Self catering isn't a holiday. It's the same rubbish in a different location.

[wintersdawn]

We are currently 3 days into a 10 day self catering holiday and I'm sick of it already. My DH loves self catering holidays as they are a break from work and a different location and he can spend the whole time winding down from work and enjoying the break from the commuting routine.

But for me it's just the same shit in a different place, DD6 and DS4 still wake up early no matter how late we let them stay up. We either head off somewhere for the day which seems to always cost a fortune or involve lots of driving or stay in the house but without all their normal toys and entertainment options. We aren't near a beach this time which would normally give the children hours of entertainment, as we are staying in a relations house whilst they are away to save money. We don't have the budget to eat out each night and so the same cleaning, cooking, washing crap happens as it would at home.

I know we needed a cheap holiday this year as we've just had to replace the car and we did the kitchen at the start of the year but this is the 4th year in a row of self catering and I'm over them.

I can't be the only one who gets dragged down by self catering? Can I?

Am currently in a gite in France self catering -we've been here nearly two weeks and could easily stay another. Also there is no way I could sleep in the same room as 5yo DS for a fortnight-in a hotel there is no privacy or space! Having your own garden and living room is fab

What your doing sounds miserable. Get your husband to pull his weight for a start.
I love self catering in cottages or villas with the kids because us all living out of one or two rooms isn't my idea of fun. Anything less than the same facilities I have at home is not a family holiday for me. We eat out a lot or get take always when we are self catering though and everyone chips in with cleaning and tidying.

I love them and always have, as I love to pack loads and with SC we drive to the location. But we have always also worked as a team, even on holiday, neither ever expected the other to do all the cooking, cleaning, entertaining of young kids, etc. Bollocks to that! We pick locations with full sized dishwasher and with a washing machine at the least, plan easy to cook meals (I take the slow cooker, my good knives, other stuff to make life easier plus all the picnic gear, board games, etc to fill a SUV with roofbox), switched off lie-ins when the kids were younger, gave each other time off as well as family time. Your 'd'h needs to step up.

Oh and I also do not like all inclusive as I am just subsidising the greedy buggers who overflow their plates and never eat it all and the alcoholics.

We do them. It can seem a chore especially when the kids are young.

We bring ready meals or eat out. I bring loads of books (kindle). The house must be as nice if not nicer than our own house (this years was massive!!). Lots of wine.

We're self catering in Spain at the moment and loving it - a week in an Airbnb then a week at a Eurocamp ( but in a 2 bed house thing).
Turns out there is no oven (wtf?) or BBQ at the Airbnb so we've pretty much given up cooking - just breakfast and the odd sandwich. Even though the exchange rate is shite, turns out it's not too bad to eat out so we're doing that.
I've put a load of washing on every day but mostly because I can (no washing machine next week) put the dishwasher on, swept the floor and put clothes away. Compared to my 'real life', it feels like playing house. Sad but true,
We've got two long haul holidays (one visiting ILs) this year, so this was the only way we could guarantee sun this summer.
Haven't done SC for ages but planning next year's already.

BenLui I'm with you. Bloody love a SC holiday and we often live off chippy tea, the more expensive frozen pizzas and bread and cheese. Perhaps we'll have a bacon cob one day but otherwise it's pain au chocolat for grown ups and variety pack cereals for the kids. Love being able to pack a picnic too as we love National Trust-type activities and beach days.

My tips would be

• get every child a "holiday present" for

We do all the cooking in our self catering holiday but at least we are next to the beach. Next holiday I will book an all inclusive holiday I hate the faffing around.

@kalidasa where is this joyous place - I want to go!!!!!

I agree with you in some respects. But we love SC, it suits our family of 5, can get somewhere with 3 bedrooms within a relative budget, dp loves cooking (no seriously, we've just got home from 12 hours travelling back from a SC including a nightmare traffic jam back from the airport and he jumped straight back in the car and whizzed to the supermarket for things to make us a curry, whereas if d have rung for a takeaway!), but there was no dishwasher and it was quite basic. Nice small place, shared pool where the dc made some friends (none of them spoke the same languages so they had fun playing games!), lovely beaches 5 minutes away in the car, but no wifi
Swings and roundabouts.
I did no washing etc as I refused to go down that route. Plus the dc are a bit older now and sleep in later etc which makes things seem much easier.

My DH cant cook so its sll down to me. We eat out once or twice though.

Last year DH moaned when i did a shop of ready meals including ready mash as 'its expensive and doesnt take much time making from scratch' he soon backed off when i said he should cook for a change .

I have already told him we are doing the same again this year.

On our recent SC holiday, we bought takeaways, fish n chips or deli items for evening meals, OR ate out.

Breakfast is just cereal and fruit, sandwiches can be easily put together to take on picnics, or pub lunches.

No way would I want to cook and prepare proper full on meals on holiday.

It also sounds like your DH is not pulling his weight...!

Can't cook? He has a year to bloody learn.
OP he needs to start pulling his weight. It's not a SC issue. It's a partner one.

Although we were not well off when I was a child we always had a week away in a hotel with our parents if we had a holiday at all, because Mum said that sc or camping was no holiday for her.
So I have never been on a sc holiday. However, we do have a caravan becasue we like to tour - my idea of hell is to park it on the same spot on the same campsite for two weeks or a month. We have toured in a lot of European countries and I don't mind getting food from local supermarkets and markets as it is so different from home - and as the weather is better we eat outside and only really sleep in the caravan so don't make much mess - and the kids have been trained to do the washing and drying up - which is all part of the holiday as we have a dishwasher at home.
We've had a couple of hotel holidays but I think all inclusive is just a pretext to pig out - you feel you have to get your money's worth so you eat and drink far more than is reasonable or good for you. The last hotel holiday we did was bed, breakfast and evening meal in Malta so we could go out all day and just have a snack at lunchtime - presumably if you're all inclusive you never go out for more than three or four hours as you want to be back in time to eat the food you've already paid for?

Polarbear you sound like our kind of people. A good pan au chocolat is an excellent way to start the day.

Nice bread, cheese, ham and wine at lunch. Pizza/pasta/quick stirfry in the evening. Chocolate and ice cream for pudding.

Hotels mean to have to get up and dressed in the morning. Which is horrific and not what holidays are about in my view.

I used to have month old self catering holidays, but we all chipped in.

Even the young ones can set the table, tidy up and do some cleaning.

If you go sc you need to NOT do it as though you were at home. Plan easy meals that everyone can contribute to. Don't try and cook gourmet meals from scratch. Just keep it simple. I love sc since we have small children. So much easier than dragging them out to a restaurant every night. We just BBQ or make a salad or some simple pasta or pizza. I think you are over complicating it and trying recreate your home environment. Just relax and enjoy!!

pan au chocolat

Not very practical, though, is it? Doesn't it melt?

I don't understand Lweji? Why would it melt in your bread bin?

Tips:

Potatoes are great cooked with their skin on in the microwave, just wrapped in paper towels.

Bulk cook.

Use frozen vegetables, or versions that you just put in water. Use pre-packed salads.
Grilled meat and fish are easy. Not so great for those washing, but that's your OH's job. :)

Ive felt the same before.
Get the number for a take out place and get yourself a couple of m and s meal deals. The cooking is annoying.
if you are in the uk - premier in breakfasts at the weekends often let kids eat free. The whole family eat for £16

I like all types of holiday but we do tend to vary things a bit. When SC we tend to buy foods which are a bit nicer/more conveniencey than we would at home. I enjoy cooking so that isn't a chore and we usually stay somewhere with a DW but if not, just don't make complicated meals using millions of pots. DH mucks in. Being anywhere but home is relaxing for me. At home, I am always feeling like I should be doing some cleaning, tidying, ironing, gardening, decorating or whatever. Apart from a bit of cooking, tidying and keeping the kitchen clean I can relax, it's bliss! It always feels like I have loads of time just being off work. I usually only do a load or two of washing tops and again DH helps.

I don't understand Lweji? Why would it melt in your bread bin?

It's pain au chocolat.

I was making a joke with the English pan.

Oh and we often do buffet type things which come in containers and need little prep. Salad, colslaw, bread, cheeses, cocktail sausages, quiche, crips etc.

It's not SC that's the problem, it's that your husband's a cunt.

Get the selfish prick on his feet for once in his life and relax with a glass of wine.