Dreaming of Thailand

With just 10 days of leave per year - how does one decide how to use them? Do you divide them up and take a few "long weekends" here and there, but never fully get away, or do you work 50 weeks and "blow it all at once"? For the past 2 years we have had our choices made for us: we HAD to go back to South Africa to renew our visas to be here in the US. But now we have a 2 year visa, so we're thinking that maybe spending 4 days travelling, to be home for 10 days, might not be the best use of time. But if not there - where? and what? and when? I'm dreaming of Thailand right now: the river Kwai, beaches, blowfish, painting elephants.... *sigh*