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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to never want to go to the same place twice for a holiday?

114 replies

Mintyy · 01/11/2015 22:39

as we have a reasonable summer fortnight budget?

We don't have a huge or unlimited budget, far from it. But we are lucky enough to be able to go more or less anywhere within Europe for a couple of weeks in middle of the road self catering accom.

So aibu to think that it's not terribly imaginative to keep going back and back again to the same place in these circumstances?

OP posts:

Iwishiwasasleep · 01/11/2015 23:42

We bought a villa in Spain but haven't told anyone as we don't want to look boastful so we just say we like the area. We saved for years and years to buy it so we want to get use out of it.

It doesn't mean we will never holiday anywhere else but it suits us for now.

AnnaMarlowe · 01/11/2015 23:43

Why does it bother you what other people do though? You don't need us to validate you decisions for you surely?

Most of my friends make wildly different decisions about holidays that we do - it has never occurred to me to care.

ReallyTired · 01/11/2015 23:45

Why do you care. People want different things from a holiday. If you want sand and sunshine the going to the same place makes sense. Not everyone wants to explore.

MrsTerryPratchett · 02/11/2015 00:32

I'm in your camp OP. I want to get to everywhere and there is only so much time and money.

However, I envy people who can sit on a beach, enormous book in hand (with embossed gold lettering and some kind of Greek symbol), roast in the sun and just be. I can't.

ForalltheSaints · 02/11/2015 07:05

Going back to the same place year on year would not be my choice, even though the south of France is the preferred summer holiday venue (different places/hotels).

The only concern I would have is if the same place is some indication of some fear of change/some foreign customs/bullying by DP not to do something different.

gamerwidow · 02/11/2015 07:11

Maybe being imaginative is not top of people's requirements when booking a holiday. If you've found a place you love that ticks all the boxes then you're going to end up disappointed if you book something else that doesn't match up.
A lot of people only have one holiday a year and they don't want to gamble on a new one if they've found a place they like.
I personally like to try new places (FOMO) but I can understand why people don't.

Helmetbymidnight · 02/11/2015 07:11

It depends. Sometimes you want new and adventure while other times you want a rest and familiarity.

Eastpoint · 02/11/2015 07:19

We tend to go to different places as I want to see the world. We've repeated a few times but mainly when the children were younger, now they're teens they can cope with less predictability. I'd hate to go to the same place every summer with the same people, it wouldn't seem like a break, more like a tradition or custom.

Toffeelatteplease · 02/11/2015 07:26

I can appreciate that there is a whole world out there.

But at the moment I couldn't care less.

I want to go somewhere I know I will have fun where I will have a break and be responsible for as little as possible.

I want to go somewhere that I know works for DS's special needs and gives DD a holiday where his needs don't impinge on her enjoyment it. That's really hard in a new place so many things can not work or work badly.

I went every year to the same place as a child. I loved it. You did different things each year some things became an every year tradition some things you went back to over different years.

I was however fortunate in that my family frequently took multiple holidays a year. Only one being to the same place. So I had the best of all worlds

You sound very raw. I too wondered if this is off the back of a family argument.

Not sure AIBU is going to help you here. You are not being unreasonable. But neither is wanting to holiday in the same place unreasonable either

trollkonor · 02/11/2015 07:28

Yanbu to go to different places every year.
People are nbu to visit the same place year in year out. I know someone who did this, they go for the sun, beer and meet up with the same people. Nice comfortable hotel with good weather is the most important bit.
People are nbu to fly to different tourist resorts every year.
People are nbu to travel a bit more on there own.
People are nbu to sometimes revisit, sometimes not.

RaskolnikovsGarret · 02/11/2015 07:32

We never go to the same place twice, as the world is too big. My DCs are lucky enough to have travelled a lot around the world, but even if we restricted it to europe, we wouldn't go to the same country/ city again. Travel broadens the mind, and I would consider myself narrow minded if I didn't take the opportunity to visit different places.

We recently turned down the chance of a half price holiday home overseas as I would hate to be tied to visiting one country all the time.

Clearly I am
In the minority though!

velourvoyageur · 02/11/2015 07:35

I've probably been to Paris about six times in the last three years. Am very lucky to not have to pay for accomm. while I'm there. If I did have to pay I couldn't have gone nearly as much. Sounds silly but after a few months away I started feeling a pull towards it like I was missing it, I suppose like what I imagine homesickness to be like. Last time I went was August and I'm not feeling the pull yet which is a bit unusual. But am taking advantage of it and going to Berlin this winter (only been once before)

When I was a kid we went back to the same 3/4 places every single year because my parents are expats and they wanted to see their family. Meant I could see my cousins & have loads of freedom in big family holiday homes in the countryside, was brilliant & idyllic :) (also meant my parents could bugger off for a bit and have some much deserved child free time!)

If you find a great place, even if it's in the next town.....and it makes you feel good, then it's time, energy, money etc v. well spent IMO. Some people don't have wanderlust. I wouldn't say I have much myself - there's about ten countries I'd quite like to visit for the first time but if I don't get there that's fine.

Eminybob · 02/11/2015 07:36

I think I would if I found somewhere absolutely amazing, but as it stands I haven't been back to the same place twice. I like to visit different countries and experience different cultures, as well as the relaxing beach aspect of a holiday.

As a child we only went abroad 3 times, two of those were Disney world within 6 months of each other and the second time was a let down because we'd done it all. I never understood my parents thinking behind that.

velourvoyageur · 02/11/2015 07:38

maybe I should namechange given that last bit christ

Jenijena · 02/11/2015 07:39

I never thought I'd be the same-place-twice sort of person. But this year we spent a few days at the place we'd been the year before, before spending a week elsewhere. With a toddler who doesn't sleep very well, the thought that we could have s holiday where we knew where everything was, where there was plenty left to see and do that we hadn't done before, and where it would be 'easy' matters more than exploring.

Next year will be the last time we don't have to pay school holiday prices for holidays, but we'll also have a two month old with us. Easiness will be even more important...

RaskolnikovsGarret · 02/11/2015 07:40

Sorry that sounded judgey, I didn't mean it to be at all, I understand other people have different holiday choices, eg to go to the same place every year as it's familiar. I can completely understand that, I think I would just get itchy feet.

Youarentkiddingme · 02/11/2015 07:44

What AF said.

I don't think it's unimaginative. Some people thrive on and enjoy new places and experiences and spending their holiday looking for things to do.
Me, I want to relax. I want somewhere where ds will be happy and have a pool to go in and where i don't have to cook/wash up for a week.

Finding things to do and new experiences isn't relaxing for me or ds due to his asd. But then again returning to same place isn't always that relaxing as things do change and he hates it!

Bit of a moot point though here as we don't have the finances to do a holiday every year - but I'd go back to where we went this year when I can afford it!

Toffeelatteplease · 02/11/2015 07:46

I probably should add in our case we do a lot day trips. There is a lot of UK culture that is accessible without distance travel. It is a better option in terms of what realistically we can do.

For us travel is disproportionately expensive. DS is fantastically expensive for travel insurance (a lot of companies won't cover him at all). The place we go has easy access to on site first aid and medical care. I can speak/understand the language a reasonable amount.

Even if I don't use these facilities it is good to know they are there.

Obviously not relevant to your set of circumstances. But sometimes the reasons for revisiting are complex.

velourvoyageur · 02/11/2015 07:51

Toffee that's another thing, the language
I really like being able to speak the language where I go & blending in and feeling like a local. Obviously I'm never going to speak 10+ languages but what I do have gives me a nice range of destinations.

SoupDragon · 02/11/2015 07:53

So that's yabu from you then Soupy.

Well, that depends on which of your two completely different AIBU questions you are thinking of.

Your thread title is not unreasonable - you can do whatever you want.
However, the question in your OP is unreasonable - it shows a lack of imagination on your part if you can't think/understand why people go back to the same place.

MidniteScribbler · 02/11/2015 07:57

I've been going to the same place since I was a child, have now purchased a house there and intend to retire there eventually.

Just because I've done that doesn't mean that I am not interested in other places in the world. But travelling to a new destination requires going around sightseeing, fitting in as much as possible. Going to my holiday house means I can relax, do as little or as much as I feel like, and I don't have to feel the need to see everything.

I think it is the difference between 'holiday' and 'travel'. You can enjoy doing both.

DinosaursRoar · 02/11/2015 07:58

I haven't been back to the exact same place/hotel, but have been back to same area, having stayed somewhere else for the last 2 years. Mainly this is because now we have 2 small DCs, we are going to be having a 'bucket and spade' holiday - not doing touristy things, but going to the beach and building sand dinosaurs (I don't get away with anything as simple as a castle with DS ), or playing in the pool. It really doesn't matter where we go, we will be doing the same things. Therefore, having found that Mallorca is a relatively short flight from airport closer to us, will get us hot weather without being painfully hot, seems family friendly and not too expensive, it's 'won' for the last 2 years.

We might go somewhere else this year, but we'll be having the same holiday.

(DH and I used to travel the world, loved going to see unusual places and trying new things, we'll start bringing back adventure when they are all school aged, but for now, this is what a 'good holiday' looks like)

trollkonor · 02/11/2015 08:03

To me the idea of making a conscious decision to never go back to the same place is as foreign an idea as always going back to the same place. I can see why people go with either extreme but they're not for me. I've ended up in LA a few times for leisure a few times and I don't even like the place I've lost count of the times I've been to Paris in my life and will go again.

Normandy is one of those places that I driven through many times, then one year we decided to have a weekend there before eventually ending up in Galicia in Spain. A couple of years later we did the same on the way to the French Med as there was more we wanted to do. This year we want to do a cheap full week there, not as part of our main holiday, because there are still things we missed and others we want to do again in a more relaxed way. There is a place in Germany that one of my children adores and we have fitted that in several times as part of main holidays and short breaks.

velourvoyageur · 02/11/2015 08:06

Also if you never go back to somewhere....I would kind of assume that you'd ticked the boxes, done all the touristy stuff but hadn't really bonded with the place and had nothing inviting you back. I'd much rather fall in love with a place and feel like could go back ten times and feel like I could never discover everything there is there.
If I went somewhere and didn't want to go back I'd be disappointed really.
Just to meet judgy with judgy....

Helmetbymidnight · 02/11/2015 08:13

I'd be happy to go back to New York and Rome loads.

Mn meet up?

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