Going away (almost) every school holiday?

After the disgraceful verbal attack on Vlodomir Zelensky by Vance and Trump we decided to boycott everything American and this was reinforced by the way Europe and the UK were denounced in the messaging group chat which is a serious security breach no matter what Trump says. The RAF were involved in the raids on Yemen's Houthi rebels so where's the recognition for the UK's assistance

Our holidays abroad are curtailed by annual leave only, not finances. We are doing 7 this year. If we couldn't afford it, we'd do fewer. We both have highly stressful careers - my husband especially (think global head type role in an investment bank) - and having holidays booked means always having something to look forward to.
We definitely prioritise holidays over other things.

Friend worked in a school in an affluent area. he'd say that the children said each holiday, including half terms, 'where are you going? Not, 'Are you going on holiday? He found it quite hard as often he and his family were not going away, certainly not more than once a year.

Thanks so much! I have a holiday planner notebook so will write these ideas in. I love the idea of camping in Europe and especially driving as i really love a road trip.

We used hostels quite a lot. Check out Generator Hostels- they’re fabulous. We’ve also camped in Europe many times. For skiing, we use Mount Vacation, who are really good value, and let you pay in instalments. We usually drive, but you can find cheaper flights too.

I would like to do this tbh. In the past few years we have bought holiday packages that have turned out to be quite expensive. I get really tense and anxious planning holidays so have done it that way (I am the planner in the house) but although most likely next year we cannot do a holiday due to unexpected travel to see my ill parents, I will sit down and start jotting ideas together.

I don't earn masses of money.
I get 28 days leave...

I went away for a week at easter

We are doing a couple of long weekends and a 10 day holiday over summer

I'll take a week over 1/2 term and a week over xmas - 5 weeks that's my holiday allowance

If my kids are sick I do work from home (which I realise is very helpful) and they are old enough to just be napping / watching telly and I can pop in / make them lunch throughout the day. It's harder when they're smaller obviously.

I wish I could go abroad every holiday. We went to Orlando and did the parks in May so I couldn’t justify a big Summer holiday, but I am off work this week on a staycation at home and I do feel a bit gutted that I am not somewhere more exciting. I know I am v lucky and am not complaining but I do see time off work as time to holiday away from home. It is what makes work bearable!

I am also baffled at this tbh

I’ve always prioritised travel. We used to go away every school holiday, but I planned carefully and we did it on a budget.

Definitely, people aren't necessarily that limited by annual leave. As well as the things you mention, I know people who don't do the Mon to Fri 9 to 5 and can sometimes get themselves a longer bloc by shift or day swapping with colleagues. Or even if you do standard office hours but part time, if you normally do 3 days a week and you can do day swaps, flex etc to say work 5 days the week before, it all means the leave goes further.

Not everyone can do any of these things, but I bet if you add up all the families who fall into at least one of these categories it'd be the majority.

@Reddingmilk i am
genuinely baffled by this too.my neighbours go away every holiday and I keep asking them
how. What I have realised though is:

1. bank of grandparents seems to be funding holidays for more families than you might realise. When we were away at may half term I was really surprised by the large family groups.
2. people buy extra leave/ have generous allowances/ take unpaid parental leave
3. grandparents do childcare or there is a sahp so people don’t need to save leave for childcare
4. part time or compressed working means people aren’t using as much leave
5. people own their own business and can take whatever leave they want.

I feel like 25 days really isn’t enough leave- I’d like 35 plus bank holidays- i think and that would make me happy. 😃

The only thing you are doing wrong is taking notice of everyone elses doing. Do w hat you are comfortabke/happy with and stop worrying.

Pay less attention to others. They do their thing. Who cares what they think? Shrug and get on with your life!

A week at Easter, may, summer and October only equals to 20 days. So assuming saving some for Christmas that’s plenty. I’m self employed but my partner has to use holidays. He has to use 3-5 days at Christmas for office closure. And still manages fine enough. We don’t go away loads on hols but we visit family often. We camp locally at weekends a lot too which often feels like extra mini hols for cheap.

Everyone is different and some people can afford to go away more than others. I honestly think that children don’t care that much about going away all the time. When I was a child I hated flying and my parents brought me on loads of foreign holidays which filled me with anxiety sometimes. I know I am privileged but I honestly preferred just doing low key stuff locally a lot of the time. The best memories I have are from time spent playing with friends outdoors at home.

We went to Cornwall for 4 nights in the May half-term and have booked a late holiday to the Greek Island of Kos, for next week. I have a big birthday in the October half-term, so we may go away for a few days. We don't always go abroad. We've gone away in the UK for a few nights in both the May and October half-terms before. All families are different, and their finances/holiday allocations vary too. I work in a non-teaching role in a Primary school, so I'm off during the school holidays. My husband WFH and goes into the office and works full-time. He has flexi-time, so can build hours up, to have time off, on top of his usual holiday entitlement.

We go away most school holidays but not always overseas and not always expensive. So might go away for a week in the summer and to stay with family another week. Then maybe a long weekend somewhere and a couple of days at the seaside. We're not super wealthy but do prioritise holidays over a lot of other things, eg get most clothes off Vinted, we're veggie so don't spend as much on food etc.

Whoops - I responded to the completely wrong thread there (as you can probably tell). Had meant to respond to one about if my ancestors had been involved in the British empire.

People, their priorities, their finances, their energy levels, their interests are all hugely different. And their willingness to take on debt as well.
I honestly think holidays are so overrated, expensive, hassle etc etc but other people live for their holidays (my brother for example).
So yeah who cares what anyone else does. U do u 💞

Nope, possibly the Roman empire though, and also whatever it was called when the Spanish invaded Italy in medieval times.

(My parents did those DNA ancestry tests for fun recently, they were mainly Italian but also a bit Spanish and Northern European)

@Reddingmilk if it's not about the money, then surely you understand different people like different things? DH travelled A LOT before kids, and continue to do so. We do one UK trip a year but more than that I'd find boring. Also the weather in the UK is too unreliable, sorry for enjoying sunshine.

I think it's a case of different strokes for different folk!

Some people prioritise having the latest branded clothes, others it's cars, some it's spent on holidays.

We go on a few different trips but it's from mega cheap camping trips and staying with family to trips away. We are very good at the last minute deal and getting the most out of a trip though and usually it costs cheaper then a week in Scotland!

Good point. The base that people are comparing holiday costs against is different, and not everyone would spend the same thing staying at home. If you'd have to pay for multiple lots of childcare anyway, the difference between that and a holiday is less.

It depends where they are going. We will have had 5 holidays this year. 1 wedding abroad, 2 trips to stay in my brothers air bnb abroad (so only need to pay for travel) 1 trip to Butlins mainly paid for by clubcard vouchers, 1 holiday for our 10th wedding anniversary. In total, we have probably spent less than 2k across 5 holidays, which some would spend on 1 holiday.

We both have long service with nhs so get 33 days AL plus bank holidays, so that helps with the leave