to not understand holidays where you just sit by the pool every single day?

[MeetMeinBaaBar]

Now I get that a holiday is about doing exactly what you want to do and to basically relax.

But I just don't get people who go to a different country and sit by a pool all day every day. My friend just came back from 2 weeks away, I asked her if left the hotel at all and she just looked at me blankly and said no.

I love relaxing by the pool, but I also love going to a different country and actually seeing that country - if I'm by a pool in a hotel I might as well be anywhere.

I guess it's like going to Egypt and only living within the walls of the hotel and never seeing the Pyramids.

She didn't even go to a beach ... meh, I know it's her holiday but yeah I just don't get it.

Nope, I'm with the OP and can't for the life of me see the point of forking out loads of money to see a different country when all you're going to do is see the inside of a complex.
A complex is a complex wherever you are in the world, and they all look the same! So, for example, what's the point of going to Egypt if you're going to see absolutely nothing of Egypt?
If all you're going to do the entire time is sit at the side of a pool and enjoy the entertainment, well quite frankly you could be doing that anywhere.
You can't very well turn round and say "I've been to Egypt." Um, no you haven't. You've seen a poolside and a buffet bar. Not quite the same as seeing the pyramids or whatever!

Oh blimey LtEve did you know this when you got together? That he was oversociable?

Ooooooh now the Maldives is fucking gorgeous-but I'm a diver so not all about the lazing...

Oh yes Sparkling. At the start it was part of the attraction - now I mutter under my breath and shake my head a lot

I spend 355 days a year running after 5 kids, i live in my car, ferrying them to sport, music lessons etc, i spend week in week out doing the same tedious cooking of dinners, wiping of noses, cleaning of bedrooms, laundry etc that a family of 7 entails.....Then, for ten blissful days of the year, we stay in a lovely hotel in a sunny country, where all i have to do is ensure they have sun cream on, then i can relax by the pool, reading swimming and eating lovely meals, and dont even have to think about housework or constant driving of kids to places. it is pure and utter bliss and relaxation, it recharges me, it is a break from the frantic pace of the rest of the year.

I've just got back from 10 days lazing by the pool - I go away alone with 3 kids - if they didn't do kids club activities for a couple of hours a day I wouldn't get a holiday - when they did that I READ a book - without interruption and built up my tan

when the kids where with me they wanted to be in the pool - so I lazed around and watched, or they wanted to be zorbing or on the climbing wall - all of which was in the hotel

We do venture out but not a lot - I take them places here for cultural education - but on holiday where it's hot and there is a pool and free bar and food - well we ALL laze - it's great!

I can think of nothing worse. Half an hour sunbathing and I am bored and ready to get going again. Surely sitting around pools for hours is impossible when you have kids anyway?

To me holidays are about exploring somewhere new and trying new things not spending a week lying down!

no my kids are all good swimmers who spend all day in there if they can!

My best holidays involve a pair of walking boots.

Sirzy - that'd depend on the age of your dc. Mine are big enough, and ugly enough to look after themselves. All really strong swimmers and all happy enough to make new friends and chat to people, or, tbh, to sit and read a book for a while themselves.

I purposely lay in the sun for too long so I will sleep solid for 2 days!
I love soaking up the sun with a cool drink and some good books, a little swimming etc. But yes I find it recharges me and I feel less stressed when I can just be.

Sun, reading, swimming, relaxation, wander down to a restaurant for tea every night.

What's not to like?

The thought of charging round in heat making sure you get your quota of 'fun' in is terrifying. If there's something you want to see fair enough but a typical beach/sun holiday? Nah, that's the time to chill.

Iv always said this until my last holiday and I didn't even like leaving the resort for the couple of excursions we had booked.

We were absolutely exhausted with incredibly full minds and just sitting by the pool staring out at the sea was bliss. We slept like logs and sometimes barely spoke to each other.

Although I generally sit under a big parasol, which is lovely. When you've had a very stressful year only worrying about where the next cocktail is coming from is restful and somewhat necessary.

Everyone is different! It would bore me but I never get used to the idea that what suits me suits everyone else! I also don't see why I have to understand it.

Thing is, how much I want to leave the pool depends on where I am. I spent enough time on coach excursions from package holidays to know that one Mediterranean monastery looks very much like another and half a day in a bus to get there wasn't much fun. But sometimes it's lovely to get out and see the countryside or wander down to the town to get a drink by the beach. My dad loves the coach tours and he's not wrong to. And if I were somewhere with world famous stuff to see I'd definitely see it.

I've just been on my first ever lie by the pool all day holiday and it was bliss!

I went through a messy divorce 5 years ago and I haven't stopped since
I've 2 dcs, work full time in sales -very stressful, do volunteer work, have very little family support, dcs see their dad 1day a fortnight and I was like a coiled spring waiting to explode

Dcs now old enough to wander the holiday complex and amuse themselves

It was like a years worth of antidepressants in 1go

But now I have to do the washing...

Sounds like my idea of hell, but then I've never 'got' the idea of sunbathing.

Still, as long as no one asks me to lie by the pool for a fortnight, then I don't suppose I have any right to judge what they like to do on holidays.

Everyone is different. We usually alternate days on holiday, one day pool, next day exploring, but I did have one holiday where I was in the middle of a breakdown and barely left the resort, it really helped my stress levels.

I didn't understand holidays spent lying by the pool.
Until we did this sort of holiday.
Now I understand.
And find that actually, I'm rather good at it!

and I've had a fair few 'adventure' type holidays in the past which have left me feeling shattered and in need of a holiday lying around the pool!

I love reading so have no problem doing seemingly nothing for 2 weeks. I would not choose poolside though. Much prefer being in a nice resort in my spacious villa, haha. Now with children the best I can do is a cottage with a garden where we can throw them outside.

I can think of nothing better than 7 days glued to a sunlounger, reading, snoozing, cool drinks on tap with a pool next to me for a quick swim

We hardly ever go on these types of holidays, but when we do, we go all inclusive and make sure there's plenty on site for the kids to do. I'd rather not leave the complex, I want to leave the car keys behind and not worry about driving.

I spend most of my life rushing around like a headless chicken so for 7 days I just want to relax and recharge my batteries.

I think it is unreasonable to not understand that different people like different things to you.

It is not unreasonable not not like holidays like that and not want to go on one.

I find it hard to be bothered about what kinds of holidays people enjoy. I like all kinds, and don't find the 'tourist gaze' type holidays any worthier than lazy pool holidays.

I guess it depends what your usual life involves and to what extent you want to either escape or recreate that during your time away.