vacations

Vacations are a terrific getaway for all Americans, yet they help build as well as destroy social capital. It is a known fact that the average American takes about 13 vacations days a year. Indeed, that is not a lot of days off, but if any more were taken off social capital would gradually start to be destroyed. This is because if we vacation out of the US, peoples' roots become weaker and you are not there to continue to build the relationships that you already have with your community and comrades. Your community will then start building stronger social capital with others and you will not be as included. Yes, 88 percent of Americans take their electronic devices while on vacation, but those devices such as, cell phones, are also known to weaken social capital. In my own opinion, 25 days of out of the 365 days in the years, is the perfect amount of vacation time. It's not too much to actually permanently destroy your social capital but it also doesn't leave you over-worked. In Korea and Japan 25 days is average vacation time.

Sara just got back from a vacation to Mexico which was 7 days. Her social capital was indeed a little weaker due to the fact that she wasn't in contact, even with her cell phone, for many days and didn't know how anyone in her community was. However, Sara was bridging social capital because she met and became friends with many people that were of a different race. It was great! So, even though vacationing weakens social capital it also bridges social capital as well as relieves stress from your work!