Vacation is a term used in English-speaking North America to describe a lengthy time away from work or school, a trip abroad, or simply a pleasure trip away from home, such as a trip to the beach that lasts several days or longer. In the rest of the English-speaking world the word holiday is used, whereas in North America, "holiday" normally applies to a specific national holiday or long weekend related to such a day. In some cases "vacation holiday" is used in North America, which signifies that a vacation trip is taken during a traditional national holiday period, extended on either end of the period by taking additional time off from work—creating a longer time unencumbered by work, an extended "long weekend", as it were. This practice is common in the United States where employers give far fewer annual vacation days (see below) than European employers—so stretching the related national holidays tends to conserve one's accumulated total of eligible days available for longer quality vacation excursions.
