Vacation from work as prototypical recovery opportunity

Chronic incomplete recovery from work may have serious consequences in terms of ill-health. Although vacation is one of the most powerful manipulations of recovery in a field context, up to now only few researchers have addressed the impact of vacation on recovery from work. The aim of the current contribution is to present an overview of previous and current findings in this area and to give some recommendations for future research. We will first provide insight in the mechanisms through which vacation is expected to contribute to recovery from work. Secondly, we will present an overview of the most important findings, strengths and weaknesses of past vacation research. Thirdly, we will describe the results from our recent diary vacation studies on short vacations (long weekend and midweek vacations) and moderately long (nine days) winter sports vacations. Finally, we will discuss implications and avenues for further research on vacation.