• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, May 10, 2007

Worker bees are fed up with burning unused vacation days, and 59% of travelers say they intend to use at least half of their vacation time this summer--up from 54% in 2006, according to a new survey from TripAdvisor. And 29% say they will be taking more time off this summer than last summer.

Polling 3,000 travelers around the world, the Needham, Mass.-based company also found that people won't be calling in for messages. Some 57% say they plan to disconnect from work, and 54% will avoid returning phone calls and e-mails. About 46% will give up TV, 37% will abandon their healthy eating habits, and 30% will take a break from working out.

And reversing a trend toward fewer, shorter vacations, 86% overall say they will take their vacation in weeklong chunks, with 68% of Americans planning to take between one and three weeks this summer. What's more, they're not going to let a little thing like skyrocketing gas prices steal their sunshine: 79% of travelers said that the cost of fuel and rising airfares will not affect their summer travel plans. (In all, 78% expect to vacation by car, 78% by air, and 25% by boat or ferry.)

Most, according to the poll, are yearning to do something new, with 55% of travelers saying they will go someplace they have never been before, as opposed to 33%, who will go the same place they did last year. Of the Americans in the survey, 46% will be traveling outside the U.S. this summer, compared with 43% last summer.

Outdoor activities are still getting hotter, with 40% planning to hike or camp this summer, up from 36% last year. A quarter of travelers say they are planning a trip to either a lake or a mountain, and nearly 20% are looking for excitement and say they will try an activity such as scuba diving, snorkeling, parasailing or whitewater rafting for the first time.

The poll found that the summer's hotspots are .... hot. Overall winners are Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic; Breaux Bridge, La. (yes, the crawfish capital of the world), and Seminyak in Bali, Indonesia. In the U.S., the three destinations that have sparked the most interest are Breaux Bridge; Anna Maria Island in Florida, and Mason, Ohio, home to the popular Kings Island Amusement Park.