busman's holiday
Noun: A holiday or vacation during which a person engages in activities that are very similar to or the same as their regular work. The term humorously suggests that the person cannot truly escape their professional life, even during leisure time.
This term is used to describe a situation where someone's free time is spent doing work-like activities. It often carries a tone of gentle irony or amusement, acknowledging that the person's work and personal interests are closely intertwined.
- He's a chef, and for his vacation, he spent a week touring famous restaurants and cooking with local chefs. It was a real busman's holiday.
- As a teacher, going to an educational conference during my summer break felt like a busman's holiday.
- "I'm a landscaper, and I spent my weekend redesigning my own garden." "That sounds like a busman's holiday!"
The phrase is often used in a self-deprecating manner by the person taking the holiday. It can imply a deep passion for one's work, where the line between vocation and avocation is blurred.
- Working vacation (n): A more neutral, modern term for a trip during which one also performs work duties. Unlike "busman's holiday," it lacks the specific humorous connotation of doing work-like activities for fun.
- Bleisure (n, informal): A portmanteau of "business" and "leisure," referring to a trip that combines work and pleasure. This is distinct as it explicitly mixes professional obligations with leisure, rather than leisure mimicking work.
- Working holiday: A straightforward synonym, though it can also refer to formal programs for working while traveling abroad.
- Vocation vacation: A more recent, playful synonym highlighting the overlap between one's career and holiday activities.
The term "busman's holiday" is itself an idiom. Its origin comes from the 19th century, when bus drivers (or "bussmen") were said to sometimes spend their days off riding a bus as a passenger, observing the new driver.
- a holiday where you do the same things you do at work