ne advantage that European businesses have over American businesses is their pension for vacations. The average company gives their full-time employees 6 weeks of said vacation every year. That’s 3x more than what the average American company gives as PTO (paid time off). And according to a 2013 Expedia.com survey,…Americans left an average of four vacation days on the table in , which is twice as many as the previous year. That means that Americans are only using 10 of the 14 days they are given. That’s a whopping 577,212,000 vacation days left on the table.Expedia calls this “vacation deprivation” and I have to agree.

I recently returned from an extended vacation – an entire 31 days of being disconnected from work email, conference calls, video chats, and client meetings. I received lots of “you’re crazy,” and “that’s ridiculously long” comments before and after, but why is this? Why is taking off for a month so (seemingly) anti-American?

My personal opinion is that this is caused by three things:

1. A belief that our jobs, companies or maybe even the world will crash around us if we leave for more than the 7+ hours we sleep at night.

2. A lack of trust that others can sufficiently cover for us while we’re away.

3. Some insane notion that we don’t deserve more than 2 weeks off a year, and never all at once.

I’m here to tell you it – that is, taking an actual you-can’t-reach-me-for-an-extended-period-of-time vacation – is plausible for most people. And, it’s necessary.

According to an article by Joe Robinson in National Geographic:

“Time off is medicine. Studies show that vacations are as important as watching your cholesterol or getting exercise. An annual holiday can cut the risk of heart attack in men by 30 percent and in women by 50 percent. Vacations have been shown to cure burnout, the last stage of chronic stress, epidemic in today’s 24-7. Time away from the source of stressors helps regather crashed emotional resources, such as a sense of mastery and social support. But here’s the catch: It takes two weeks for that process to occur. You can’t get those recuperative benefits from a long weekend.”

So, I’m here to champion the extended vacation, which I’m defining as at least two entire weeks off from work. Disconnected. Unplugged. Without distraction.Here are 10 steps to plan for an extended vacation:1. Decide where you want to go and for how long. You might even opt for a staycation, or combination as I did. I always find it helpful to have at least 2 – 3 days to organize after returning from a trip.

2. Look at your work calendar and determine the slowest time of year. And yes, there is one! It might still be busy by other standards, but there is a period of time where things go into more of a maintenance or slow mode for most businesses.

3. Devise a coverage plan. Figure out who on your team can help cover for you while you’re away (it might be multiple people) and/or come up with a temporary contractor solution. Ask the potential co-worker and/or reserarch the cost for temp workers.

4. Create a guide for your job. Write down the daily, weekly and monthly tasks that you’ll need this person to do, and organize this into a guide, complete with important contacts and helpful links. (I recommend using Google Docs or another shared note service to do this).

5. Meet with your manager at least 3 months before your intended vacation. Discuss your desire to take a long vacation, present the coverage plan and show off your newly created guide. Your manager is more likely to give you the time off (assuming you have the hours accrued) if he/she knows your work will still get done.

6. Train your back-ups. Whether it’s a co-worker or temp solution, be sure to train your back-up at least a week before you leave. Give them the guide as reference, and then start copying them on any emails for projects that might require their attention while you’re away so they get familiar with your communication style.

7. Give your clients, vendors and co-workers ample notice. I recommend initially letting people know about your plans at least one month to six weeks out. Then remind them a week before you leave, and ask them to follow up with you for any urgent matters.

8. Communicate your coverage. A day or two before your last day in the office, let people know who will be covering your duties. Include phone and emails and reassure everyone that your back-ups are up to speed on your current projects.

9. Change your voice mail and set your out of office email reply. Don’t forget to include who people can contact both for day to day projects and how to get ahold of them in case of urgent needs. Include the date you’ll be back in the office to avoid confusion.

10. Turn off email on your devices. Assuming you have work email coming to your phone and/or tablet, be sure to turn off incoming mail from your settings the night before your vacation starts. Yes, the night before. Not the morning of, lest you be tempted to check in one last time.

Following these intuitive steps should help get you on your way to the vacation of your dreams. And the best part is that a good vacation will help reinvigorate the creative juices, and help you appreciate your job even more when you return.

It’s time we say, “No!” to “vacation deprivation.” What else have you done to plan for long periods away from work?