Can you recall vivid details of holidays you had 30 years ago?

[bearbackrida]

I was out with a good friend a few days ago and, in conversation, she recounted a memory from a holiday she had 30 years ago - a beautiful beach and wildlife encounter - in a way that made it sound like it happened last week - with names of the beach, details of the weather etc. It struck me that she does this quite often, but I struggle to respond in kind because all my own similar memories of beautiful holidays in the distant past are so much more vague. Is her memory particularly good, or is mine particularly bad? Or is it just that memories stay with you longer if you regularly recount them? (This particular friend is also very good at pub quizzes, so I think she does have a very good memory).

Yes. And holidays from 50 years ago!!
Not all of them obviously - but big highlights.

I struggle to remember what I did yesterday to be honest!

However, photos and stories can trigger my memory, although sometimes I do wonder if I just fill in the blanks and no one corrects me/can remember either.

I have really poor memory for most aspects of my life, except my job - my sister has told me stories of things that happened TO ME in the past which she can recall and I can’t

Yes, I can remember specific instances from long ago holidays and see them in my minds eye like a reply. In some cases I can replay quite long periods of time. I've never discussed them with anyone

No. I don't remember hardly anything from childhood. I just remember being happy. We went camping in France, then the following year a villa in Spain with a shared swimming pool - we all thought we'd died and gone to heaven. But I'm not sure that I actually remember that. I think it's because I've been told about it rather than actually remembering.

Yes, I can remember events that happened on holidays I was on with my dad (who died when I was 6, so 35+ years ago). N not big events, but things that stuck in my memory.

Yes I can. My long term memory is excellent. My short term memory, not so much! People ask me what I did on the weekend and I'm like 🤔

Not really. My parents didn't take many photos either.

My first memory of being on holiday was when I was 6 and my dad's friend, who was on holiday with us and his wife, forgot to pack swimming trunks. He sunbathed on the beach in y fronts. They were brown and nylon.

I can recall more details from later holidays, I remember visiting Popeye Village when I was 7.

Yes, in great detail. Including my first holiday abroad in Greece aged 8. I remember the local taverna we ate in, the family who ran it and all their names (had my first crush on their son, a Greek boy called Marcos, his dad was called Stephan and had a beautiful head of curly hair). This was over 40 years ago!
I remember lots more details from that holiday and subsequent ones.
I hope my ds remembers all his holidays when he's older!

We have just been visiting the city I lived in (as an adult) 30 years ago. Just after we'd booked our accommodation I suddenly remembered my morning cycle from when I lived there, it was quite bizarre, I hadn't thought about it for decades (not been back to that part of the city for over 20 years). I think a trigger can make you remember things from years before that you think you've forgotten.

I have a recall memory that scares people a bit.

if I really sit and think about experiences good and bad they feel very real still.

Thinking about this has surprised me.
Not only can’t I remember a holiday from 30 years ago I can’t remember a
childhood birthday or Christmas.

I have very few memories of family holidays from when I was a child and a teenager. We went away every year until I was 15 and I chose not to tag along anymore. I have the odd mental snapshot of a room or a few seconds of something that happened but I don’t remember the places we saw, the things we did, the food or anything! I remember very little of my childhood. My mother is the same.

As an adult I remember much more. I can describe the room I stayed in 20 years ago and what we did when we arrived and checked in. I can remember meals, what restaurants we went to, the car parks we used, the weather, the feel and sights and smells of the place.

My memory is like that too. If there's an event I remember clearly, I can remember what I was wearing, even if it was 50 years ago. It does make people uneasy sometimes that I remember things in such detail and sometimes it makes me uneasy too, partly because there are things I really don't want to remember, but also because there's just so much stuff in my head.

I can vividly remember my holiday from 30 years ago, because it was the one and only time I've ever been on safari in Kenya.

So rather unforgettable, that one!

Yes, I remember moments from holidays more than 30 years ago. I'm not one of these people that can recall entire conversations word for word years later, but it's easy for me to go back to special/exciting/emotional moments.

I can remember holidays from over 40 years ago. Some more than others as a video play back. I’m not sure I remember specifics such as street names, flowers etc.

Oh yes....remember our visit to Fes....was only looking at the photos the other day to see my friends angry faces....locked in carpet shops, hassled to death by the local lads,,spat at for not buying some cheap cassette tapes...just awful....

I definitely can - DBro & I were very lucky & had some lovely overseas holidays as kids ( Spain , France, Switzerland). One of the best was Switzerland. We had 3 weeks with Canvas Holidays in The Bernese Oberland. Absolutely beautiful. I remember climbing up to the revolving restaurant that was featured in one of the James Bond movies, walking deep inside a glacier, swimming in crystal clear lakes & just the most stunning scenery wherever I looked. I was only about 9 or 10. Also have precious memories of camping in Brittany & going every morning to collect fresh milk & warm baguettes from the village shop.I can even remember a holiday in Wales when I must only have been a toddler, lying in my little bed & spying a glint of the sea through the narrow cottage window behind me.

Home: I can vividly remember the smell of baby milk, and how the furniture was arranged in my mum's bedroom when my baby sister was very new.
I'd have been 2 then.
Holiday: I remember walking up a lane holding my dad's hand and we got to the top of the hill and we could see the sea. It was amazing. I remember the tiled wide windowsills inside the cottage. I was about 2 1/2.
No photos of either that cottage or my mum's bedroom.