Exactly, 5 weeks! That's a huge amount by American standards. And many Dutch I know do take most that time in the summer, at once.

Really ? I don't know anyone who does. Most companies I've worked for wouldn't have allowed it either because it could cause planning difficulties around the vacation period.

That's the same as the UK. Good to know.

I'm sad to say that your experience with PTO is not the norm in the US. The lower and most of the middle classes have it much worse: http://theweek.com/articles/463897/americas-war-vacation-by-...

To clarify: I live in the Netherlands and I was disagreeing with the fact that everyone takes off 4-6 weeks to travel around the world each summer.

Most people only get 5 weeks of holiday a year total (4 weeks is the legal minimum) and they usually spread out those days over the year. If you can travel the world for 6 weeks every summer then you have an above-average number of free days and probably an above-average income to be able to afford that much travel.

We do get vacation money (8% of your gross salary, usually paid in may) but that's not nearly enough for 6 weeks of travel unless you saved up a lot.

I said 4 - 6 weeks; you are focusing on the "6" but I know many, many Dutch (my neighbors, actually) who are gone a full month every summer, like clockwork. Nearly everyone on my street. It's always either July or August.

You say people "only" get 5 weeks of holiday, but that only supports my main point about the huge difference between that and what Americans are used to.

It could be that it depends on the kind of job you do. A lot of people go skiing in winter so they take 1 or 2 weeks then, but that probably won't be true for the lower-income groups.