Do you go abroad every year for a holiday?

[Cloud44]

Ive not been abroad since Covid, before that we used to go on holiday in Europe most yea, but now it feels like a faff and im not a fan of flying anymore but i cant help feeling im missing out. Does anyone else mostly have breaks within the UK?

I live abroad so I travel to and from the UK (driving) to visit family. Apart from that I don't travel abroad for holidays every year.

We don't go abroad every year. Typically we would stay in the UK with one long haul holiday every 4-5 years to see DH family.
We mainly holiday in the UK - camping mostly with one centre parcs style holiday each year.

We had a good journey over to Germany via Calais and beyond , but not so good getting back via France last year. It put me off a bit and was stressful getting through border controls on time and roads shut off in France and all kinds of things going on.
A good way of seeing a country , but it’s a long way and tolls roads are expensive too if you choose to take those ones which tend to be really good.
Good motorway services though , far better than English ones tend to be and decent food.
Probably not so good with small children or babies in a normal car and the stress of paying for the tolls and making sure they work and you get the right ticket or you don’t lose the ticket etc.
It all adds up!

If you’re doing French tolls regularly, the Emovis tag is great. You can just drive through the special gates and the toll payments come out of your bank account. It does beep very loudly though, it gave us all a bit of a fright the first time!

I did this, never had holidays as a child even in the UK and when I tuned 19 I flew to Australia and caught the bug.

Thankfully DH also likes going away, we'd normally go away twice a year and took DD when she was 3 months and 18 months until Covid. Rising mortgages etc mean its normally one flight aboard and most years we drive into Europe at some point for a short break.

I love my holidays 😁

@anyzee It’s winter breaks that I would keep if I had to make the choice too.

@doodleschnoodle
I guess we are all very different then! Your trip sounds like a nightmare to me, whereas an hour or so in an airport queue - meh.

Still, many years ago we used to go on organised coach holidays (1990s, before having DS) and I did enjoy those.

there is an abundance of castles, palaces and places of worship
most places have 100s of years of history
stunning beaches, forests and mountains
an abundance of wildlife that varies across the uk
vineyards , distilleries
local festivals
we have coral reefs.
the North Sea and Atlantic Ocean

Every other year (affordability as well). We didn’t go for four years during Covid.
When kids were younger we (me and them, I’m widow) would fo one shorter break either to somewhere like Wales or Rome or Spain and alternate year go to see family in the US. Now it’s every other year abroad no short hauls.

I don’t disagree that the UK is wonderful, but it can’t be said to be diverse by any stretch of the imagination. I was living there during Covid and in between getting away to Europe when travel restrictions eased a bit (I still have nightmares about navigating the bloody ‘traffic light’ system…), I did a number of staycations: St Ives, Aldeburgh, Brighton, Scilly Isles, Bath, and Newquay/Padstow. It’s so so beautiful in parts, but each of those trips was very similar to the others.

And there’s numerous things the UK doesn’t have

even just driving on the right
different road signs

different pace of life

how people eat, what they eat, when and where

I understand some people only holiday in the uk, for some getting a plane is not worth leaving the country, we like an airport, it’s part of the holiday for us, we like different - totally different - places for our holiday

for some people - us included - there is so much of the world we want to see - so we work out how to make it happen

our holidays stay with us for months, years, there are moments we have, many moments, with each other that the UK just can’t provide - you can’t be in the Sistine Chapel in the UK - you just can’t for example

for us there is so much else outside this small island - that’s not to diminish what’s here

not to say we don’t continuously visit new places in the uk - we do - but they are not what makes a holiday for us - so we clatter on down to an airport - and gaze at the departure board thinking “oooo Cairo”

when H retires I have been told we can have x2 holidays my way (meaning packed itineraries from dawn until dusk) and x1 in some luxury infinity pool hotel doing nothing but swim and sleep (which I disagree with but have to compromise) I give it x3 days before he agrees a short day excursion will be acceptable

I just can’t imagine as we get older us thinking “oh I wish we never went to …….”

and it’s all personal choice, no one cares if we want to travel thousands of miles to visit a wall, just as we don’t care if people never want to have a passport to travel, the beauty of free choice

I get a daily paper newspaper when we go away - even if my command of that language is sketchy

great fun - and very interesting - especially some papers which report UK news - but also all the news that doesn’t get to us - there is so much going on

it’s helps me be more relaxed - when I get home I have a perspective that “hey it’s not that important the world is a big place”

Not every year, but when we do, it's usually by ferry then train or driving.

Bar one year, we have been abroad at least once every year for the last twenty years. Covid didn’t stop our travels.

We stayed at home one year because we needed a new cooker.

Haven't been for about 35 years. UK only

In terms of the UK providing everything. Well, it does not, clearly.

However, my BFF (I;m Australian, live in the UK) has never been outside of Australia. This is quite unusual for Australians to be honest. She also married someone who has never been outside of Australia. Her parents when we were growing up used to get quite sniffy about the fact that my sister and I with our parents would travel widely in the holidays. My father was a bit of a Sinophile. Absolutely obsessed with China and Chinese culture and we travelled extensively to China, Hong Kong, Macau, etc. I recall this as the best part of my childhood. My friend's parents would say 'You should not go overseas until you have seen all of your own country'. Well, Australia is quite big and seeing it all is a bit of a hard task. Whatever- to each their own obviously. But i relished going out of Australia and experiencing other things and cultures. My sister learned Cantonese and studied it at University. I studied Russian and spent alot of my 20s and 30s in the former Soviet union countries. DSiS studied and worked in Hong Kong and met her DH there.

My friend lives in the same street she was born and 2 doors down from her parents. She holidays inside the same state- not even outside our own state. She's happy with that but when we speak -aside from a shared background- we have little in common. She can no more imagine my life as i can imagine hers. Just as a teeny example- when the Notre Dame Cathedral went up in flames she posted on FB something along the lines of 'why does anyone care that a church has burned down?'. Just no ability to see outside her own bubble. When i lived in the Balkans I picked up a street dog who became my beloved family member for 18 years until his death. She just said 'Why don't you take him to the council kennels for rehoming?'. Just no concept at all that things are different in other countries.

The UK is terrific. And has so much history and culture and elements of joy. But saying 'what else do you need?' is narrow to my mind. But again- horses for courses.

I think the less you do something the more anxious you feel about it. Likely if you got back into the swing of flying you wouldn't worry too much about it in the future. However, trains are also an option and you can get pretty far that way. Also ferries to France and the Netherlands, and cruises to Norway etc.

It’s important to remember that MN is generally quite middle class and most people have more disposable income than average.

The majority of people I know never holiday abroad unless it’s for a really special occasion - mostly it’s UK breaks - camping or similar, or weekends away for special events.

Obviously there’s nothing wrong with going abroad but don’t let all the responses from people who travel multiple times a year make you feel as though you’re missing out or doing something wrong by staying in the UK ☺️

Uk breaks are far too expensive , we try and do a couple of abroad holidays a year, one with the kids and one without.

I'm interested in how you find it expensive? I holiday solely in the UK and we camp or stay in a basic Airbnb and we do loads of things which cost nothing whatsoever. We have NT and EH memberships which are useful but there are also countless places to visit which are free and we have so much history, coastal and inland landscape and architecture, and culture and tradition to explore. I find it SO much cheaper than trying to go abroad.

Yes we travel as a family of 4 around 4/5 times per year. Have always loved travelling and could never not have a holiday booked

Around four times a year but some of our friends’ children are getting married abroad so we do short trips for those too.

I hadn't left the country since 1980 because I was so scared of flying. 2 years ago I found cruises and have been on 13 cruises to date, most of which have been 3 + weeks long.

I loved the UK, especially Scotland where we would move every day. Probably why I like cruising so much.

Yes, we go abroad 2 or 3 times a year, but sometimes use the ferry or trains rather than flying.

I don’t camp. A house big enough for everyone is usually about 2-3k a week before you’ve even fed everyone or done anything. If we go out for dinner it’s usually between 150-200 a time and that’s before you've added in any activities / lunches / snacks / spending money. These costs go up and up if the weather is crap too, no beach days etc.

plus a holiday that is self catering is not a holiday for me, too much like hard work.