I doubt that for most of human history very many people have ever had the option to to take say, six weeks off and come back to find everything just as they left it.
That scene was, and is, the exclusive right of the fabulously wealthy who could afford to hire trusty lieutenants, or the dispossessed who had nothing to leave, therefore, nothing to return to.
For most of us, "vacation" is a pipe dream. It's better right now for me -- what with hospitalists and urgent care clinics, which suck business, but also provide coverage. But there is no way I could start a private practice in the current scheme of things, and pretty soon, I predict, all doctors will be locked into white-collar jobs with 2 weeks off a year.
