# have a good vacation



## albitheberto

Hi, I have a Japanese friend who's going to be on vacation next week.
I would like to tell "Have a good vacation".
what sentence can I use?
thank you


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## Cowrie

バケーション楽しんできてね


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## albitheberto

thank you!


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## albitheberto

some days ago I found this phrase 良い 旅 を

what is difference between 良い 旅 を and バケーション楽しんできてね ?


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## Isperia

Practically, there's no difference.

"よい旅を" sounds like "Have a good trip!" and "バケーション楽しんできてね" sounds "I hope you have a fun vacation!" for me.

Other expressions
良い休暇を...Good vacation!
行ってらっしゃい...See you later!
楽しんできてね...Have fun!


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## albitheberto

are there any differences in writing the sentence "have a good trip"
like this よい旅を or like this 良い 旅 を  ?

is there a variant of this sentence よい旅を to say "have a good vacation" instead of "have a good trip"?


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## SoLaTiDoberman

よい旅を and 良い旅を have the completely same meaning and their pronunciations are the same.
The difference is whether writing it in kanji or in hiragana, technically.

よい休暇を！　良い休暇を！　might be what you're looking for.
This is also good as a written expression.
If you say it in person, well..., it would work fine, but in some occasions, it may sound awkward.
If you say something in person, some other expressions like 休暇を楽しんできてください might be better.


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## albitheberto

thank you!
since I have to write, I think I'll use 良い休暇を
why it may sound awkward in some occasion?
is there any kind of second meaning or somthing like that?


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## SoLaTiDoberman

No. There is no second meaning.

It's a little bit difficult for me to explain, but:

If a Japanese person says or uses it in a colloquial context, it may sound like "direct translation style" or "lofty and snob." But it depends to the listener. If the listener is accustomed to those Western Culture's expression, he or she doesn't care.
I think 『良い休暇を』  『理力とともにあれ』　『主は来ませり』『神のご加護を』 are not traditional Japanese expressions.
They are direct translations of Western Culture mainly from Christianity. 
Therefore, older people including me may have a little distaste for them. Younger people probably don't think such a thing at all.
And I don't care at all when you use it, because you are a Western person. 

If it is used as a written expression, even I would probably not care at all. 
Direct translation style expressions have become Japanese already.
Yet, in some context and background, Japanese people may not use it, when they think it's unnatural.
For example, the poster in #2 suggested another expression instead.
(This is my personal feeling, which might not be true with other Japanese people. ^^)


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## albitheberto

Thank you for your explanation!
so 良い休暇を refers also to festivity such as Christmas etc, or it's just for vacation from work?


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## Isperia

If the vacation is a Chrismas vacation, we'd say "良いクリスマスを" or so. For a winter/summer vacation, "良い冬(夏)休みを" is appropriate.
"休暇" can mean all kind of vacations.

(Generally, Japanese "冬休み" means a vacation between December and January. So in this case "休暇" is better choice.)

---
We often say "よいお正月を" in December and it sounds very natural, but "よい休暇を" sounds bit formal (for me).

Maybe because in Japan there's no vacation for workers[Citation needed].


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## albitheberto

thank you!  so the main differences about 良い 旅 を  and 良い休暇を is that the first mean trip and the second is more generic holiday? what do you think is the more appropriate? my friend will go to a beach in Indonesia for 5 days


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## Isperia

Yes, that's right.

And in such case I'd say "行ってらっしゃい、楽しんできてね！".


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## albitheberto

thank you but I would like to write it by hand, so I prefer to use one of these expressions (良い旅を and 良い休暇を) which have less characters , so they would be easier.
I just have another question.
if I use on the expressions above, my message could easily be understood, right?
which of the two, do you think is more appropriate to wish someone to have a good time during the vaction? (I couldn't understand if 良い旅を refers just to the journey and not to the stay, or if it includes both)
in the case it includes both I could use that, what do you think?
thank you again for all your suggestion


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## Cowrie

albitheberto said:


> I would like to write it by hand


That’s lovely, albitheberto. 

Both 良い旅を and 良い休暇を should work okay for your purpose. 
If your “friend” is also your “coworker/colleague”, 良い休暇を may sound more appropriate. 
Just make sure you are confident enough your handwritten Japanese characters are recognizable as your intended characters (at least by the receiver of your message).


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## albitheberto

Thank you!, of course I will pratice a little bit before writing it
and also I was thinking about writing it not too small so that it would be easier.
anyway, my friend is not a coworker of mine, why it would be more appropriate if we were coworkers?
thank you so much for your help!


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## Cowrie

albitheberto said:


> I will pratice


Good!

To me, the word 休暇 is most frequently used in business settings (see Isperia’s comment (“formal”) in post #11), and, the phrase 良い休暇を *can* express the feeling “I know you have been working hard; go ahead and enjoy your vacation”, which I think would most often occur in coworker-type relationships. 

I don’t mean to exclude the possibility of the phrase to be used for a friend, though. It can be appropriate for a friend, especially if the person usually has a lot of responsibilities.


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## albitheberto

Thank you so much, but I already wrote it (a made a little drawing with it so I cannot rewrite it) and I decided to use 旅, since my friend is already off work from few days, the actual trip will start tomorrow.
for this reason I decided to use 旅 but after I read your explanation, I think that 休暇 would be really appropriate too, since my friend has been working hard for a while.
anyway, I hope that 旅 is still a good choice.

oh by the way, I praticed and I wrote the sentence, it was not really simple hehe, but it was a pretty inspiring experience!

thank you again for all your explanation


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## Cowrie

albitheberto said:


> I hope that 旅 is still a good choice.
> 
> oh by the way, I praticed and I wrote the sentence, it was not really simple hehe, but it was a pretty inspiring experience!


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