A close friend recently invited me on a birthday trip. While she rattled off destinations from Mexico City to Chicago to New York, I found myself internally doing the math – and grimacing. How was I going to tell her I couldn’t afford this?

I know how this sounds. Complaining about not being able to take a vacation is the ultimate “first-world problem.” But at a moment when work burnout is at a seven-year high, we’re more pessimistic about the future and, let’s face it, most of us straight-up hate this economy (and rightfully so), we could use a break.

In short, it sounds like we all could use a vacation – at the exact moment we can’t afford one.

Recently, my partner and I, both burned out and stressed out, realized we hadn’t been on a vacation together in........

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