Ask Americans to pick just one thing to accomplish before they die, and most of them pick the same thing: go somewhere.
Not a promotion. Not a paid-off mortgage. Not a bigger 401(k) balance. Travel.
That should make every employer uncomfortable. Because the benefits package you offer funds almost everything an employee needs to survive their working life, and almost nothing they actually want out of it.
Fifteen years later, the wish list hasn’t moved
In 2011, a Princess Cruises survey reported by Medical Economics found that 72% of Americans would choose travel if they could accomplish only one goal in life. About 65% kept a list of places to see before they die, and younger adults were the most likely to have one (70% of 18- to 24-year-olds).
That was a generation ago. Those 22-year-olds are now in their late thirties, mid-career, and very likely on your payroll.
So did they go? Mostly, no. A 2025 Talker Research survey for Scenic Group found:
- Only 10% of Americans feel they have reached all of their travel goals.
- Nearly 7 in 10 feel they haven’t seen enough of the world.
- 32% have never left the country.
The desire held steady for fifteen years. The follow-through didn’t. That’s not a motivation problem. It’s a funding problem.
Time off without the money to use it
Employers will point out that they already offer PTO. They do. Employees just aren’t using it.
- 67% of U.S. workers expected to leave some PTO unused in 2025 (Solitaired, via MyChesCo).
- 23% took zero vacation days in the past year (FlexJobs, via ConsumerAffairs).
- The cost of a vacation was the top reason workers gave for skipping it (Ipsos / Eagle Hill, via HR Dive).
- Among Americans not traveling in summer 2025, 68% blamed the cost of everyday life (Bankrate, via NBC).
A day off is not a trip. Without money behind it, PTO becomes a staycation, a catch-up day on chores, or nothing at all.
This is the experience gap: employers invest heavily in the parts of an employee’s life that serve productivity and retirement, and almost nothing in the life they’re working for right now. We fund the 401(k) for age 67. We fund nothing for age 37.
Why this is an employer problem
An employee who never takes the trip still shows up on Monday. That’s exactly the problem. They show up tired, and they start wondering what all the work is for.
The evidence that rest pays off isn’t new. In AARP’s 2025 travel research, nearly all respondents said travel is good for their mental and physical health, and cost was still the main thing stopping them.
What’s missing is a benefit that makes the trip happen. Retention isn’t loyalty. People stay where their life is working, and leave where it isn’t. A benefit that turns “someday” into a booked flight is one people remember at renewal time, and at resignation time.
Fund the life, not just the retirement
401(play) is a funded account for real-life experiences: travel, leisure, and the milestone moments people put on their lists and then postpone for a decade. Think of it as a 401(k) for your life. It sits next to retirement savings, not in place of it, and runs through payroll like the benefits you already offer.
It answers the exact barrier the data keeps naming. Employees don’t lack the desire or the days. They lack money set aside for the trip. 401(play) puts it there.
If you’re an HR or benefits leader, three questions are worth asking this quarter:
- How much PTO did your people leave on the table last year?
- What share of your total benefits spend reaches employees before age 65?
- If you asked your team to name one goal, how many would say travel? (Based on the data, most.)
The bottom line
For fifteen years, Americans have told us the one thing they want most. Benefits have spent those fifteen years funding everything else. The companies that close that gap first will be the ones people don’t want to leave.
Sources
- Travel is the Ultimate Life Goal, Medical Economics (Nov. 2011; Princess Cruises survey)
- Influencer content drives travel dysmorphia, Talker Research for Scenic Group (June 2025)
- Pennsylvania workers leave more vacation time unused, MyChesCo (Solitaired 2025 data)
- All work, no play: unused PTO, ConsumerAffairs (FlexJobs, Aug. 2025)
- Nearing 2025, almost half of workers have unused vacation time, HR Dive (Ipsos / Eagle Hill)
- Fewer Americans are planning summer vacations, NBC / CNBC (Bankrate, March 2025)
- Older Americans are traveling more than ever, AARP (March 2025)
Related reading
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