Excerpt: Psychologists, demographers and others say we pass over time off for many reasons - an entrenched Puritan work ethic, fear of being seen as reckless slackers relaxing while the economy burns, squirreling away time for days we're stuck at home awaiting a repair call. The figure for time left behind comes from Harris Interactive, a polling and research group, which for seven years has examined trends in unused vacation days for Expedia.com, the Internet travel booker.

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