When I was a boy, it seems I was always excited by the prospect of summer vacation. In the late spring, I’d count the days till the end of school. My dad worked for the Coast Guard and steadily accumulated vacation days for his years of service. He had four weeks then and used two of them to serve in the Coast Guard Reserve. During the other two, we went camping. He introduced me to backpacking when I was 11, and by the age of 14, I was allowed to backpack by myself, with my good friend, John Ellsworth, first for two weeks in Yosemite, and, in subsequent summers during high school, for up to six weeks throughout the Sierra Nevada. Our only requirement was to stay safe and call our parents once a week.
I knew that whatever job I landed in would have to include vacation time. I became a free-lance video producer and could choose how much time I took off, without pay of course. I thought everyone had at least some time off. But in 1993, when I made a national PBS documentary called RUNNING OUT OF TIME, I realized my freedom was the exception, not the rule. I was shocked to discover that the United States, alone among all rich countries, had no law guaranteeing paid vacation time, or even unpaid time. By contrast, all Europeans enjoyed at least four weeks off by law and so did some residents in poorer countries like Brazil. I’d been an activist before becoming a filmmaker; I couldn’t let this deplorable situation stand unchallenged.
TAKE BACK YOUR TIME
It was nearly a decade later though, that I joined a group of voluntary simplicity advocates to start an organization called Take Back Your Time, to challenge what we called America’s “time poverty.” We learned quickly that in other areas as well as vacation time—sick leave, family leave, etc.—the US was far behind its peers. We advocated paid family leave, paid sick leave, a shorter working week and other ideas. Our organization grew quickly. The first Take Back Your Time Day on October 24, 2003 resulted in activities in 200 cities, some 500 separate media stories and important support from organizations like the Massachusetts Council of Churches, which encouraged all of its pastors to preach about the need for time for life. I’d edited a handbook for the day, with more than 30 distinguished contributors, including Juliet Schor, who’d written the brilliant volume The Overworked American. I was also able to write op-eds for the New York Times and Los Angeles Times that were well received.
WE STILL NEED A VACATION LAW
by John de Graaf
New legislation in New York City increases the hope of paid vacation time in the United States. Why aren’t the Democratic presidential candidates paying attention?
David de Graff with John de Graff Backpacking 1993
Yosemite young lake photo credit: Greg Davis