Ah winter! Lovely as you are with your toasty fires, roast dinners, candlelit pub nooks and knitwear opportunities, we can’t deny you occasionally have us longing for warmer climes and longer days.

Which is why news of this 2018 holiday ‘hack’ was met with such glee here at the Stylist office, where planning ahead for adventures and holidays in one of our ultimate pastimes. 

You may recall that in 2016 we brought you the news that you could get a massive 18 days off in a row using just nine days of annual leave.

Well this time we’re going even bigger folks, because some clever person (who has our eternal gratitude) has figured out that in 2018 there will be two prime opportunities to get an extended period of time off work using very few days of your precious annual leave. 

First up, the big one. In May you’ll be able to take a massive 24 days in a row using only 14 days of annual leave. That’s almost an entire month for you to spend globetrotting and to get some of those bucket list destinations ticked off.  The calendar below shows you how it is done; green = bank holidays, red = weekends, blue = book these off now. 

For those reluctant to use a significant chunk of holiday time in one go, then in late March and early April you can get 16 days off using just eight days of leave. That’s the sort of buy one get one free we can get behind! (Again green = bank holidays, red = weekends, blue = book these off now)

And for Christmas, take note of the dates below which, when booked off, give you 10 days off using just three days of holiday.

If you want some inspiration for what to do with that glorious long time off, head over to our travel section which is packed full of reviews and recommendations.

But, before you do that, we insist you email your manager immediately and book that time off. Because if there’s one thing guaranteed to ward off the January blues, it’s the thought of a warm, sandy beach waiting for you on the other side.  

Pictures: iStock