The secret to doubling your annual leave

We all know how draining the nine to five grind can be, and four weeks off a year are hardly enough to get through it.

But what if you could turn your 20 days of annual leave into a whopping 43 days off? Believe it or not, it can easily be done if you get strategic about when you take your annual leave days.

If you haven't already put in leave to make the most of the upcoming Easter long weekend, time is quickly running out, but you may still be able to secure a couple of extra days off to soak up the last of the summer heat.

Serious sun seekers will already be doing this in some form or another, but Contiki have put together a calendar showing how to optimise the public holidays and weekends so you get the maximum number of days off in a row.

Starting with the upcoming Easter break, if you can manage to take eight days of annual leave, you can turn it into a whopping 16 days off.

If it's too late for that, you could try and take four days of annual leave from the 3rd to the 6th of April, and you'd actually find yourself with 10 days off in a row.

Likewise at Christmas, you can book the 24th, 27th and 28th of December off as three days of annual leave, but actually enjoy the nine days from the 22nd to the 30th off.

Depending on what state you live in, you may have a couple more public holiday days to add, like the Melbourne Cup holiday in Victoria, and Canberra and Reconciliation Day in the ACT.

Of course, if you’re in a line of work where weekends and public holidays are work days, this unfortunately won’t be for you.

But for the rest of us out there, it’s time to get booking!

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