Use or lose days

The vacation day structure at work is odd. Generous, but odd.

We get something like 17 days of vacation and/or sick days per year (or as the HR types call it "Time Off With Pay" or "TOWP"). You don't get sick, you can use them all for vacation. Take a long vacation or two, and you better not get the flu.

As you stay with the company, they start throwing more vacation days at you. I think I get something like six weeks of TOWP per year now. If you don't use it all during a calendar year, you can roll some over to the next year. So if you're planning to go to Europe for a month in 2009, you just don't take any days off in 2008 and you're set.

Problem is, I don't take that many days off. Party Squad trips, Mancations, a couple of hunting days and a trip or two to see the in-laws and that's it. I might take three weeks off per year, which leaves me with a ton to roll over.

But the company won't let you keep rolling days over and over until you build up a full year's worth of vacation. So you have to "use or lose" the days you rolled over in say 2007 before your work anniversary in 2008. Unfortunately, the company won't just cut you a big check for that TOWP and call it even. So you're basically forced to take vacation days.

Which is exactly what I'm doing these days. Between now and the end of February, I'm taking 12 days off.

Any suggestions on how to fill those days would be appreciated.