Americans have the shortest vacations of any rich country. And they are actually getting even shorter. The US is one of only five countries in the world — the others are Burma, Nepal, Suriname and Guyana — which have no law guaranteeing any paid vacation time for workers. The average US vacation is a bit over two weeks, while the median is only about a week and a half, and American workers give back about three vacation days every year. Europeans enjoy five or six weeks of vacation each year and are healthier than Americans.

Vacations matter — for productivity, happiness, family bonding and especially, health. Men who don’t regularly take vacations are a third more likely to suffer heart attacks than those who do; women are fifty percent more likely, and far more likely to suffer from depression.

Facilitated discussion with filmmaker John de Graaf to follow screening. John de Graaf is an author, filmmaker and Executive Director of Take Back Your Time (www.timeday.org). Fifteen of his documentaries, including the popular special, AFFLUENZA, have been broadcast nationally on PBS. His books include the best-seller AFFLUENZA: THE ALL-CONSUMING EPIDEMIC, now in its third edition, and WHAT’S THE ECONOMY FOR, ANYWAY? His work and speaking engagements involve exploration of the intersection of happiness, work-life balance, consumerism, health and sustainability. He has taught at The Evergreen State College and helped develop the UW Summer School Class “What’s the Economy for, Anyway?” in 2007. He is a co-founder of The Happiness Initiative (www.happycounts.org) and recently served as an advisor to the government of Bhutan as it development its Gross National Happiness project proposal for the United Nations. (Bio courtesy of neweconomy.net)