History Main / BusmansHoliday

* In the Loveday Brooke story ''[[http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/pirkis/brooke/brooke.html#VI The Ghost of Fountain Lane]]'', Loveday tries to take a holiday in Brighton. When a local police inspector calls to ask for her help with a difficult case, he finds she's already invoked this trope by investigating, purely for her own satisfaction, a ghost story that appeared in the local newspaper.

* God forbid Literature/TheBabySittersClub could take one vacation without babysitting, not matter how contrived. The sole exception was ''Stacey's Lie''. Oh, and even if they went on vacation without Mallory's five-billion younger siblings or Kristy's step-siblings, then there would be some parents who for some stupid reason needed a sitter for the exact amount of time they'd be there.

* This happens to Mario and his friends so often that it's a wonder why they even try to take vacations.

* In the ''CovertAffairs'' episode ''Half a World Away'', Auggie goes on vacation to Istanbul, having volunteered to help with the sound setup for a major jazz festival. His setup picks up a voice he recognizes as the terrorist who blinded him, and his vacation turns into an unofficial op.

* After finishing the principal photography on ''Film/TheAvengers'', JossWhedon had about two weeks or so to rest before overseeing post-production. So what did he do? He invited a few friends over to his house for twelve days...and made a movie(specifically, a low-budget production of [[WilliamShakepseare Shakespeare's]] ''MuchAdoAboutNothing'').

* Technically not the same, but... in ''{{Engine Sentai Go-onger}}'', the rangers are all unemployed, but their former jobs mimic the vehicle basis of their Engine partners/mecha (Go-on Red, for example, was a former racecar driver whose Engine partner is a condor/racecar hybrid, Go-on Black is a former policeman whose Engine partner is a German Shepherd/police car hybrid, etc.). Also, their primary headquarters is a large mobile home, which the rangers have to drive themselves.

* In ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'', Touma wins a trip to Italy, so he takes Index. He and Index run into a plot by the Roman Catholic Church to sail a fleet of ships to bomb Academy City. Stopping plots by the Roman Catholic Church is what he has been doing the whole season.

A detective, for example, goes on holiday. While he or she is on that holiday, a murder will take place in the vicinity and they will be [[ClosedCircle forced to solve that case.]] If the killer actually knows the detective is there, they're either very stupid, very [[{{Pride}} arrogant]] or is plotting something big.

** A couple of novels have [[LampshadeHanging hung a lampshade]] on the idea that wherever Commander Vimes goes, usually on diplomatic missions as Duke of Ankh, he can't help looking for crimes. And he usually finds them.

* In the CovertAffairs episode ''Half a World Away'', Auggie goes on vacation to Istanbul, having volunteered to help with the sound setup for a major jazz festival. His setup picks up a voice he recognizes as the terrorist who blinded him, and his vacation turns into an unofficial op.

* ''CriminalMinds'':

* And also to ''PerryMason''. Interestingly, it ''also'' happened once to D.A. Hamilton Burger, [[EnemyMine who called Perry into the matter]] because [[GenreSavvy he suspected]] that his friend would be the defendant. Though in the latter case, the actual trial took place in the standard city courtroom as opposed to a podunk meeting hall where Perry often had to defend when ''he'' was on vacation.

* God forbid the ''Literature/BabySittersClub'' could take one vacation without babysitting, not matter how contrived. The sole exception was ''Stacey's Lie''. Oh, and even if they went on vacation without Mallory's five-billion younger siblings or Kristy's step-siblings, then there would be some parents who for some stupid reason needed a sitter for the exact amount of time they'd be there.

* In Peter Tremayne's ''Sister Fidelma'' novels, Fidelma, a Dark Ages defence lawyer, seems to keep finding murders when she's off-duty, whether she's attending the fair at a neighbouring kingdom or on pilgrimage to Rome.

* In an example of the original definition, the FinalBoss of ''[[VideoGame/{{Touhou}} Phantasmagoria of Flower View]]'', Sikieiki Yamaxanadu, is a [[TheJudge judge]] [[CelestialBureaucracy of the Dead]] who spends her working hours deciding whether to send a given soul to hell. She is [[AllThereInTheManual stated]] to spend her free time going around and lecturing sinners (so that she doesn't ''have'' to send them to hell).

As Lemony Snicket explains above, a Busman's Holiday is a vacation spent doing things similar to one's normal work. The phrase was first recorded in 1893 in the UK. The idea is that a busman, to go off on a vacation, would take an excursion by bus, thereby engaging in a similar activity to his ordinary work.

* ''Fanfic/ThePrayerWarriors'' take a break from killing everyone who disagrees with them, particularly "evil gods", to observe St. Patrick's Day, but end up fighting [[CriticalResearchFailure a demon called St. George]], [[CurbStompBattle winning easily]] and helping the IRA gain independence for Ireland, before returning to London to save Ginny from HarryPotter.

* Played with in the ''InDeath'' series. Roarke even uses the exact term when suggesting to Eve this might happen. One of Roarke's relatives does find a dead body, but the case is quickly solved by local PD, leaving no investigation needed by Eve.

** In the ''AceAttorneyInvestigations'' manga, this happens less often, since Edgeworth and/or Gumshoe are often at the scene on business, but there are some exceptions, such as when the lead singer of Bird Wing is attended while Edgeworth and Gumshoe are attending the band's last concert, or when Edgeworth and Gumshoe go to a clinic with colds, and a patient ends up dead.