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Original poster

Has anyone's views on holidays totally changed as they got older?

84 replies

twoglassesplease · 03/04/2023 20:02

I used to charge about ticking off sights and have definitely, preciously, twattishly said that I could never do a beach holiday.

Now I will do one or two sights in the morning, by the easiest way possible, thoroughly enjoy a big open top bus, and spend my afternoon reading.

Funnily enough my mum has gone the other way!

OP posts:
Ragwort · 03/04/2023 22:46

I really can't be bothered with all the aggro of travel ... airports, crowds etc ... I've had some lovely holidays in the past but it all seems such an effort now with so many things needed to be done on line.... far too complicated Blush. I haven't been abroad since Covid & don't miss it.
I am retiring in a year and people keep asking if I will 'go travelling' ... but I really have no plan to, think I have just become very boring.

LocSeeTan · 03/04/2023 22:54

To think worker have fewer right ls than ever before despite reforms to Woking rights.?

CountingMareep · 03/04/2023 23:02

LocSeeTan · 03/04/2023 22:54

To think worker have fewer right ls than ever before despite reforms to Woking rights.?

Now Woking is one place I probably would swerve as a holiday destination. 😂😂🤣

I think this fragrant poster has probably posted in the wrong place (or it’s a bad attempt at a spambot).

Zipps · 03/04/2023 23:06

twoglassesplease
Re cruises - you can always ask for a table for two or go to the buffet or one of the other less formal restaurants.

MobilityCat · 03/04/2023 23:14

Ishouldbeoutside · 03/04/2023 22:31

We have friends who did that. They had planned for it for years but didn’t seem to enjoy it as much as expected. They found it very expensive and the lack of culture got to them .

Show quote history

I'm sorry that their holiday wasn't as expected. We had no expectations, and the whole six weeks, apart from the flight to NZ cost about £1500, which was very inexpensive. We were in the North Island, planning to come another time to travel the South Island. Everyone was extremely friendly and helpful at every stop we made.

We bathed in natural hot springs, rivers and lakes, parking in lay-bys for sleep overs instead of campsites, in the beautiful green valley's filled with ferns and forests.

Don't know what the "lack of culture" meant to them, we found Maori culture everywhere, one of our experiences was in a recreated Maori village with mud huts, artwork, etc. Another evening we attended a traditional meal accompanied with tribal dancing. We immersed ourselves in their culture. Perhaps that's not everyone's ideal holiday but we thoroughly enjoyed ours.

LadyAstor · 03/04/2023 23:15

I’m much less keen on going abroad by plane now I’m older.

The hassle with the crazy kamikaze taxi driver to the airport, the massive queue at check in. The awful shuffle and disrobing/scanning through security. The noise of thousands of people waiting to board. The soul destroying wait to get to your seat. The bawling babies during the flight. The same the other side. It’s just not the same as it was even ten years ago and twenty /thirty years ago, it was a real pleasure to fly and travel.

Ive got an East Asia trip booked in a couple of years but until then, it’s Scotland, Wales and Cornwall for me.

Ishouldbeoutside · 03/04/2023 23:23

MobilityCat · 03/04/2023 23:14

I'm sorry that their holiday wasn't as expected. We had no expectations, and the whole six weeks, apart from the flight to NZ cost about £1500, which was very inexpensive. We were in the North Island, planning to come another time to travel the South Island. Everyone was extremely friendly and helpful at every stop we made.

We bathed in natural hot springs, rivers and lakes, parking in lay-bys for sleep overs instead of campsites, in the beautiful green valley's filled with ferns and forests.

Don't know what the "lack of culture" meant to them, we found Maori culture everywhere, one of our experiences was in a recreated Maori village with mud huts, artwork, etc. Another evening we attended a traditional meal accompanied with tribal dancing. We immersed ourselves in their culture. Perhaps that's not everyone's ideal holiday but we thoroughly enjoyed ours.

Show quote history

Wow! That sounds absolutely amazing. It’s certainly my idea of a great holiday.

Mywardrobesareoak · 03/04/2023 23:27

I spent 3 years backpacking in my 20's and really did rough it, Africa, India, South East Asia, Australasia etc. Had the most incredible experience of my life which will live with me forever. I still crave adventure and in my late 50's, don't think it will ever leave me. I'm praying I get to go back to South America for my 60th, the excitement of going somewhere new and exotic has never left me.

The C02 emissions really bother me though, I've decided I go to one really nice place every 5 years and no where else by air in-between.

Abhannmor · 03/04/2023 23:29

ICriedAllTheWayToTheChipShop · 03/04/2023 20:27

Yes, I actually go on them now! I've been single for about 20 years and there are so many places I wanted to visit but didn't, because I was worried about going on my own. Last year, I just thought, why the hell shouldn't I? So I did, and now I'm working my way through my wish list 🙂

Good for you. And what a brilliant user name!

I feel a bit like that. Like the idea of the Camino. But keep bottling out. Maybe I'll do it on a tour bus 🚍

Tryphenia · 03/04/2023 23:33

I don’t see what’s ‘twattish’ about not contemplating ever having a beach holiday. It’s my idea of pure hell, but I wouldn’t expect everyone to think my preference for seeing as much art as humanly possible until you’re sort of painting-blind was the business, either.

Lovelyring · 03/04/2023 23:33

Absolutely.

20s = backpacking, staying in awful grotty places because they were cheap, having to tick off everything in the guide book, cheapest options for everything because I was time rich but cash poor. Organised everything myself, often as I went.

30s - realised backpacking was stressful and exhausting! Tended to base holidays around visiting friends who I'd met in England but now lived abroad. Still wanted to see a lot of sights but at a much slower pace. Preferred to see one place really well, vs spending only a day or two per place.

40s - trying to fly less as more environmentally aware. More train travel and travel within the UK. Married with dc so no solo visits to friends abroad. Everything organised in advance. Low expectations of what can be achieved in a day and much more child-centric!

Tryphenia · 03/04/2023 23:35

Posted too soon. No, I don’t think they have changed, I’m just able to do them more comfortably. Rome is far nicer experienced from a comfortable hotel than when half-starved and mildly flea-bitten on an Interrail ticket.

AC2022 · 03/04/2023 23:39

Holidays in my 20’s and 30’s were all about ‘adventures’, if I wasn’t spending 24hrs+ bouncing from one flight to another in order to get to the arse end of nowhere it wasn’t a worthwhile holiday. Bonus points for some parasitic based illness or a close shave on a cliff top bus journey!
In my 40’s….local airport, no more than a four hour flight, max 45 minute transfer time, all inclusive. I went to Tenerife for a fortnight last year and only left the hotel twice. Epic holiday.

Crikeyalmighty · 04/04/2023 00:02

@HydrangeaHo I'm with you on that- give me 6 days in a 5 star adult only in a lovely location with lovely £80 meals out every night - against 2 weeks in a crappy basic place

AchillesElbow · 04/04/2023 00:21

In my 20s I didn’t care where I stayed as long as it was cheap. It was all about the destination. Now I want to be somewhere that feels like an improvement on my own home.

I now like to go to nice, quiet places without queues and mandatory reservations. I could not be arsed to go to Rome or Barcelona these days and attempt to see the Sistine Chapel or the Sagrada Familia. Far too much hassle.

mackthepony · 04/04/2023 01:22

What right where I need to be said::

'I can't be arsed with them now. The four of us stuck in a smaller, shittier version of home for a week, the constant asking for money for crap, traipsing about in the heat, the unending discussions about sunscreen'

We actually live somewhere that has a great local outdoor pool so my main plan for this summer is to take three weeks off and go there and do day trips etc.

Last year we paid a grand for an air b n b that was shittier than where we live: why bother, methinks???

MermaidMummy06 · 04/04/2023 01:31

No. I'll always enjoy being an explorer, visiting far flung spots and lesser known places most people wouldn't be bothered with.

It's difficult now we have DC, limited time & funds & add on that now FIL is constantly unwell (DH would insist on coming straight home if he has a turn).

I still find small ways to holiday with a little adventure. I can't stand the standard week long beach holiday. Which is annoying because I live a short drive to QLD's Sunshine and Gold Coasts. If I want to loll about while DH snores on the couch and scrolls YouTube & kids fight, I can just stay home. i did this as a kid and it was incredibly repetitive and boring. I'll never enjoy it.

mathanxiety · 04/04/2023 01:54

I stay away from the sun and like self catering. As long as there's a museum or castle to poke around or a forest to walk in I'm a happy camper.

Zipps · 04/04/2023 08:30

Another difference between now and when I was younger is that we won't do anything with two hours transfer to the hotel, maximum one hour especially if it's just for a week. And (especially for)city breaks, we have to book a hotel right in the action, a few minutes walk from all the sightseeing, bars and restaurants, not somewhere cheaper that you have to keep faffing about getting buses/taxi's/walking miles.
And minimum 4 but most often 5 no more dabbling in 3 or even 2 😱

Zipps · 04/04/2023 08:31

Supposed to be
5. 4 etc not bold

Zipps · 04/04/2023 08:32

5*
4*
Doh😊

usernother · 04/04/2023 08:34

No. I have always liked lying by the pool/beach reading a book a day, and still that's what I do now.

dimpleton · 04/04/2023 08:42

I've always loved to travel but I've grown to hate going out every night on holiday like we tend to when abroad. I'm so looking forward to our week away in the UK so we can have a few nights in watching Netflix after being out all day, instead of having a shower and going back out again!

user1471464218 · 04/04/2023 08:44

HeddaGarbled · 03/04/2023 20:32

Yes! I used to be really snotty about sun & swim type holidays and now I think they are absolute bliss.

Same for me . I thought my cultural authentic experiences were better.....lol at myself for including eurocamp in this. At my husband's request I tried an AI beach/ pool holiday and loved it. And it was nicer food but cheaper than self catering.

Soproudoflionesses · 04/04/2023 08:44

Yes OP....l am the same as you....would have gone anywhere at all but now l hqve to reqlly think about it - blaming covid for that. Plus a UK holiday is sooo much easier just load up the car and go on my own schedule