to get annoyed with people who judge beach holidays?

[3DStanley]

I get really annoyed with the type of people who say 'Oh I could never lie on the beach for two weeks, you must be so bored!' and act like the only valid use of my precious two weeks off a year is trekking barefoot through the Andes teaching orphans English.

I get especially annoyed because 95% of them seem to earn lots of money for jobs with very little stress.

AIBU?

Yes I judge. I judge people who don't have an interest in seeing and learning about other countries and cultures. People who have never been to Paris, Berlin, Rome because they have spent all their holidays by the poolside in Tenerife. I have a friend who has been to Egypt, Turkey and Mexico the last few years and only seen the pool and nothing else. That I judge massively though she will never know. I don't think beach and pool is necessarily mutually exclusive so I just those who just don't take an interest.

I also have a very stressful job but I live for my holidays and do at least 4-5 a year.

Why can't people just relax on holiday enjoying time with their families in whatever way the see fit Caprianna. Why do they need to learn and understand the culture of the countries you mention when they just want to recharge their batteries. Cant you just be comfortable with your own holiday choices to just do whatever you please on holiday and allow others the same virtue without turning into some cultural experience oneupmanship with other people so you can feel more superior than the 'plebs and oils' sitting around the pool.

Oiks not oils......

Do you know who I definitely judge

The ones who go and spend their entire holiday in a British pub in Benidorm

Sure the weathers better but you don't see it from the bar as you order your John smiths and steak pie

I judge in a - what's the difference? Way! (Not a you're a bad personal way). Especially when you're actually a publican at home...yes I'm thinking of someone I know I find it bizarre...

Lovely chap though! Just set in his ways I guess.

Why do they need to learn and understand the culture of the countries you mention when they just want to recharge their batteries.

Quite.

For me being on holiday means seeing and doing something I cant do at home.

I cant snorkel over coral reef at home in crystal clear warm water. Beach holidays arent limited to benidorm you know.

Last time i went on a beach holiday it was to Sinai and I spent time visiting the Bedouin and learning of their ways. They took us on desert treks, visited their camps.

Paris Rome and Berlin.....modern European capitals within arms reach of the UK and whose modern cultures arent much different to ours. Meh.

Beach holidays can and do involve culture.

How do you know what people do everyday of their holidays? I have friends who do sun breaks. I thought they spent all their time by the pool because that was the focus of their holiday. When we lived in Rio, they came and wanted to spend a lot of time in the sun, by the pool and on the beach but they also wanted to go out and sample local food, visit a market and see the sights. They said they like to do this wherever they go. They just don't go back home and go on about "life" in other places like a bunch of colonial explorers. When asked what they did they say "relaxed in the sun".

As someone who is having a bloody miserable time in Cornwall I can think of nothing nicer than sitting by a pool getting lots of sun with drinks on tap. But then years ago (before I had kids and was old and knackered) I loved cultural holidays.

I'm currently daydreaming looking at travel agents on the Internet and wondering how the bloody hell families even afford to go abroad to do or see anything at all.

I'm feeling more and more depressed by the hour and thinking I need a lottery win or a different life. We both work and there is just no way we could ever afford it. FML

Sit me by a pool under a shadey umbrella, a book and plenty of people watching and I'm as happy as a pig in muck.

It's not for everyone but I don't care what others want for their holiday.

FreeNiki you are not reading my post. I said beach and culture is not mutually exclusive, but at least move from your sun lounger a bit. Luckily noone has to consult me when they book their holiday so its just my opinion which I don't expect people to care much about. I have already said I would not say anything to you about your beach holiday and agree it would be rude if I did so its just my private thoughts.

It's fine for someone to say that they don't enjoy beach holidays but it depends on the context.

Fine if it's in a general conversation about holidays. But not fine to add on "don't YOU bored" type comments, that's rude.
Not fine if it's a sneering comment after someone has just told you they're going to a beach resort.

I'm currently daydreaming looking at travel agents on the Internet and wondering how the bloody hell families even afford to go abroad to do or see anything at all.

Your Cornwall holiday might not be significantly cheaper than a week abroad. In Cornwall, accomodation is expensive, food and drink out is expensive, paid indoor activities when it rains are expensive, travel, parking etc are expensive.

OK if you go abroad you need passports, but that's only every 10 years. Accomodation will probably be cheaper and if you can be flexible with flights you can get some decent deals, or book a package - you can still do it this way and stay in an apartment or villa in a quiet area if you want to. In many countries, eating out, supermarket food and especially alcohol is cheaper.

Many paid activities are cheaper and it's much easier to park a car for free. We almost never have to pay to park the car in Spain, even in big cities or near the beach. And of course, because a lot of the time you have almost guaranteed good weather, you can spend a lot of time outside, whether at a pool, beach, playpark, walking/cycling, mountaineering or whatever and spend little or nothing.

I also have a very stressful job but I live for my holidays and do at least 4-5 a year

You immerse yourself in all those cultures and yet you judge people for doing things differently to you? Erm... okay

Of course others probably judge you for your carbon footprint alone...

It's fine not to enjoy holidays just lying on a beach. It is not fine to judge those who do.

Personally I like a mixture. I'm going to Lanzarote this year but I do like exploring and have booked a couple of trips to see the island off the beaten track. However I am a single parent to almost 4yo DS and he doesn't want to be walking around every day looking at buildings. He wants to make sandcastles and swim in the pool and I'm happy doing that too.

And I usually book an all inclusive package. MN cardinal sin

BarbaraofSevilleI've been pricing up holidays in various places - portugal, Turkey, Greece and none of them are coming in at under about 2.5 grand for next May half term, without passports on top. That's about 4 months wages!

I think by the end of this holiday I'll be back on my anti depressants after trying really hard to get off them for months

I love a good beach holiday and then sometimes I like an active city break. So they ABU to judge the holiday.

However YAB a bit U to judge what levels of stress they may have in their job which may or may not encounter in their jobs.

I hate the beach. It's full of sand that gets in everything. I hate the feeling of a baking hot sun, on my face particularly. Anything hotter than about 25 degrees is, to me, hell.

I quite enjoy sitting in the shade reading a book. I enjoy visiting sites, city breaks, hiking etc.

My best friend loves the beach. The hotter the better. Hand her an occasional drink and don't disturb her until it's time to get back on the plane.

She knows I would hate her type of holiday. I know she would hate my type of holiday. The simple solution is, we don't go on holidays together. We don't judge the other (after all, what is there to judge?), simply respect that we have different tastes.

There is a particular type of person who likes to feel superior as their holiday is somehow more "worthy", but equally there is a particular type of person who also likes to feel superior because their holiday is not "snobby". What they both have in common, if they don't keep their thoughts to themselves, is rudeness.

YANBU OP. Some people do feel superior if they go on trekking holiday. I couldn't do a beach only holiday, but I'm happy to fit it in to part of a holiday. I like variety on a holiday and couldn't do one thing only for two weeks, so it's not just beaches.

DH loves cities with galleries and museums, which I find boring. I much prefer something a bit more rural with beautiful views.DD would happily live in a swimming pool for two weeks, so we try and mix it up a bit when we go away.

I love reading for hours and I never get an opportunity to do it in my normal life. That's what the beach is for for me. I don't care whether anyone else thinks that's a worthy holiday tbh!

"I'm currently daydreaming looking at travel agents on the Internet and wondering how the bloody hell families even afford to go abroad to do or see anything at all. "

If you don't have a car, it's much cheaper to go abroad. A cheap Ryan Air flight is cheaper than a train in the UK and then costs might be lower in another country. The idea that foreign holidays are a luxury doesn't stand up. I've been to many countries in Europe, but couldn't afford the train to Scotland.

Caprianna, you sound like a shit friend.

My ideal holiday is a cabin in northern Finland in the middle of the woods with nobody else around for miles, spending a week reading and fishing. Judge if you want, but it makes me happy enough that I don't have to spend my time acting like a superior bitch towards my 'friend' on an anonymous internet forum.