Why don't people take their kids on holiday?

Ooo I bloody love holidays and love that I take my son around the world to experience different cultures. I really want him to see there is more to life than our (pretty crappy) Town.
I fully understand a lot can't afford this, we are in NO way well off but we prioritise it strongly within our budget.

As far as carbon footprint, I do care about the planet a lot...but airlines run thousands of empty flights everyday to keep slots. Luthansa alone ran 18000 empty flights to keep their slots. The average family trying to enjoy a holiday is a tiny percentage of the world's carbon footprint so I don't think that needs to be thrown at people.

My BIL and SIL never take their kids anywhere because they find it stressful, fair enough but i would take a bit of stress to see the world.

I would say I have an excessive love for travel compared to a lot of people but I understand some people just don't see the magic in it that I do. I'm sure there is things they love and I'm not fussed on.

I never took DD abroad as I'm absolutely terrified of flying. No way would I want her to witness her mother being a complete wreck and ruining the holiday by suffering anxiety about the journey back. A weekend in Cornwall was our go to. DD is in her early 30's now and loves travelling the world so clearly having UK holidays only when younger didn't lead to her "missing out" at all.

Lots of people don’t like travelling. I have a house full people with autism and most of th just don’t like to sleep anywhere other than in their own bed. Travelling so great if you enjoy it, but if you don’t it’s really stressful. I took my son away once and they change in food (he has ARFID) sent him into a spiral of rejecting safe foods thst ended with a feeding tube for 6 months.

Read the words you quoted, again, more slowly.

We very rarely go on holiday, and when we have we usually wish we hadn't bothered! We have ND children and it's an absolute nightmare. None of us really enjoy it, so we mostly stay put.

You have said you take yours on holiday because of what you live doing, perhaps others don’t love doing the same?

We haven’t taken ours abroad yet and honestly won’t for a while. They are only five and two, though.

Some people just don't like holidays, either UK nor abroad. It's not fair on their children, but different people parent in different ways.

I didn't go abroad until I was 24! I'd never been on any kind of UK holiday either. Never spent a single night away from home. My parents just didn't like holidays. They preferred day trips for some reason, and we had lots of days out, either in the car to the seaside, or by train to London or other cities/seaside resorts for the day, so basically many hours of travel for 2/3 hours at the destination. It was just how they were.

My eyes were well and truly opened when I got together with my boyfriend (now husband) 38 years ago! His family went on lots of holidays, UK and abroad, and was eager to take me away (!!!). We'd do 2 or 3 foreign holidays a year, he started me off slowly with Med/European holidays, but we quickly progressed to Florida, California, Canada, Kenya, Egypt, Israel, Gambia, Australia, Hong Kong, etc.

I wanted to make up for lost time and see/learn about other countries.

We did the same for DS when he came along. Started with beach holidays in the Med but soon moved onto the USA, city breaks, Russia, etc. He's now very well travelled!

I have 2 neurodivergent kids with differing needs. We can just about manage one family holiday a year but it needs ridiculous amounts of planning and preparation and even when we get there I get very little time to ‘relax’.

I used to live for my holidays and was excited about sharing the joy of travel with my kids but they had other ideas! It’s one of the biggest disappointments I’ve faced as a parent tbh. I get really envious when I see other families travelling round exciting places together.

So many possible reasons, that all boil down to “it’s not worth it”. The money, the stress, the anxiety, the arguments, the workload, the responsibility. That’s the short answer.

Or maybe all people are different and like spending their time and money in different ways? Sheesh.

Yet another thread where the OP thinks she's better than everyone else and the only one doing things 'right'. It's really bloody tiresome.

I can think of a few people who all have different reasons, which seem reasonable enough.

One would find it very difficult to properly arrange care for both animals and family that they have to look after regularly.
One has a DC who is intensively into sport at a competitive level, and additionally she and her DP find it pretty hard to sort out leave that works for all of them - his work pattern includes weekend days and shifts and non-negotiable Christmas demands, hers is a combination of NHS and teaching roles so getting one thing out of that timing is not easy.
One, hoping for sun and being fond of heat, has had the experience of going on resort holidays but with a DC that is physically very active, and has said that it was not a relaxing experience despite the Kids' Club etc. because the DC was not any less active, but also struggled and was bored within the early days.
One manages - often going to see relatives abroad - but their DC gets very sick in any vehicle from trains to planes, and the travel is a bit miserable.

Are you just talking about going abroad?
Personally I am happy to holiday in the UK.
I love it here. There's so much to see and do and at the big old age of 50 I have yet to experience it all.
I know lots of children who have been on holiday to countries all over the world but have experienced barely anything of the UK.

...or not, depending on how stressful it is. Sincerely, another autistic person.

I have three young kids. After trying (and trying and trying), and after plenty of travel pre-kids, I have scaled it right back. It would be cheaper and more enjoyable to stand in my shower cutting up £20 notes, to coin a phrase often applied to owning a yacht.

She is living and using the planes that would be flying with or without her on it.

We don’t travel because we are all ASD and because I am disabled.

that does not mean I don’t make sure my child doesn’t have amazing life experiences. I have money and the ability to mentally navigate our society and I use both to our advantage to execute domestic adventures.

What do you do to offset the carbon?

Yes, why aren't we all carbon copies of each other, making all the same choices?