To be surprised by the number of holidays?

[brondary]

I have been really surprised by the number of holidays some people on MN go on. I would not have the money or the annual leave to go on that many.
Last Summer people were commenting saying how since the first lockdown in March, they had already had to cancel three holidays. Various people talking about how they normally go on five or six holidays a year and are really missing them.
I must mix in different circles as I did not realise any except the super-rich went on this many holidays.

I've been to Spain twice in 20 years, once was a holiday to attend a relative's 80th, the other was to sort property for sale of said elderly relative's residence. I've also been twice to a UK holiday place. We never go away a a family for more than 1 night at a time, but we're quite happy not to. We've relatives live at the seaside so can go there. We've friends around the country so can go visit.

(But we have animals, livestock responsibilities that kind of thing, so we can't really all go away together for longer without extensive sorting things out. )

@BigSandyBalls2015

I don't understand how someone can earn £100K a year and not have enough for a holiday ... even if their mortgage is £1500 a month. That's still only a fifth of your wage. I know there's tax etc.

As for self employed .... they're legally allowed to pay less tax, it's one of the very few perks of being self employed in this country. They make everything else damn hard so why not.

ah well, my mortgage is £2,500 pcm for a 3 bed cottage.

Previously we use to go to Europe a couple of times a year and probably spent around £6k in total for a family of 4.

We certainly couldn't afford around £20k pa like other posters have said.

It depends how you do it I think.

The last time I went on holiday I went to Spain -
booked the flight four days before, it was about £150 (return). Carried on my luggage.
The accommodation I got once I got there, it was 20 euros a night for a lovely apartment, in a complex with 18 apartments, nice pool, very quiet, adults only.

Food was pretty much the same as what I'd pay in England for the week.
Travel was actually cheaper than what I'd pay in England for the week.
Drinks were cheaper.

Most of the things I love are free - sitting on the beach, exploring, swimming, seeing the sights, going to look at things. The coach transport was amazing there, there was a coach that did a loop of the island which took a few hours, sat on the top at the front, no one else on it, views were amazing!

So all in all it didn't cost too much - maybe £400?

Our holidays consist of a few days camping or in a caravan via the vouchers in the local paper. I save and budget for these and the kids love them. I'm guessing some people wouldn't even consider these to be holidays.

I've not been on holiday since 1999, when DH and I spent two weeks in the west of Ireland, fell in love with it (I'd been coming here on holiday since the 70s), and ended up putting an offer in on a house. So we ended up living where we used to holiday, and have never felt the need to go anywhere else (me, having done the Med and a bit of the US earlier in life, DH being ex-RAF which meant a lot of travel). We might - Covid willing - go for a few days somewhere else in Ireland, but I hate hot weather and crowds, so no desire to go further afield :)

[quote Undeuxdrei]@Waxonwaxoff0 but if you can afford all those holidays, long haul, short haul plus breaks in a single year which must amount to possibly 6 or 7k at least you are not badly off...[/quote]
It's about £5k a year, we only go for a week at a time. I do not feel badly off, but I am not on a high wage on £9ph! My outgoings are just low.

I have a neighbour who has very limited income and she often says she wishes she could afford a holiday. Recently she wanted my help to choose an outfit. She tried on about 30 items from her wardrobe - all still with tags on. No problem - her choice - but there was definitely a holiday or twos worth there. Obviously some people can't afford a holiday but for others they prioritise clothes, makeup, their home, savings and then don't have enough left. This must be the case with the poster earning £100k. I have good income and zero savings but I have had some cracking holidays

@Inextremis

I've not been on holiday since 1999, when DH and I spent two weeks in the west of Ireland, fell in love with it (I'd been coming here on holiday since the 70s), and ended up putting an offer in on a house. So we ended up living where we used to holiday, and have never felt the need to go anywhere else (me, having done the Med and a bit of the US earlier in life, DH being ex-RAF which meant a lot of travel). We might - Covid willing - go for a few days somewhere else in Ireland, but I hate hot weather and crowds, so no desire to go further afield :)

What a lovely story. The West of Ireland is pretty special alright. And definitely not hot, in fact it's positively Baltic today. I have my central heating on

I don’t understand it at all OP. Our household income is over 100k and we don’t even manage a holiday every year. No idea how people are affording 3 or 4

Of course you could manage one or more though. You just choose not to/choose to spend your income on other things

Well yes I'm always stunned by how much people spend on home improvements/how frequently they replace sofas,beds etc.

I don’t find some people going on lots of holidays any more surprising than people living in different sized houses or owning numerous cars, caravans, motor homes etc or spending on private schools or having time consuming or expensive hobbies.

Well this thread has certainly been an eye opener, even though MN is not reflective of real life and full of exaggeraters.

People judging others for having no holidays. Equally others judging those who do holiday more than they see fit. Is it a big shock that we all earn different wages, have different spending needs or wants?

I go on holidays as often as possible. The weather here is unbearable and there are low cost flights and family abroad so it is not so expensive for some.

And holidays in the U.K.are ridiculously expensive and rainy most of the time.

I’m lucky to get a holiday every few years. My time off ends up with doing chores I don’t get time for other time of the year. I love travelling and would do it far more often if I could but as a single parent on a low income I can’t afford for us all to go and the summer holiday prices.

If you’re on incomes like £70k etc of course you can have multiple holidays if that’s what you fancy. I certainly would too but it does show how unfair all this travel and bringing back Covid variants are. It’ll be the higher income families not the poorer
Sections of society.

Not everyone on MN is truthful. Don't believe everything you read.

Pre covid (and pre dd) we would usually have 5-6 "holidays" a year:
A week abroad with family
A week abroad just the 2 of us
A weekend with DH's family to Center Parcs
A weekend in the Lakes, just the 2 of us
A weekend in London to visit friends
A UK city break just the 2 of us

I worked part time until a year before having DD (Tues - Wed) and DH is a company director/owner so no real AL restrictions.

Last year we had 3 trips booked that we had to reschedule due to covid

We are very lucky to have the holidays we do, and I never take them for granted

@BitOfAFaff but why would people lie about the number and nature of holidays they take ? If anything I rather downplayed ours as it did seem a tad excessive when I listed them out.
We are well off but I kept my last car for 10 years and don't spend a lot on home renovations or decor. Holidays are literally my one big thing and it's insulting to suggest that just because the number or cost doesn't match your view of reasonable that it must be made up.

Depends on what you're in to really, we love to travel and really prioritise it so we'd normally do 3 big holidays a year. Usually one safari holiday in Africa and two tropical holidays in Asia but we always choose different countries. We'd do the occasional trip to USA or carribean too. Never go anywhere cold and never really go to Europe. Id say we spend about 2k per holiday which is a lot but probably not as much as people would expect.

Our last trip was to Mauritius in early March last year, I'm hoping we get to go away to Maldives in January 21 but we'll follow guidance. So best case scenario it'll be almost 2 years without a holiday which is fine but would be nice to start up again.

We normally manage to go to two holidays abroad a year. One in Europe over the summer for 2 weeks and then a week in the Easter holidays long haul or visa versus. This year we had dubai, Majorca and skiing booked but not sure we will get to do the first two. My parents have a UK holiday home so we are lucky enough to go down there April, May, summer, October too either for a week or a long weekend. We get lots of use from it. Previously we used to have one long haul/ Europe holiday a year on alternative years but it's only the last few years we have been able to afford two a year. I am starting to earn soon too so hoping to up the number to three abroad a year. DH and I have different priorities with money though so we will see.

Our Dcs are still quite young so we are waiting to do longer haul holidays with more activities until they are older so they can do more of the activities and are able to do island hopping etc minus the moaning.

@shivawn

Depends on what you're in to really, we love to travel and really prioritise it so we'd normally do 3 big holidays a year. Usually one safari holiday in Africa and two tropical holidays in Asia but we always choose different countries. We'd do the occasional trip to USA or carribean too. Never go anywhere cold and never really go to Europe. Id say we spend about 2k per holiday which is a lot but probably not as much as people would expect.

Our last trip was to Mauritius in early March last year, I'm hoping we get to go away to Maldives in January 21 but we'll follow guidance. So best case scenario it'll be almost 2 years without a holiday which is fine but would be nice to start up again.

Please tell me how you go to Asia and SA and long haul for 2K? I would those holidays would be coming up to 10k.

Several of my friends go away (mostly abroad, usually 1 or 2 weeks) every school holidays.
They must have saved an absolute fortune!

@shivawn how are you doing a long haul African safari for £2k - is there just one of you?