Me and DH are in early 40s and have DS aged 9 who has ASD. My DP are in mid 60s and live 4 hours away. MIL is about 2 hours away and is in early 80s with age related ailments. It goes without saying that we see MIL more often than my parents.
The issue is the journeys can be stressful (replacement buses, connecting trains, travel sickness etc) and expensive. My DP seems to be irritated by DS challenging behaviour. MIL means well but she needs some assistance from DH. Other extended family expect to be catered for when visiting (& muggins here has to do the grunt work to get things nice). Also I just feel like a bored spare part and after a few days DS also gets bored and starts acting up. Not forgetting I usually end up having nasty migraines when we stay there.
We haven't had a proper holiday in about 10 years and I really want to relax, actually have some fun, 'make memories ' and reconnect with DH. But because of our hours and annual leave we only get more or less a week together just the three of us. But, as per the question, we end up seeing our families. Also I feel quite envious of friends, family and colleagues talking about their vacations. I want to go away next year!!!!