Why are people so sanctimonious about people watching TV on holiday

Usually eat out in the eves on holiday then drinks and stroll.. maybe watch a bit of tv in bed

it seems that the TV watchers here are very defensive. Why?

I'm not much of a TV watcher, either at home or on holiday, but I think it's pretty clear that a lot of people are, as the OP said, being quite sanctimonious about other people watching TV, in a way they wouldn't be about most other down-time activities.

I also wouldn't say people were 'very defensive' at all. I'd say they were explaining themselves pretty reasonably to people who are implying that if someone watches TV on holiday, they aren't doing anything else.

I admit I find it strange to spend hundreds or thousands of pounds with the intention of doing nothing different than I'd be doing at home, however. It seems like a waste of money to me. Illogical. I don't judge, I just can't get into the mindset

Similarly I cant understand people spending a fortune on holidays and never leaving the resort or just being AI but people do and have their reasons.
I go away myself alot
Im really busy in the day time and early evening but like to relax late evening in my room or cottage rather than go to a bar. Why not watch TV.
Tvs are handy when the weather is awful and I can settle and watch a film. At home im nearly always interrupted or sounded doing..

We usually watch TV on holiday. We’ll spend most of the day out and about on walks, seeing local places of interest, at the beach, whatever. But in the evening we’ll settle down and watch TV. Quite often in the morning we’ll read after breakfast which feels very luxurious as we normally have to get up and go to work.

Completely agree with you, OP, and I'd be very annoyed if I rented a property with TV and then the host said that to me when I complained about it not working. We went on a UK beach holiday at the start of the summer and after four hours at the beach in the morning and back to the accommodation for lunch, we were definitely ready for the kids to have some down time in front of the TV before doing anything else... and no, we didn't see it as wasting our holiday. I don't get the chance to with young kids, but like you I'd prefer to curl up and watch TV with a cup of tea rather than laze on a sun lounger all morning. I don't mind activities or walks but that's my preferred form of lazy relaxation.

But why would they care enough to " explain themselves".

And what about the person with the sneery comment about me editing pictures? I've not been sanctimonious about people watching tv

But tv isn’t a homogeneous thing? You have to say you’re not interested in drama, comedy, current affairs, music, art, world culture, nature, science etc etc (infinite list) to not enjoy tv?!

DDs get up early so they always have TV regardless of where we are so we can either have 10 minutes extra in bed or get ready without a constant stream of interruptions.

I also find that hotel rooms are often small and have poorly soundproofed bathrooms and I'd put Homes under the Hammer on than listen to my DH doing his morning farts.

Why? You can enjoy all those things both with or without watching tv

It depends on the programming available for those subjects.

Eg I love a good history documentary but they've become very dumbed down and few are worth watching

Televised "high"" culture is not available consistently, and not much variety offered.
Available comedy might not be to a person's taste, as with drama which has also changed with the times.

And TV isn't the only way to enjoy these things, especially if you can access galleries and theatres regularly.

The World Cup and Wimbledon were on during our last holiday so we did watch a bit but otherwise…. No. We play cards and board games and read books and go to restaurants and then during the day swimming and reading and exploring and eating and chatting. When the kids were small we taught ourselves how to play chess with wine and charcuterie boards as constant companions once they went to bed! One year we watched trump win the first time with open mouths….. and a lot of G and T’s.

I watch plenty of tv at home :-)

Because to exclude makes no sense. Like saying “I love art but would never go to a gallery” or “I love history but would never read a history book”.

I think you have missed the point. If you enjoy nature you can go out for walks, grow stuff visit places etc. you don't HAVE to watch it on tv. Obviously you can watch nature stuff on tv also

I watched a documentary series about some National Trust properties during lockdown (which probably wasn't highbrow enough for you). However, it meant that last week we visited one of the properties featured while we were in the area. I might have missed seeing it if I had just found it in the NT book or online.

We don't all have the privilege of living near lots of galleries or theatres, and some people are either unable for health/disability reasons or lack of funds to visit them regularly. So TV is a medium where they can enjoy these dumbed down cultural activities.

I know I sound defensive here, but I just feel that some people think that TV is only for the intellectually stunted, and that TV lovers do nothing but watch TV all day.

Why would anyone assume that someone who has paid a lot of money to go somewhere beautiful would do nothing but watch TV? It is such a fatuous comment to make, by people incapable of critical thinking.

Agree!!

DH and I were in Vienna recently staying in an Airbnb. We were up and out by 9am each morning, were in more art galleries, museums and palaces you could shake a stick at, train to Bratislava one day, averaged 20,000 steps a day. Ate around 6, back to Airbnb, shower, jammies on, watch Netflix.

I really enjoyed Vienna.
Went years ago to explore, soak up the culture and see Pavarotti.

I agree. If the place states the service is provided, you should be able to access it. Ask for a discount if you need.

We love logging into our Netflix account whilst we’re away, on evenings we’re not doing anything.

I don’t much enjoy watching TV. I’m sure there are many interesting programmes available, indeed I have watched some in the past and still do occasionally watch something if I think it’s going to be interesting.
i detailed my evening routine upthread. I have approximately an hour a day ‘free’ time. In that free time I choose to do different things to watching television; things that I enjoy more than watching television. I have busy, chaotic days and when my disabled child is finally settled I don’t want the noise/lights of television.
I honestly don’t get why any of this is controversial, or why anyone particularly cares that I don’t watch television. I don’t feel that I am missing out on anything, because in the time available to me that I could watch television, I choose instead to do something else that I prefer doing. You don’t have to feel sorry for me, and in turn I feel no superiority to anyone on the planet!

I think you've misunderstood me and assumed I look down on people who watch TV. I watch lots of it! And while I'm lucky to live close enough to plenty of galleries, museums and theatres, I certainly can't afford to visit them beyond once a year.

I would never look down on anyone for watching TV- national trust documentaries or not.

Indeed I have. My apologies.

With children? We still have a 7 year old and after a few 10/11pm bedtimes he turns into a gremlin so the odd 9pm finish is good for him and DH and I might sit on the terrace and read or we might watch something together, one of the series we add to watchlist and never get the chance to watch at home. Actually I find the TV more social than reading as we often talk about what we're watching

My husband and I always go on uk holidays... we get up early and head out, get back about 5 and spend the rest of the afternoon/evening snuggle up the cottage watching crappy tv and doing a jigsaw. Its lovely to do that without feeling guilty of not doing house things.

The thing is sometimes at home you don’t have the time to relax and watch tv, getting away to a different location may be what you need to prioritise it