Americans aren’t taking vacation—there’s even data that says so, and a catchy name for the paid time off we abandon each year ("The Lost Week"). We're struggling to find time for ourselves, and when we do, we sometimes call it a "staycation" and just end up scheduling doctor's appointments and getting the sink fixed.
But when we do finally take a legitimate break from reality? According to multiple reports, Americans prefer to vacation in three-day spurts: "Long weekend trips are in," said a Travelzoo report in May 2017, adding that "nearly three quarters of Americans" were planning to tack on a Friday or Monday to a weekend trip last summer. A 2018 travel trend report from Pinterest makes us think the trend is here to stay, at least for a while: "People are looking forward to long weekends (up 167 percent), near or far. They’re also building sightseeing stopovers (up 90 percent) into their itineraries as a way to explore even more cities with their business and leisure trips." These extended business trips have given birth to the rather unfortunate word “bleisure” (business, leisure...you get it), though the concept is sound. There’s a lot you can do in 72 hours—and if you're traveling from one of four major business hubs like New York City, San Francisco, London, or Singapore, well...you can see the world, three days at a time.
We’ve plotted 13 three-day weekends from these four hubs to give you a little inspiration. A few rules first, though: You can go by train, plane, or car, but the time spent traveling needs to be less than time spent staying put. (You’d be surprised how far people will go for a long weekend). Flights need to be non-stop. And to make our recommendations, we asked ourselves: What would people crave in a quick getaway from these hubs? Probably the opposite of what they have. Now, stop whining about having too much responsibility to take a vacation and do as the Obamas do: Get out of town. —Laura Dannen Redman
Out of New York City
Out of London
Out of San Francisco
Out of Singapore