[trcollinson]

I am a W2 employee for a consulting firm. They pay me a salary with some benefits and some vacation time and bill be out to clients.

I'd say it's a cultural thing why we don't use it. Working hard and making big money is the dream. I'm not saying my company forces me to not take the vacation time. Heck they try to tell us all to use it more! (PTO is a liability on the books, FYI). But culturally, it's just not a priority (as in our countries culture, not the company itself). I realize it makes no sense. I need to make it more of a priority. My original point is my friends who are ex-pats on the EU seem to have a culture of using that time being more important than working.

Edit: I'm not sure why I'm being down voted. I'm mostly sharing what I see and feel. Your milage definitely may vary and I hope it does!

[terwey]

Work to live, don't live to work.

Your company at the end of the day doesn't care about you, those 5 weeks you could've spend on a trip doing a hike or just chill on the beach. That is what you'll remember later in life. That deadline you crushed, your boss enjoyed but won't be remembered in a few years, and if your "team needed you" comes up, your company overworks you and needs to hire additional staff.

[trcollinson]

I don't disagree. And I mean this much more generally, I have worked quite a long time for quite a lot of companies. The amount of PTO that is given up, which I was privy to, was staggering.

The interesting thing is I used to try to force people who worked for me to take more time off and they would complain. I think in many ways it was the example I set, which was bad, of always working. It's a regret I honestly have. I'm also happy now that I am just an individual contributor. I don't have to try to change that culture anymore. I only need to change me.