Now that summer has officially begun, expatriates around the world are preparing for vacation just like everyone else. But do things change when you go abroad? Generally they do, and the good news is it's for the better.

Expats Speak Out "The biggest adjustment to summer holidays has been the benefits of being an expat. I get assisted air travel for holidays, which gives me more options in terms of destinations. I get an airfare stipend for home leave every year, which I can use to a predetermined limit so I can travel to many places. I love it!" -- Andreas, Australian expatriate living in the UK. "In Switzerland, whenever you took vacation for more than a week, it was customary to throw a party or cocktail for the people in your division before leaving. It was just kind of added to the overall vacation bill." -- Former Chase Manhattan bank professional assigned to Geneva. Saying No to the US One non-US expatriate remarked that, in his experience, few international managers are eager to work in the USA because "of the madness of only having two weeks leave a year. Despite many Americans thinking that the world wants a green card, no one I know wants to work there for longer than a year or two because of practices such as leave restrictions."

Bigger, Better, More

American expatriates are pleasantly surprised when they go overseas. "My biggest observation is how deprived and uncivilized the US vacation standards seem to be compared to Western Europe," notes one American who is working in London. Compared to the standard two weeks, most European countries offer a minimum of 20 to 25 days off each year. She also remarks on the flexibility that management and staff exhibit in accommodating vacations as compared to the US, where asking for time off is often met with comments on how it would inconvenience workloads.

How Is Work Flow Affected?

Some Americans have found that longer holidays lead to quite a bit of juggling in their overseas offices. "It has been a challenge to schedule meetings and make significant progress in the months of May and June, when most people tend to take holiday," explains Linh Tran, who works for New Jersey-based Dendrite International. "A lot of catch-up has to be done once a person gets back from vacation and decisions may be made in the person's absence. It is not uncommon for people to be gone for two weeks or more at a time, so it's tricky to move forward when team members are resting in the sun somewhere."

A private banking professional who worked in Geneva for several years also noted that longer vacations (up to one month at a time) made "managing staffing issues a bit tricky [even with] plenty of advance time to prepare. It meant redistributing work and sometimes hiring temps."

Are There Other Downsides?

Although holidays are plentiful in many countries (more so than in the US), there are some countries that don't celebrate the traditional holidays Americans are used to like Christmas and New Year's Day. In these cases, expats may be required to work these days or take vacation time. This can be difficult for them and their families. Additionally, benefits have gotten tighter for expatriates in recent years. For example, expatriates used to be guaranteed one annual airplane ticket home. Now, some companies are cutting this back to every other year.

A former human resources professional in a major investment bank recalls that she "heard several complaints from employee expats overseas (especially those in Asia) who felt obligated to travel over weekends and on holidays in order to be in New York for annual or semiannual meetings. They resented this a bit as the company did not compensate them by giving them extra days off."

Finally, sometimes employees who work overseas are not afforded the same vacation benefits as the locals, especially American expats whose companies are hesitant to give them five or six weeks leave. One expat noted that, despite this, "the financial incentives of being an expat far outweighed the vacation benefit you would get if you were to give up your (expatriate) package and go local."