct correlation with that the divorce rate, suicide rate,and domestic violence rate in Europe is a fraction of what ours is here in the states.
Now I’m nobody’s fool, but that is frightening. That really shook me up as an expecting father and made me realize how important personal family time really is. Not just vacation time, but time where it is just you and your family with no distractions. If I had to guess what the number on killer of families is I would guess busyness. Fathers being too busy to see there kids, kids being too busy with all of their activities to really be kids, and so on. Look at your life and where your priorities lie. How much uninterrupted time have you spent with your family this week?
# Clarence on June 19th, 2007
Joel,
Realize that the divorce rate is so much lower in Europe because they don’t get married near as much. That is the same reason the divorce rate in the US is dropping so fast, in that the non-church folk are just living together.
Now I have no comments on the suicide rate and domestic violence, but don’t be fooled by their divorce statistic. Would like to see some facts to back up that claim.
Another thing to think about is their economy bites. Not sure I’d be willing to trade the luxuries of life that I do have for the extra three weeks off.
# Joel Young on June 19th, 2007
Maybe that is true about the divorce rate. I’m like you in that I would like to see if those stats are reliable, but I just thought it was very interesting how those things correlated. I know statistics are often misleading, but I think the real value in these statistics whether they are flawed or not is what it makes us realize about our lifestyles. I think Americans in general are just too busy, and a little less work and more family time, whether it is good for the economy or not, is a good thing.