vacation auto-vacation timeout protection

i am a premium member and have a quesiton about the auto-timeout protection.  from the FAQ:

"Premium Members get auto-vacation protection, so if they don't make it to a computer in time, their account will automatically be set on vacation."

is this a setting i have to select or is it just there? 

alternatively, if i put myself on vacation but will in fact be able to make a move, can i do that without coming off vacation?

with all the posts going around about abuse of this system, i would like to say that i really am going out of town and may or may not be able to make moves.  i have informed my one opponent of the situation and they have no problem with it. 

thanks for any help. 

Chess.Com will automatically put you on vacation that is one of the big reasons you became a paid member. Also you would yourself take yourself off vacation to make a move

thank you very much.  i was thinking there may be a checkbox in my settings i wasn't seeing. 

My opponent's vacation time kicked in just as he was about to lose on time, which I understand is the timeout protection, but when that vacation time ran out also he automatically got another 2 weeks (I don't remember how much vacation time he initially got but I think it was more than 2 weeks).  Why is this?

It sounds as if he renewed (or upgraded) his membership for one year.  At the time of renewal, gold members get either 1 day added vacation (if they renew for a month) or 14 added vacation days (if they renew for a year) - platinum and diamond members get either 2 added days or 28 added days.

There used to be a "bump" at renewal but the help entry indicates the policy was revised.

http://support.chess.com/index.php?_m=knowledgebase&_a=viewarticle&kbarticleid=31

Thanks wonton, that makes sense.  He is a gold member & I bet he just renewed for a year.