 Vacations! We all need one, but it took centuries of hard work for them to even become a thing. So how did we go from rich people using vacation to escape the summer sh**, to the rise of the road trip to Americans leaving behind 768 million unused vacation days a year? This is the bizarre history of vacations. I'm on vacation! For most of human history, taking a vacation was pretty much only for the rich. In the late 1500s, young wealthy men in Europe would go on the grand tour, which was basically a fancy study abroad trip. Well, I have studied abroad. These extended vacations were a flimsy excuse to visit places like Paris, Venice, Florence, and Rome. And if you weren't the 16th century equivalent of a rich kid of Instagram, get back to work! Just look at the Puritans in early America. They worked their a** off six days a week and spent the entire seventh day in church. The only other time vacation was a thing was when kids were out of school. No, not like that. They had to tend to the fields. Props weren't gonna plant themselves. We owe our daily bread to the farmers. By the early 1800s, cities were getting bigger and rich people were going on vacation to escape the summer sh**. Don't nobody go in the bathroom for about 35 to 45 minutes. That's right, summer cholera outbreaks were common in places like New York City and wealthy families would head to seashores, springs, and mountain resorts that were popping up. At the same time, 19th century doctors were in general pretty big about getting away from it all for your health, even when there wasn't an infectious disease involved. Again, this was pretty much only for the top one percent. And coincidentally, it's estimated that just around one percent of Americans were visiting a spa or tourist destination in 1860. Yeah, life is good. Things really started to kick off after the Civil War due to the rise of railroads. City folk headed to the mountains for camping trips. Country folk explored restaurants and sightseeing in big cities. Oh yeah, really looking forward to my trip to Chicago next month. And with traveling for fun becoming more common, attitudes about vacation were beginning to change. For the first time, society recognized that non-rich people needed a break, too. In 1910, President Taft proposed every single U.S. worker should get two to three months of vacation a year. Two to three months vacation? I could finally learn how to knit and cook. Yeah, you're right, I probably wouldn't. Across the Atlantic, countries like Sweden and Germany did pass similar laws. But back then, and now, American legislators weren't quite on board to require vacation time, and the president's proposal failed. Oh, groovy smashing, yay capitalism! Despite no federal laws on vacation time, some companies tried to be decent to their workers. A few department stores in the 20s gave employees paid vacations at camps on the beach. In the 30s, unions helped by expanding vacation coverage for all levels of workers. And they did a pretty good job. By 1940, two million U.S. workers had vacation coverage. And just three years later, that number jumped to eight million. Good work! Everything changes in vacation land after World War II, when the American travel industry was born. Let me paint a picture for you. The post-war economy was booming. Vets were coming home to start their American dream. Getting married, buying houses, having kids. And to escape the monotony of their new nine to five lives, they piled the family in their Chevy's, Ford's, and even Studebakers, and hit the new interstate system. Road trip! Of course, corporations were more than eager to cash in on this new interest in vacation. Car and oil companies, motel chains, chambers of commerce, and tourism boards all funded mass media campaigns promoting the idea of travel. District of Columbia, one of the world's most beautiful cities, you'll love Palm Springs, California. Which leads to the peak family road trip era in the 60s and 70s. Even pop culture was reflecting the importance of the great American road trip. Where are we going? No, don't tell me, let me guess. When they close a road, they put up big signs like this one. Of course, road trips weren't peachy keen for everyone. For black Americans, driving through unfamiliar areas could be really dangerous. One way to help deal with this was with the Negro Motorist Green Book, which recommended hotels, restaurants, nightclubs, and more that welcomed people of color. All this to say that for a brief, wonderful moment in mid-century America, middle-class workers were not only getting vacation time off, largely thanks to unions, an entire industry was encouraging time with the fam at places like the New York World's Fair and Disneyland. And it was doable to take these family vacations on a typical factory worker's salary. We're gonna have fun. Which brings us to today. Out of the 21 richest countries in the world, the U.S. is the only one that doesn't guarantee workers paid vacation. The good news is, lots of companies have filled in the gap. In America, 76% of private industry workers get paid time off. But here's the thing, we still can't seem to escape our Puritan roots. We're using fewer of those vacation days than ever. Americans left a record 768 million unused days on the table in 2018. Why? Well, for one, we're workaholics, living in a culture that values extreme productivity. I'm gonna need you to go ahead and come in tomorrow. And two, technology has made it harder than ever to disconnect. We can work anytime, anywhere. Not using all your time off doesn't mean you're working more. You're literally volunteering your time and giving money to a company that probably doesn't pay you enough anyway or care about you all that much. So fight the nonstop work culture, man, and take a damn vacation. Hey guys, thank you so much for watching this video. I had a lot of fun making it. If you like what you saw, give us a thumbs up. You can also check out other episodes right here. And if you have any ideas for topics for bizarre history of, just comment below. As always, don't forget to subscribe to attention. Bye.