I hate our holiday and want to go home

Shooting and hunting are important skills?? think you've been brian washed by Amurica 🤨

Can you not hire a car? Aldershot and Farnham both have stations and Farnborough probably does. You can get out there!

are you from the UK, op? The way you talk about it sounds like you're not from here.
Do you get on with sil and
mil? Reading between the lines, you dislike your in-laws and the UK?

Love this idea!

I don’t buy this. On the off chance this is true, there are 1000’s of lovely things to do with under 5’s in that area and if you take a train to London etc. many of those lovely things are free!

It's true. There are loads of things to do. Too late now but can you do something in the day and then go to relatives for tea or something. There are some grim areas but you are on the doorstep of some lovely places.

There's tons to do with children in that area. Tons.

Taxi or bus to a train station and head into London, loads for children to do and under 5 they will travel free.

I am up near woking (no need to visit to woking - we don't!).

In London the science museum has a great play area in the basement.

Indeed. My partner goes every couple of years (I went once, for 4 days and decided it wasn't worth the extra money for me to accompany her) to see her brother, who lives on a beautiful lake in Connecticut. It's gorgeous but she's basically stranded there (apart from walking around the lake, which takes about 45 mins, there is nowhere else to go to) and a week is more than enough for her. He takes her out but has a very ill and disabled wife so outings are limited.

She also comes back each time aghast at what everything costs over there...

If I were the OP, I'd be doing one of the 'let's go somehwere else with MiL' options.

It does sound like a very poorly planned trip. England isn't exactly a big country, you could definitely have organised some other traveling around / stuff to do

Every year you spend £4000 to come for two weeks with no hire car or spare cash?? that'd. be a no from me

As a thank you to sil why don't you and dp offer to clean and tidy her cramped, dirty, messy house? That would give you something to do at least.

You knew you were coming with no spending money, so what were you expecting to be doing while you were here?

Sorry OP but this is ridiculous. You’ve travelled for 10 years to the exact same place to stay in someone’s small house, never go anywhere, rely totally on someone else driving you around, never use public transport, never plan anything to do, have no spending money then wonder why you’re bored and fed up?! 🤣

If I went to the USA and did the same thing I’d be just as bored because the US isn’t to be found inside a relatives small house- you have to actually go out and about to see it. The same applies to the UK.

This is entirely down to you and the fact that even after 10 years of this you still haven’t taken any initiative.

Having been to the US recently I can't believe you are finding the UK expensive. The US is eye wateringly expensive at the mo. It kinda feels like you are determined to be miserable and moan about a trip you don't want to make

Yup it is and the OP seems to enjoy knocking the UK while going about it

It's a nice day today. What about a walk around Caesars Camp? Tomorrow Newbury has it's market on, even though it's Easter Sunday. New Forest?
LOADS to see and do around here.

@SkyBloo
"This. There are loads of gorgeous places and fun things to do in England you've just chosen not to do them. Id also say you chose an odd time of year to come, march often has awful weather.
English tap water is among the best in the world so f*ck knows why you are whinging about it."
I so agree with your post.
Where ever you are in the UK, there are lots of fun things to do. It just takes a bit of preparation and planning. Rail tickets best bought 12 weeks in advance to take advantage of cheap offers.
The water is one of the things my DDIL likes best (comes from a different country, where they have to buy a carboy of drinking water everyday).
I would also plan to come in the summer when the weather is better.
Next time, hire a cottage in the countryside/Wales/Scotland for everyone together, of have just a few days with family, and a week elsewhere for yourselves.

You need better planning! Next time rent a cottage in somewhere like north Wales so MIL can meet you there and you can do all the outdoors stuff you enjoy.

In the meantime please don't criticise your SIL. The poor woman has put up with you and ferried you all around for 3 weeks! Her house is probably in the state it's in because she's got another family living on top of her.

It's probably going to take SIL 3 weeks to get over your visit. Not sure why you came for 3 weeks anyway?! 2 would have been more than plenty,

Anyone can move wherever they want. Nobody is obliged to visit anyone. OP comes over to visit MIL every single year. MIL chooses not to visit her son and grandchildren but could if she wanted to.

I don’t understand why you aren’t doing days out. Aldershot isn’t great but there’s lots of lovely places to visit not far away in that area.

I thought the same!

You are 1 hour from the south coast. Hire a car and go to West Wittering or something OP JFC, I have never read such a self defeating post.

No, you don’t have to. This is the problem, you’re feeling that you have to go along with what everyone else wants. Go over every 2 years not every year. Go for less than 2 weeks. MIL can get help with her fear of flying if she wants to visit you every alternate year. If she won’t, she can’t be that desperate to see your kids.

@TotalAbsenceOfImperialRaiment why is it down to the MiL when it is OP and son have moved miles away