To not have attempted to go abroad yet

I’m with you OP, ours were 6 and nearly 4 when we ventured abroad and I have no sense of loss for not doing sooner. No pushchair, or nappies, no naps etc. Just came back from Orlando and it’s so frustrating tripping over all the pushchairs 😫

Is that not most countries apart from UK?

I first took my son to Ireland when he was 8ths and long and short haul from 2 years. He is now 18 yrs and a seasoned traveller. He has always enjoyed travelling and I have enjoyed travelling with him.
But we are all different. I have always gone to child friendly countries by that I mean countries that enjoy having children in restaurants etc and he was a child who would engage with people and talk to anyone who would talk to him, like to try different foods and didn’t need firm routines so was adaptable.

You know your children best and whether you are the sort of family that would enjoy this or not.

Totally disagree op! We went long hall (12h) flight with our youngest at 6 months old.

We have since cut down to short haul, but last year did Europe with two under 5s and it was brilliant.

I think you do need to manage your expectations, if you are usually an adventure holiday type person, you probably wont be out all day exploring. If you are a beach/pool holiday type person who just wants to sunbathe or read all day, you wont be doing nothing all day.

But if you are more of a pool/beach holiday family then find a nice all inclusive with something for the kids and it will be so much better than home!

You wont need to worry about cooking or cleaning, you wont need to worry about the mental side of planning for a week. If you choose the right location there will be stuff for the kids, the resort we went to had a splash pad and a play park that our oldest loved. Every restaurant had high chairs and kids plates and cutlery. Was it as relaxing as not having kids, no of course not. But we took it in turns, one parent played one sat and read and had a great time.

We went abroad when my first was a few weeks old. Our biggest trip was to Australia for a month when they were 20 months and three. Sure it would have been better to do it a few years later but that was the year my DH had his sabbatical. It was fabulous. And I think it was because we were both together and it wasn’t just me with the kids (my DH worked long hours and was frequently away). It did mean our evenings were restricted but I’d rather go away somewhere different than stay home, though we did also do trips within the UK and I wouldn’t fly alone with two kids under five (though I have flown home alone with them as my DH had to go straight to a business trip).

I’ve read all of your responses and it sounds like you are trying to talk yourself out of going abroad. It’s absolutely fine if you don’t want to go abroad, you don’t have to just to keep up with what you’ve seen on social media.
But in my opinion, I love taking the kids abroad. Yes, it does look different to pre kids but we’ve found that if the kids are happy (ie kids mini disco, going all inclusive etc) then we can relax. A Eurocamp holiday might be worth looking in to as they look very kids centric.

See I took my DS to Thailand as a 21st birthday gift. Went on business class flights with a stopover to see pyramids. Then 3 weeks in Thailand. Flights and accomodation worked out about £1100 each all in.

Not sure what you paid 4k '( which isn't much less) for?

@springtome I think the cost thing is tricky because often you're not comparing like with like. Sounds like you are comparing UK self catering with abroad all inclusive for example

We usually do a fair amount of self catering - our preference not cost - and usually a nice cottage in the UK, especially one with a pool is more expensive than one abroad

We took our kids for the first time last year and the oldest celebrated his 18th while there 😂

We started out not going for the same reasons, kids too young to enjoy it, travel would be unbearable etc. The the longer we didn’t go, the more we got used to a cheap uk break (those saying holidays in the UK are too expensive are talking rubbish). Our holiday last year was in term time and cost us over £4,000, our uk breaks usually cost us around £1,000 plus food which is mostly self catering.

We are back to a UK holiday this year then considering going abroad next year when youngest turns 18 but cost is putting us off again.

And next year dc1 is away all summer, so it'll just be us and dc2. It feels weirdly disloyal! Dc2 thinks it's going to be great though, because they'll get to do what they want without dc1 having to be catered for.

We did it from when dc were 7 months and 2. Mallorcan AI. Did a Cornwall trip one year, but realised that it wasn't that much cheaper than abroad and was harder. Kids didn't really want to go to kids' club on holiday, but mini disco still brings back fond memories.

Abroad was way easier. It didn't rain and we could go in the pool all the time. We went to a nice, flat bit with easy walks. Did Greece when they got older.

We all used to have a bit of a meltdown on the first night. Dc2 was always a challenge, but the good outweighed the bad.

‘Same shit, different location’ I think.

honestly go. I went with my first when he had just turned 1 and I was I was 5 months pregnant then again when I had 2 at very young ages. I can honestly say the holidays with them are 10 times better than the ones I had before then. No you aren’t going to be chilling on a sun bed reading a book, but you really will have a great time.

Personally I’m one of those people who think children miss a lot by not traveling , most of my core memories now at 44 are holidays and I have plenty before the age of 5 .
So if people can afford please take your kids on holidays , it’s the best money who I will spend .
All 3 of mine have been lucky enough to travel since they where months old at least twice a year and yes it’s lots of money but it’s also lots of memories and quality time with them

Mu 3 boys are all adults now but been all over Europe with them, first 9 months in a tiny tent, next was 13 months but graduated to eurocamp tent by then, third was only 4 months but still breast fed so easy! I also did all the driving but I was young and energetic once🥴it was great, European campsites are much better than UK ones and they loved all the crazy golf, table tennis, pool etc. I do think it is easier to drive as you can stop when needed and ferries/shuttle are all novelties to the children and keep,them entertained. You do have to gear the holiday to the children though, think we've eaten for more macdonalds abroad than we've ever had in UK🤣

What does SSDL mean? I’ve Googled it and can’t find any definitions that fit.

Of course you’re not unreasonable to choose not to go abroad. Although, looking back on our family holidays with an under 5, I think the ones abroad were easier until we discovered Butlins. It seemed more relaxed to be able to be out in the evening with a little one in a pushchair in Spain / Italy than it did in Cornwall, and not going out does make it feel like SSDL, as you say. But we only had one DC (still have him but he’s grown up now) and I imagine it’s a world of difference with two little ones. Especially if you are having to travel in the school holidays.

I’ve never been to centre Parcs (always seemed expensive to me), but I think places like Butlins and Haven are good with little ones. I’ve seen a lot of people on here saying that they find AI resorts abroad an easy holiday though as everything is done for you. If you do decide to go abroad, look for a late morning or early afternoon flight as IME airports are busiest first thing.

I’ve been taking mine abroad since they were tiny (youngest traveller was a five week old on a long haul flight).

I find holidays abroad way more fun than staying in the UK.

But, if downtime is what you’re after - I don’t think there is any downtime when you have kids. Not holidaying here or abroad or even just staying at home. You’re always meeting their needs and worrying - it’s just doing those things in a different and exciting location for a change!!
I’ll take the fun of being abroad any day…!

Depends on the kids and the type of holiday I reckon. We didn’t do hot weather pool holidays when ours were little. They are both fair-skinned so that type of holiday in Southern Med summer temps would have been unwise. Plus, constantly supervising two small children in and around a pool would not have been a relaxing break for DH and me. They wouldn’t have liked being put in kids’ clubs and nor would we want that, as part of the point of being on holiday is to spend more quality time together. Luckily we couldn’t afford those types of holidays anyway when they were little 😂 We went camping- UK and France. Cheap and cheerful and no more work than being at home. They got to enjoy more freedom than being at home and I found it very wholesome how they could entertain themselves for hours by climbing trees, making dens, daisy chains etc.

We did fly long haul once with them when they were very small but we were travelling to see my parents who lived abroad at the time. So once there, my parents wanted to be really involved in looking after the DCs so DH and I got some down time.

We went all around the world from a few months old. My kid is 8 now and we are doing a round the world trip with Singapore, Bali, NZ, Aus over the summer. I'd never have considered not traveling just because of having kids.

Why would you have to spend thousands? Think outside package deals and you get better prices

And your kids aren't even complusary school age so can go in term time

Two words: KIDS CLUB