Anyone else find U.K. holidays hard work and exhausting?

[Swimminglesson7]

With young(ish) children, I find U.K. breaks a big effort. Glamping in cold, rainy woodlands, staying in a holiday cottage and driving to a heaving beach daily…

Having to pack for every weather eventuality: sandals and factor 50, jumpers and wellies.

Am I alone in finding U.K. holidays to be not-quite-holidays?! The kids are having a blast. But I’m sick of lugging picnics and bodyboards and water bottles from one spot to another, then cooking and cleaning endless meals in a cottage or glamping site. I feel like I’m almost entirely servicing their fun.

(Meant to be lighthearted!)

All these people for whom holidays abroad are so easy. I find all holidays epically hard work but rather a holiday than stuck home in the same surroundings still in easy reach of WiFi and work laptop. I go away to force myself to take a break from work.

I get resentful on overseas holidays that I'm not getting a good break. You can't lounge about all day. Have to entertain the dc. I look longingly at the people chilling out as I organise clothes, food, water bottles, suncream. Still got to shop and cook abroad which I do enjoy but it's work (the trade off to that is getting my own space and pool, really not a fan of shared hotel pool or those family hotel room where you and the dc are compartmentalised. )

I love food and culture abroad but in the UK I go out to eat in lovely restaurants too and I don't think "abroad" is cheaper (shudders at memory of Cyprus, or the cost of a macdonalds at bodrum airport). I definitely save money holidaying in the UK. We only go for a week not the 10 days I need to make the flight and packing worthwhile. No car hire. No flight cost. Accommodation is cheaper abroad but I spent a grand on a week's accommodation in Norfolk/ Cornwall compared to £3k before food but including flights and car hire going to apartment with shared pool in Italy for 10 days. I know I'd rather go to Italy but UK is a big saving and I can't face travel with covid restrictions its a big cost to have it ruined with quarantine.

Plus yes you have to take everything but you can and you don't have to stick to weighed cases.

A holiday's not a holiday unless I've jumped on a plane to get there.

Omg tell me about it, I cannot stand the 6 weeks summer holidays it’s absolute torture.😱
My daughter is 11 and a only child( enough said) 🙃
I’ve booked her on a dance/drama course next week, she goes everyday from 9.30 to 5 pm ( Monday to Friday ).
I can’t wait .lol

We were meant to be in the Belearics for the next two weeks with our 2 year old but have moved it to next year because of the ever changing travel advice. We went to Greece last year and it was great - two suitcases full of summer clothes and endless days around the pool or at the beach. Was very relaxing even with a toddler.

We’re currently in the car in the pouring rain on our way to the south west where we’ll be camping instead. We’re seasoned campers and usually go in May half term where if the weather is crap we don’t mind as we have a summer holiday to look forward to. Our car is packed to the rafters with stuff for all eventualities. We have an itinerary as we’ve had to pre-book trips and places to eat. And it’s going to rain all week.

It’ll be nice as working patterns mean we’re rarely do things as a family and DP misses out on taking DD to things. I’d rather have been in the Belearics though!

YANBU.

We're on one now, weather has been hit and miss.

Everywhere busy because of the summer holidays which is to be expected but still annoying.

I have fond memories of UK holidays growing up and would like my DC to have the same. But I am so looking forward to being in my own bed tonight.

3 kids bickering constantly in a caravan has driven me insane.

Yes! We are off to Devon tonight and will fill the car with clothing to suit hot, cold and rain. Beach activities, wellies and toys to keep them occupied when it rains all week.

If we were going to abroad - plane restricted luggage and only hot weather clothes which are so easy to pack!

I'm not a fan of very hot weather but to be honest holidays with kids anywhere are hard work. And we must have struck lucky with the weather because all I can recall of UK beach holidays when mine were little is loads of sunshine and sand everywhere.

Your post made me chuckle, just got home from a week's holiday at my uncle's flat in Weymouth, I am literally bone tired! Bonus it was free but I spent 6 hours making the flat spotless yesterday. And the weather was awfully unpredictable - windy, cool, showery.

However I have said yanbu as I love holidays in the UK despite the work! Just the convenience of not travelling .

Well, if you choose to self-cater then it's always going to be more work than staying in a hotel, whether you're in Spain or England.

We holiday in the UK every year so we can take the dog with us, but I don't cook anything - we go out for meals and breakfast is things like pain au chocolat or we go out to a nice café instead.

Meals are out, or we have takeaway in the evenings and sit in the garden with some wine or curl up in front of the TV.

But if you go and insist on making toast every morning and cooking spaghetti bolognese from scratch for dinner then of course it'll be a bit shit

Poor weather doesn't bother me but I work outdoors in it daily so I just wear waterproofs or layers and get on with it.

We had a fab week in Cornwall during the heatwave, and we were in a really fab cottage plus I had pre booked all our restaurants. So great week with no hassle. But if it had rained …

You can’t beat a big Spanish all inclusive hotel!

Can anyone suggest UK holidays where single parents go - not liking for a partner but want some where the kids will meet lots of other kids. I have anxiety so nowhere boozy or loud! Thank you 🙏

No I never feel like that because if we do hire a cottage self catering we eat out almost every night. Packing for all weather eventuality doesn’t really bother me.

when my kids were little we often went to a house with a pool in southern France. Lovely place.

But it wasn't a holiday for me.
no lie in
still cooking for many days
kids constantly wanting someone in the water to play with (especially until confident swimmers)
being the organiser for eveything,

So I am not sure it is UK holiday, more holidays with small kids.
But we could never afford a hotel holiday so I was alwyas cooking

But we enjoyed it beacuse we were away together as a family, had fun, went and saw lots of things etc etc.

It just wasn't relaxing.

Eventually dh and I worked out how to do it better.
Took turns with lie ins
Took turnswith cooking
Took turns being the adult playing in the pool.

Improved a lot!

Not at all as we don't self cater as a family the exception being self catering with a big group of friends and their children in the upcoming weeks, this may be hard work as my children are quite a bit beyond the toddler years. I think it will be fine though as it is a big house, no camping and we are mainly eating out.

The reality is it is too hot to go to the Mediterranean for me and I found that stifling. Flying to package holidays pre covid was a massive contributor to the environmental disaster we are facing so it is no longer for me as we are at point of no return, is the temperature rise going to be hell on earth by the end of the century or just unbearable, if you have children what do you want their life to look like in this scenario and what are you going to do about it right now.

When we self cater in a holiday cottage or tent or glamming we eat out, get takeaways, ready meals. No way am I cooking full meals on holiday!

I've just come back from two weeks in our tent in Wales.

It was amazing and so relaxing while we were there. The worse bit is the packing up to go home and then the packing it all away once you get home. But it was so worth it.

I'm now back at home in my lovely comfortable house but I'm missing the simplicity of my lovely tent and life on the campsite. It's making me realise that things that make me stressed and anxious at home just seem to disappear once I'm camped in a field.

My kids are 13 and 15 so obviously easy to be on holiday with.

We are also due to go on a trip to Greece in a week and a half's time ( rebooked from May when we had to cancel due to quarantine requirements) I'm stressed beyond believe about all the testing and possible things that could go wrong and wish we weren't going.Would happily just take the tent away for another week instead!

With any child under about 9 we eventually worked out the only way to get a 'holiday' was the following under 6 and the whole thing is fairly pointless but you can follow the same formula
Firstly in the early years encourage a love of reading and tech them how to swim. Prey they become avid readers (helps if you minimise screen time and allow them to be bored).
Go somewhere hot with a pool and beach in walking distance.
Buy zoggies and a kindle.
Alternative adult is on duty (other adult lounges by pool/beach, reads or potters around small town). Adult 'on duty' chuck's zoggies for swimming game (eventually if you have two they will play together in pool). Kindles are for cocktail hour pre dinner and a child friendly board game/film limited screen time...
Two summers ago with a 9 and 12 yr old we had the best holiday....They were swimming, jumping in the sea, snorkeling playing in pool and even reading on sun loungers (in shade obv).etc ... This year will be wet weekend in Cornwall (thank you Covid and a job that means I can't risk isolation)

YADNBU. Just back from Cornwall, go most years as we family / a home down there. This year it is literally rammed. Holiday needs to be conducted like a military operation to bag a place at favourite restaurant or attraction. Parking was near impossible even at our local supermarket. Trains in and out of St.Ives were packed. The weather was so changeable that beach days ended by 2pm or didn’t start until the evening.
And I’ve come home and tested positive for Covid 19 so now isolating for 10 days. We have cancelled our next trip back down there at the end of the month as I appreciate by going ourselves we are part of the problem.

Camping and self-catering are a different sort of holiday to your standard fly 'n' flop. I don't think it matters whether it's UK or elsewhere.

Especially with kids. My parents took us camping once in France and said 'never again' after four days.

My idea of a holiday is a break from the norm. Someone else cooks and cleans whilst I prostrate myself somewhere reading a Jilly Cooper, that's the break as far as I'm concerned.

It sounds like you don't enjoy self catering, organising things and packing bags.
Maybe something like Butlins or Centre Parks would suit you better.

@Feelingoktoday agreed! We keep things simple. Pub meals or fish and chips on the beach. If we do cook it will be a BBQ and salad followed by toasted marshmallows for the kids. We went to a cottage in Cornwall last October and had either nice M&S ready meals or ate in the local pub. We even managed a BBQ one day.

We hire a mobile home that sits on the edge of the beach. The kids would play on the beach (not in the sea) all day. Kites, batcand ball etc irrespective of the weather. But they still wear shorts and trainers and a waterproof top if it rains. We get takeaways, ready meals or eat out. Breakfast is pain au chocolate from the site shop, fresh fruit and natural yoghurt.

You make it as easy or as difficult as you want. No way would I be making a lasagna or roast dinner in a holiday home. I’m on holiday too.

I love a UK holiday but we generally try and get to quieter places in Scotland and take all our own sports equipment - bikes, bodyboards, paddle boards, snorkelling gear. It means activity cost is kept low. Packing is fairly straightforward - it’s not cold in summer so shorts are always better whether it’s sunny or raining as legs dry quicker! Add a couple of hoodies for cooler days, a waterproof jacket and a soft shell and you’re sorted.

We have a picnic for lunch or eat out but prefer self catering for dinner - it’s more relaxing with children than having them get impatient in a restaurant.

The thing is this is the absolute worst year to dip your toe into UK holidays. All of the holiday places are rammed, traffic is a nightmare and restaurants are booked up ( and all have put their prices up). Plus the weather is much shitter than last year.

I'm wondering how a metric fuckton (of supermarket food) differs from an imperial fuckton ...