Should kids go on holiday abroad every year?

Travel broadens the mind. We make savings elsewhere to ensure we travel abroad every year.

We couldn’t take our DC abroad until they were teenagers and even then we just rented a gite. I think they were still well rounded. Where did the idea that holidays are a right rather than a luxury? when we were children we thought we were lucky to be taken to Margate for two weeks in a flat.

Of course it’s a luxury.

many British kids who go abroad will have fun but not exactly a rich cultural experience

I do think it’s important if posssible to expose children to different places and cultures and make sure they’re aware there’s lot out there beyond where they grow up. But that doesn’t have to involve travelling abroad.

Lol! I went camping every year when young. Loved it. Never felt I missed out but maybe all my friends were poor too

So you can't have a career unless you've been on holidays abroad? Well I managed.

ANNUAL foreign holidays, mind you. Don't forget the annual bit 😉 🙄

I know I might regret asking but please can you explain that a bit?

@TillyTooms my first thought is no, children do not need holidays abroad especially if under 10. All that they will remember is having fun in a pool with mum & dad or sleeping in a tent or a friend they made... point is, these things can happen anywhere sometimes even 2 minutes up the road.

So in that sense, holidays are a luxury.

However, on 2nd thought, older children and teenagers would benefit from being exposed to different cultures, experiencing different foods, smells and surroundings as well as learning about the history of a place and its people. The easiest way to achieve this is a holiday abroad.
But again, it's not essential. We are lucky in the UK to have a lot of different communities Depending where you live and where your DD goes to school, she might already experiencing this. I know both my DC have friends with different backgrounds DD (at uni) was invited to Eid celebrations while DS (14) loves going for tea at a friend's house from the Caribbean community- apparently the food is better??

So you can teach things and provide experiences without going on expensive holidays.

But there is always the point, where, visiting a specific place will give children that little bit extra in terms of understanding and opening their minds.
Obviously, this depends on the type and quality of the holiday (not money spent).
In your shoes, I'd save some money every month and take DD on and amazing trip or city break once she's 12 or 13 and has clearly expressed an interest in a specific art, landscape or history.

So you can't have a career unless you've been on holidays abroad? Well I managed.

You're more likely to get a well-rounded child from extracurricular activities than from holidays abroad. We are currently on holiday. It's our first proper holiday in 5 years. My kids have done zero cultural things, unless you count an occasional Spanish or German song during minidisco 🙃

Necessary but only if they are to have a career and not a job.

Well I've clearly failed if so, as did my parents and my grandparents. Most years we don't even get a holiday and on the rare occasion that we do, it's to stay in a caravan on the coast somewhere.

My 12yo has had one holiday abroad with me and 2 with her dad. Covid obviously didn't help with travel plans but no, you don't need annual trips abroad

There’s a climate crisis of course nobody needs to go abroad every year. We have done a lot of ferry holidays when we did go abroad but mostly holidays in the uk which I think are often more interesting as there are so many
museums and varied experiences. Loved our Wirral holiday for example - beaches, cottage on a farm, north Wales mountains and Liverpool docks.

What a strange question. I've never met anyone who would think it's a necessity and not a luxury.

Ps from a middle class family and first time on a plane was when I was 14

To grow up well rounded or is it just a nice luxury to have?

Whaaat? Fucking hell. Peak Mumsnet.

I think they’re more well rounded with a good camping holiday or farmhouse holiday or the like!! We camped last year in a place that had crazy golf and family bingo and challenges. It was perfect (you got used to being freezing and then appreciating washing your hands in hot water/ having a cup of tea, playing cards, meeting loads of kids, in the mornings waking to a silent campsite. Just heaven!)

If you think back, it wasn't that common to go abroad every year - I'm 46 and we went abroad a few times when I was a kid but I remember it not being that common. I travelled loads in my 20s and 30s and never resented not doing that with my parents! Although as a family now we're fortunate enough that we do go abroad each year, I do get quite exasperated by the thinking that we're mistreating kids by not taking them to Disney or 'making memories' constantly. Disney is my idea of hell but DH thinks we 'should' do it as if it's some necessary part of childhood. Everyone's childhood is different or should be anyway.

Thank you for this thread. My youngest doesn’t have a passport, eldest has been on a plane once due to trip to extended family. We live in a very middle class area and multiple trips abroad are normal, a half term visit somewhere ‘for a bit of sun’ and then a villa or something similar in the summer. We just don’t have the spare money (SAHM and big housing costs). We holiday in the UK and have a great time but I still feel a bit guilty

Of course it's a privilege and a luxury. I did feel quite sad when I realised that there were children in my daughter's class who had never been to a beach before even in the UK when the class had a school trip at 8 years old.

I must have been a terrible parent then as I haven't been on a holiday of any sort, abroad or UK, since I was 15 & couldn't care less if I never go on holiday again.

It doesn't interest me, I don't feel relaxed or revitalised, I like being at home in my familiar surroundings & we have a houseful of animals to look after that I wouldn;t want to leave.

My children didn't miss out as they went away with their grandparents.

I actually did go abroad every year when I was a kid. The first year and only year of my life I didn’t travel outside the UK was 2021 as I felt like it wasn’t worth the aggravation with all the covid tests/changing travel rules. Thinking back the kids have been abroad every year except that one too but we are not planning to go this year. They both like beach/swimming holidays but given the choice of just one thing they both immediately picked London to go to shows and the Kensington museums.

Of course it's absolutely a luxury.

However.

I was lucky enough to travel a lot as a child. My parents loved to travel and showing me the world was something they felt hugely proud of being able to do.

So I've grown up loving travel.

DH had travelled very little before we met (at uni) so found it daunting but very exciting in our early 20s when I dragged him all around the world.

We've been equally lucky to be able to afford for our DC to have already visited numerous countries and continents and in general we have one big trip and a few short breaks to different places each year.

We're under no illusion that it's what everyone can do - but for me seeing the world and having holidays are a priority whenever possible.

I am heartened by this thread, thank you for posting it. My dc are 9 and 6 and have never been abroad. I'm a single parent and we usually take a holiday in the uk every year with my mum. My mum doesn't want to go abroad so we don't go. I don't want to go abroad with the kids by myself because the idea of being in a foreign country alone with my kids fills me with anxiety to be honest, not to mention the travelling. Maybe when they are older.