>That sounds kind of miserable to me. Why would I want to work while visiting friends?

Because there's still 16 other hours in a day you can spend with them and you don't have to feel pressure to do certain things because you've both taken time off work?

Do you have friends in your home town? Do you only visit them on days off of work?

I do have friends who I visit, yes. We generally get together for a long weekend, Thursday / Friday to Monday / Tuesday a few times a year. We all just take those days off work, because we're meeting up to hang out together.

No, I'm talking about friends who live in the same town as you do. I assume you can't see each other on weekdays for dinner or drinks since you're both working and that would be miserable, right?

If I get two vacation weeks off a year, I probably will use up one week on visiting family, another week on an interesting trip, and then that’s all the vacation for the year. If I want to visit friends as well, I just can’t. But if I can work while visiting friends, it’s strictly superior even if still a bit sad.