How much do you do on holiday

Pre-child I'd be constantly doing stuff. Now I have a child who loves a beach and a pool, and a DH who likes a leisurely lunch with a book.

So we book holidays with something for everyone. The latest holiday had beach day, zoo and theme park for DC. History museum and pub lunch for DH. A hike and boat trip for me.

On occasion we also do things separately - eg I'll entertain DC so DH can read every info board in the museum, then he'll watch DC so I can hike to a lighthouse he's not interested in or something.

Give and take isn't it?

We also have both had shortish (5 day) holidays alone which focus on not-child-friendly interests (war history for him, birdwatching for me etc).

I say go for the boat trip without him if he doesn't want to. I'm sure you'll feel much more confident afterwards!

I’m very active on holiday and like to see as much as I can. The one thing we do least is swim but we do that twice a week in the uk.
having said all that a 3 year old could be a nightmare on boat trip so your dh isn’t wrong either . Can you have a day apart?

It depends, sometimes I want to go and see the sights and do cultural stuff, other times I just want to relax and not have to walk anywhere or do anything. I think if you’re on a resort holiday you’re not missing out on anything whereas if you were in Rome or Paris you would be.

I'm a doer, love exploring and sightseeing but I don't have kids so I don't have to consider anyone else (my OH is just like me so no issues).

You said you are in the Balearics, don't know if Menorca (love) or Mallorca (take it or leave it) but there is so much to explore. (If Ibiza I haven't got a clue).
If you are in Menorca and want to do something kid friendly go to Loro Parque, you can get a taxi easily from anywhere on the island.
If Mallorca I would go to Palma for a few hrs.

We’re going to Menorca in September. We go every year so we’ll be going out and about to the beaches that we know well and like best. In the evening we’ll be going out to eat.

When we used to take the DC on holiday we spent most of the time at the pool/on the beach and then go out in the evening to eat. They enjoyed doing that and it was their holiday too.

We like to do as little as possible. We sat round the pool from 8am-6pm today. Went swimming a few times and had lunch but apart from that didn't do anything else. Its too hot to do much else.

We're in the Balearics at the moment and it is so hot that we've not done as much as planned, but we have managed a cathedral and a castle. I'm with you, but my DP is not great in the heat- so we don't normally holiday in Europe in the summer but the eclipse drew us! Our conclusion has been that we'll come back again in April/ October as we'd like to explore more

Do you always struggle to understand that we are all individuals who enjoy different things ?

We're in Majorca atm & as we're b&b we've been out every day at least twice, to the beach (15 min walk), shops & out to the local restaurants in the evening or get the bus further afield. When we're all inclusive I still like to get out and see the sights but make sure we're always back for mealtimes 🤣

Boat trip sounds great. Woman up and go yourself or bring your eldest with you. Enjoy !

But if you want to just have rest, read, eat, relax why would you not go somewhere nice to do that?

I suppose it depends on how well behaved your kids are and if they are likely to chuck a fit at any point at spoil the day. DS9 has always been very laid back and could be taken anywhere so we've always done alot, we tend to go to Center Parcs and are on the go 95% of the time, swimming, archery, quad biking, go karting. When we did turkey (in a heatwave) 10days we did two different cruises, horseback riding, paragliding and a bus trip to the sulpher mud pond place, 3 days in the hotel, a day at the markets and a beach day.

I do as little as possible. But I’d just ask if it’s really getting the most from your holiday if you spend a day doing something which three out of four of you either are not bothered about or actively do not want to do? But if you are madly keen on that particular activity then go for it.

Depends on how i feel tbh.
This year well in December im going to a spa hotel in venice, so it will be relaxing and im doing nothing, but sleep plot about and have treatments.

I went to vietnam a few months back and i was go go go, I loved it though.

I can’t get my head around people who travel… to sit in one hotel resort eating and drinking and dipping in and out of a pool. I’m with you on this one! The hotel is a base for exploration as far as I’m concerned.

Just home from Majorca and far too hot to do anything. We stayed by the pool every day except one day we went to the beach for an hour in the morning. Children are 5 and 10

Regarding the heat, you will almost certainly be cooler on the boat because sea breezes being amplified by the movement of the boat, so that might be quite pleasant in itself for a break!

This is why I don’t go on those kind of holidays.

Why on earth should she bribe him?? Sounds like he isn’t too keen as well.

Is it because you want to or you think you should? Do exactly what you want. Personally I need to be near the sea or pool in August in the Balearics and I’m happy keeping things simple.

We usually split the time up. If a fortnight, first few days decompression (I hate the beach/ pool but realise I need to do nothing), then a day wandering around a local town, then a trip somewhere, then a boat day, then another chill out day... etc. But it's usually made up as we go along. The first days of nothing I tend to look into what we can do. Last day is usually another boat day - it means you're doing something, but not, so you're not too tired for the trip home.

Normally we like to explore and check out the area however, we have just come back from Europe and stayed on site the whole time. It was 40+ degrees and with a poorly little one, the eldest was happiest spending 6 hours a day in the pool!
If we dragged them round to churches and local sites we would of had to grumpy hot kids and it would have just ruined the day so we just followed their lead

Sometimes 'making the most' of the holiday is relaxing (as far as relaxing is possible with a three year old!) I love city breaks and seeing new places and experiencing new things but I also value the restorative nature of swimming, reading and switching off from real life for a week. With a toddler in hot weather I would question what memories will be made by dragging them away from the pool in hot weather just because you're there. I wouldn't do it just because you feel you should, only if you actually want to.

It depends on the holiday.
Earlier this year we went to a European City we'd not been to before and are unlikely to again, and spent the whole time visiting all the famous sites.

Last Autumn, we chose to go to an 'all inclusive in the sun' and loved the fact we didn't have to know what day it was let alone what time of day it was, and had no timetable to follow and didn't need to be anywhere to catch a boat or a bus. It was SO relaxing.

Quite often when we go away, dh will go off and do something whilst I relax by the pool, as he doesn't enjoy it as much - that is fine too. Although it seems you don't want to do a trip so much as having a feeling you 'ought to'.

In your circumstances, where it is really hot and no-one is particularly bothered about the boat trip it seems daft to make everyone go off site just because you have a vague feeling that you 'ought to'.

I have no interest at all in exploring. I go on holiday for lovely weather, a great pool and good food, preferably AI. Ideally I read a lot, suoervise the DC in the pool and don’t leave the hotel.