To think there's no need to eat out every night of a holiday?

[JQuinnS]

We're going away soon and are staying in a resort/hotel that has a small kitchen in the room. We have decided to not do all inclusive/eat out at the town. There's no reason to not cook something at least a couple of needs. Is there really a need to eat out every night? Not being arsey, genuinely wondering. AIBU?

I'd never self cater on a holiday, if you are still cooking and washing up then you may as well be at home.

We've done this. The key (if you want to save money) is to take some basics with you - cereal, oil for cooking, salt, pepper, maybe rice and pasta etc. It also helps to research before hand what you might cook and take anything you don't think you will be able to buy there. For example, if you want to fry up local fish it might be an idea to take breadcrumbs (and oil), or if the local delight is sausages whatever sauce, if any, you put on them. I have decanted items into small disposable containers. There is a lot of joy in this if you are somewhere where there are local ingredients that are a speciality and you like to cook. We've also done the picnic thing (olives, bread, cheese) and we've managed take-out in some places as well (pizza in the piazza). If there are any local markets another option is the cheaper food stalls there either for full meals or picnic ingredients. Just be aware that this can add up money wise.

Totally personal decision. We pretty much always rent a villa on holiday, tend to eat out at lunchtime, and then don't want another rich meal in the evening, so would have bits and bobs at home. One week a year we do a massive group holiday (26 this year), where we hire an enormous house and we cook in every night, all doing a little bit. It's really social, we catch up with what's been happening over the last year (and the day's travels) over wine.

I've never really enjoyed resort holidays, so it wouldn't be my normal to hang around the hotel complex (I'd rarely actually stay in a hotel complex) in the day. I'd feel too claustrophobic. If I wanted to lie in one place and read all day, I wouldn't bother going abroad.

My mum used to love not cooking when on holiday. I know what her response would be!

I'd never self cater on a holiday, if you are still cooking and washing up then you may as well be at home.

I'd never go all inclusive again. I would rather stay at home. I reckon we're completely incompatible

I cook every single day at home. Why on earth would I want to do the same whilst on holiday

When I was small, when dinosaurs roamed the earth, we could not afford to eat at the Woolly Mammoth Diner, therefore we had to take what we could with us. I believe that the words my mother used were 'quick and easy'. It was either that or not go away!

Ditto when I was poorer than I am now, see previous post. Again, I reiterate that there can be a lot of joy in this if you are going somewhere with lots of regional specialities and if you like cooking!

. :)

I think the key thing is that the person who would be doing the cooking is the one who gets to make the decision on whether you eat in or out, as they are the one doing the work.

I remember we went away with SIL and family and were planning to go out for last meal ( fish and chips so hardly a huge expense) but BIL wanted to veto it. I may have asked SIL if he was going to a) decide what we were having b) buy the ingredients c) cook it and d) tidy up after the meal, which was what I seemed to have been doing for most of the holiday. We went out .

We play it by ear, if we want to eat out we will, if no one can be bothered we get take away.

... I also take washing powder and we go to laundromats (we leave suitcase space for loot) - we have had some great experiences in laundromats meeting locals and their dogs and translating instructions to English :).

We don't eat out every night of the holiday. We never do AI because I wouldn't trust the food. I'd much rather eat out two or three times and go to really great restaurants then cook a simple pasta or roast chicken other nights. Reduces risk of holiday stomach upsets or too rich food, and DC love a bit of down time if they've been out and about all day.

Spartacus I love that sort of encounter on holiday. A tiny snapshot of every day life. Much more fun than being ringfenced inside some AI resort.

Tried eating in once when we were away for 3 weeks. By the time we'd bought all the stuff, it was cheaper to eat out. You don't have to do 3 courses every night. DH often has starters and mains and I have one or the other or 2 starters. Otherwise my clothes wouldn't fit!

We go on all inclusive holidays as I find it so much easier with kids to be able to walk to multiple bars and get a drink/ice cream/snacks etc.
Some all inclusive hotels the food isn't great, always repetitive like spag bol and pizza (the kids love this) but if you pay the extra money and go somewhere decent with a la carte resturants then you can still eat as if your going to restaurants every day.
I do not cook on holiday, it's my time to relax and enjoy the holiday and I wouldn't want to have to do everyday chores like cooking washing up cleaning the place.
But my aunt used to love cooking. They rarely went out for dinner on holiday and they had the money to do so if they wanted to.

It's completely up to you though. If you enjoy it then cook on holiday.

My Mum always says that if you go on holiday to a house/apartment etc its the same work as at home but in someone else's house! And she is so right.
We do a couple of holidays over the summer, 1 is to a villa abroad, and the rule is after lunch the kitchen is closed! We eat out every evening, the kids love it, and I get a break.
We also go to a hotel that caters to your every whim and need, this is a brilliant full on break, love it.
We do a week in a house by the sea an hour from home. Sometimes we eat out, sometimes we get take away, sometimes I cook.
Its not just the cooking etc that is tedious, its thinking about what to cook, getting the ingredients, tidying up after...can't be arsed with that on holiday.

We camp, now in a motorhome but in tents for years. No way would I cook a bloody dinner every night! We'll occasionally have a boozy barbecue at the campsite, but eat out the rest of the time.

I love cooking breakfast though, for some reason. Bacon & eggs in the open air are just fantastic.

Spartacus I love that sort of encounter on holiday. A tiny snapshot of every day life. Much more fun than being ringfenced inside some AI resort

Yes! It is why we travel by bus and train when we can and we always try to hit the local parts of town. Oddly, Rick Steves is a great guide for this (in terms of his books). He has 'saved' us in a couple of places and was suggested initially by a pension owner in Germany (who told us not to turn our noses up). That's the other thing, of course, local prices are quite different to those in tourist town and the food is often better too

In what way does AI "ringfence"?

It's not a prison.

If you want to then do it. I understand why people may want to eat out for every meal but we prefer to have some kind of kitchen, however basic.There are plenty of good reasons to do a bit of cooking.

Someone in the group who is vegetarian, or who has a food allergy.

Cost. Lunch and dinner with adult sized teens is expensive. Money wasted on a young child who decides they're not hungry or too distracted that holiday. When one of mine was 3 he would only eat dry bread, yogurt and fruit for a week. It was easier most days to feed him that in the apartment and let him play whilst we eat.

The stress of taking a young child out could be less than the stress of a bit of washing up. They may be perfectly well behaved in a restaurant but it's hardly a relaxing meal with a second bottle of wine territory.

If you've had a full day sight seeing and have eaten out at lunch, it can be nice to collapse and prepare a very simple meal. Rather than get cleaned up, nicely dressed and hunt for somewhere. We have two city breaks planned this year with kids and have apartments booked for both for the above reason. Interesting meal out at lunch, something thrown in oven in the evening.

However nice the resstaurants you find it is very hard to have any kind of normal diet eating out all the time. There's not many places that fill half your plate with veg and a small portion of carbs. After a few days I crave a huge bowl veggie curry and chillies.

We've done different combinations at different times depending on type of holiday, budget, eating out options, ages of DC etc.

It's a completely personal decision with no right or wrong. We've gone self-catering ever since DS (now 5) was born - in the UK initially then abroad for the last 2 years. We have breakfast in the apartment/cottage and take a picnic lunch out normally. We nearly always had dinner at the cottage when DS was little as there was very little pleasure to be had in eating out with him! Lots of barbeques and simple meals. As he's got older, we've increased the amount we eat out and it's around 50% now. Will probably continue to increase as he gets older.

We always stay in places with separate living areas and bedrooms. No cooking in the bedroom or eating while sat on the bed as some posters are visualising!

Lackie there is something very special about cooking breakfast in the open air.

I'd rather eat breakfast in the open air while someone else cooks it.

We eat out at least once a day on holiday, sometimes twice or three times.
However until I win the lottery and can afford to bring a private chef and a full time maid with us then I will always be doing some food prep and cleaning on holiday. We usually have breakfast in the villa. It suits me fine as I rarely eat breakfast anyway and a busy buffet is the last place I would want to be. Sending the older kids out to buy food is a great chance for them to try out the language.
Our last holiday was probably as close to perfection as I could get. We rented a villa with a pool. There was an amazing bakery across the road that did iced coffees and excellent pastries it was lovely to get up have an early swim on my own and wander across to pick up food for breakfast. Just down the road was a lovely restaurant that were happy to bring food over for us to eat in the villa and collect the dirty dishes. They brought the kids free cake over as well.

Given the choice between a bit of food prep and cleaning or sharing a room and a pool I'd choose the cooking and cleaning hands down.

The last time we stayed somewhere with a kitchenette we were in a big city. We were often a long way from the hotel at mealtimes and there was lots of choice in terms of restaurants and a range of prices and styles. We were there for a fortnight and ate out every night except one when we ate pre-prepared stuff from the supermarket. The kitchen really wasn't set up for proper cooking. As others have said if you want to cook on holiday then go for it. I personally prefer to eat out but if I was in a small resort with just a few restaurants to choose from and no budget options then I might cook a few evening meals, providing the kitchen was well equipped.