A22
Holidays
Paid holiday
Paid holiday is time that you are allowed to spend away from work, but are still paid for. Most people in the US get 2 weeks paid VACATION a year, unless they have worked somewhere for a long time, when they may get 3 or 4 weeks. In the UK most people have 4 or 5 weeks paid holiday each year. In addition, there are 8 days in the UK which are public holidays and 13 in the US. These public holidays are known as bank holidays in the UK. Many of these are on a Monday, giving people a long weekend, also called a three-day weekend (AmE), and a bank holiday weekend (BrE).
In the UK so many people drive to another part of the country on bank holiday weekends that there are terrible TRAFFIC JAMS (=lines of cars which cannot move).
Popular holiday places for Americans
Within the US, the NATIONAL PARKS such as the GRAND CANYON, YOSEMITE, and YELLOWSTONE are popular places to go on vacation. Young people may go walking or camping in the mountains. Many people have RVs (=a large vehicle with cooking equipment, beds etc) to stay in. If they are in a car they might stay in MOTELS while they are on the journey. DISNEYLAND and DISNEYWORLD are very popular. People also go skiing (SKI) in the ROCKY MOUNTAINS.
It is also very common to use vacations to visit relatives who live in states that are far away. Some children go to SUMMER CAMP for several weeks during the summer vacation from school, where they do special activities such as sports and CRAFTS (=making things from wood, cloth etc).
When Americans want to relax in the sun, they usually go to Florida, Hawaii, Mexico, or the Caribbean. They sometimes go to Europe for CULTURE, for example to see art and historic buildings. But travelling outside the US is not very typical, and it is believed that only about 20% of Americans have a passport.
Popular holiday places for British people
In the past, British people spent their holidays at the SEASIDE (=a place by the sea) in towns such as SKEGNESS or BOURNEMOUTH. Today, however, many people prefer to go abroad on holiday, especially to somewhere warm. Many British people go to southern Europe, for example to the Greek islands. Spain and the Spanish islands of MAJORCA and IBIZA are also very popular. Ibiza is famous for its NIGHTCLUBS, and is especially popular with young people.
When British people go on holiday abroad, they often go on a PACKAGE HOLIDAY (=a holiday arranged by a company that includes travel, the hotel, and sometimes meals, all for a fixed price). These have made travelling abroad easier and cheaper, and today many people go to places that are very far away, such as Thailand, Tunisia, and India.
People who stay in the UK for their holidays often go to the country, especially to walk, in places like SCOTLAND, WALES, or the LAKE DISTRICT.