A 2011 poll conducted by Marist found that only 45 percent of respondents plan to take a vacation this summer. That’s the lowest number in the survey’s 11 year history. And only 35 percent of those who are planning getaways will be taking longer trips, as opposed to weekend jaunts. Why aren't more Americans taking vacations? And how does forgoing vacations affect both employers' and employees' bottom lines?

They're calling it a "vocation vacation." It happens when you take time off from your current job to try out working at a new job. But why would anyone want to spend their vacation doing work? Takeaway work contributor Beth Kobliner brings us some reasons why, and she shares her research with those who might want to try taking some time away from their jobs.

There's only four days left until Thanksgiving, when most of us will gather around the dinner table for a much-anticipated meal.  But conversation at that meal doesn't always turn out to be as harmonious as we predict.  We're joined by Takeaway contributor Kate Dailey, health & lifestyle editor for Newsweek.com; and Rochelle Riley, columnist for The Detroit Free Press, who give us their tips for surviving your crazy family on the day we're supposed to be most thankful for them.

President Obama and his family were supposed to be on vacation in Martha’s Vineyard all this week, but after several disruptions for official business, they're cutting their time-off short as the president and first lady head to Boston to pay respects to Senator Ted Kennedy. For an update on the Obamas' vacation, we talk to Boston Herald Columnist, Laura Raposa, who is in Martha's Vineyard.

 

After a summer of rough-and-tumble town halls, the president and his family are taking some time away from Washington to relax. The first family will spend the week on Martha’s Vineyard before returning to D.C. to resume wrangling with legislators. We’ll look at what the Obamas may do while there, and talk about how other presidents have spent their downtime.

We speak to John Fortier, a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute; retired Associated Press reporter Larry Knutson, who has covered presidential vacations; and Carol McManus, owner and operator of Espresso Love café on Martha's Vineyard (and inventor of "The Obama Muffin").

President Obama arrives at Martha’s Vineyard next Sunday for a week-long vacation with his family. It’s not their first time vacationing on the island, but it is their first time as the Presidential family. Eric Leuning, correspondent for WGBH-service WCAI, talks about where the Obamas will be spending their vacation and how much goes into planning the trip.

As the president prepares to speak at an RV manufacturing plant in Elkhart, Indiana, we wanted to talk to some real-life RV enthusiasts about life on the road. The Takeaway is joined by Ginni Thomas. She and her husband, Clarence Thomas, the U.S. Supreme Court Justice, head out on the open highways of the nation every summer. They join us from somewhere in the Adirondacks.