[arjunnarayan]

Reminds me of the controversial Cadillac commercial: "Other countries: they work, they stroll home, they stop by the cafe, ... They take August off. Off. Why aren't you like that? Why aren't we like that? "

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGJSI48gkFc

Now, I'm not endorsing this viewpoint---nor am I american---I'm just pointing out that there is a subset of Americans to whom this is a legitimate viewpoint (and that group is large enough that this is a legitimately viable advertisement appealing to their values and life choices).

And despite some folks' collective horror at this commercial (it was mildly---and intentionally, I would guess--- controversial), this is how most of my friend group (and me) live our lives. Sure we would never drive a Cadillac, but we mostly just spend all our time working. I can't think of a single friend who didn't blink at upending their entire life and moving to a new city just for an incremental career move. And it's super strange to my few European friends who value taking August off. Off.

I can sympathize with people who want that level of comfort and vacation. But then I notice my own decisions: I could easily have studied and lived in Europe (and I still could), and yet I have chosen not to. Mostly because of work.

[YZF]

Maybe with a little more time off you'd get something more like a Ferrari or Porsche? :-) You need to take some time off to get some creative juices flowing. It just seems like some sort of empty existence, you work for the sake of working more?

Take a bit of time off and you'll see it's not so bad.