To not understand why people go abroad on holiday in the summer?

[Dogscanteatonions]

My social media is full of people on holiday abroad at the moment. It's glorious here and I've got a few days off work so I've just been for a walk round my village and will spend the afternoon in the garden reading in the sun with a couple of glasses of something.

Britain is lovely in the summer - I'd far rather go abroad later or earlier in the year when the weather is not so good here and make the most of the weather here while we have it.

I've never really understood the desire to go abroad while it's nice here. Anyone else with me?

How interesting that the OP only posted once and then fucked off. Why do people do this? And it's always when it's goady content too. Enjoying your work @Dogscanteatonions ??? I'm out. I fucking hate it when people post a thread and then just leave it.

@Othersideoftheagean but it is not guaranteed at its best , we have maybe 4-5 days this week then it changes
There is no guarantee in uk that we will have warm dry weather even in the summer as there is in many places abroad
Plus obviously 6 weeks school hols plays a huge part

Yes me too.

That sounds so lush! Wish that’s what I was doing right now!

Always amazes me on mumsnet that people are so utterly bewildered by any person who might have different wants or needs and do things differently than themselves. You see it constantly. ‘I just don’t GET why people watch reality TV… I just can’t UNDERSTAND why anyone would eat McDonald’s… my little brain just can not conceptualise why anyone would ever ever pay for a haircut…’

Well everyone is different. I don’t play tennis but I’m not so stupid that I can’t possibly wrap my head around why others love playing tennis.

@Simonjt

barbados and Grenada are way safer than the Uk I’ve found

OP isn’t saying why bother going abroad at all. Loads of people constantly moan about the weather in the UK and then disappear abroad when UK weather is at its best. It makes no sense!
if you book two weeks off in the summer holidays when the kids are off you can’t guarantee that those two weeks are going to be glorious sunshine. Where as a lot of popular holiday destinations you can.
Earlier in the year other countries may be warm but often they are out of season, which may be ok if you like doing certain activities but not so great if you have two or three youngsters with you.

I’ve often personally just wondered if it’s done on purpose. Like by someone behind the scenes to keep up interest/get lots of people posting. As you say, it’s always goady posts that are certain to bring in plenty of posts.

@19Bears what like last years uk summer ? Pretty non exsistent
Also the school hols are july/ august so pretty obvious thats why most go away then

Well we have a couple of days or so of nice weather this week but it's back to 16c and rain on Saturday here.

And this week is no good to me. I have to go away in school holidays not in June.

My U.K. based summer holidays last year (chose to stay in the U.K. due to covid) cost a fortunate and the weather was very variable, no really hot days. Traffic was horrendous. Hotels were over priced.

I can try but I expect it’ll be like trying to explain why my favourite colour is purple or why I don’t like football - it’ll boil down to personal preference.

Firstly, I don’t like the heat. At all. Secondly there’s a certain scenery I really enjoy - ancient forests, craggy mountains, choppy seas with moody skies. I’m a huge fantasy fan and I like scenes that are Tolkienesque for lack of a better phrase. Then you get to what I like to do - hiking, seeing sites of historical interest, ancient monuments, foraging, painting landscapes…glass seas, palms and white beaches with cocktails, with an emphasis on things like snorkelling just isn’t fun for me. I get it might be for you but I don’t like that

I live in a town on the edge of a beautiful, popular, coastal tourist area in the UK. I get to enjoy it during term time weekends. Even those of us who do live in nice areas like to get away.

What about the people (like me) who were subjected to camping and caravanning holidays in the UK in their childhood and who hated every second the drudgery of it, the being cooped up in a tiny space while the rain battered off the roof, being forced into wellies and waterproofs for a bracing walk "because it's fun", the cooking on a shitty kitchen, chemical loos etc etc etc.

Although you are criticising people who don't consider a UK self-catering holiday a proper break, you are every bit as bad wittering on about your "genuinely fun" camping playing board games.

Any holiday accommodation has to be at least as good, or better, than my own house. I would rather pull my own fingernails out than go camping.

I’ve often personally just wondered if it’s done on purpose. Like by someone behind the scenes to keep up interest/get lots of people posting. As you say, it’s always goady posts that are certain to bring in plenty of posts
I posted more or less the same comment years ago, probably near 10 years, I think.
I agree with you.
Usually I don’t mind them because it is interesting to see peoples different perspectives on a subject. However I then think some of the people responding are taking the piss anyway! ( take your wellies and waterproofs for your best summer holiday, you don’t need the sun, it’s only rain! Ok, I’m exaggerating,)

Invariably to be stressed out in a hot airport with ten thousand other stressed people. Why??!

We don’t! We go to one of the top ten destinations in Europe for DH’s hobby, and Spring or Autumn are the best times. We have just got back from 2 weeks there! The plane leaves at 6 am, so the UK airport is not mega busy - we check in online in advance, have business lounge access and pay for Fast Track security! It’s bliss!

The weather at the destination was 28 - 32 degrees, with sunshine all our waking hours! Its not developed or aimed at mass tourism. To us, it’s like going back to the 1950s! The people are laid back and friendly! They remember us, year to year! One plane lands at their airport; the people go through arrivals, meanwhile another plane load are going through departures to get on! There has only ever been one plane at a time, at their airport. It’s not a stressful experience, seeing as they are all so laidback!

@ForestFae your claiming others are snobby but your putting peoples choices down to, abroad holidays don't have to be fancy hotels
There are air b&b as well
My kids are outdoor kids so are very much looking forward to scuba diving , surfing , swimming etc on our holiday abroad
They don't have to all be sitting on the beach
But then again if thats what someone likes then thats what makes a holiday for them

@DogInATent

Oh of course! I actually live in a holiday town but we also love to go on holiday. Just because you live somewhere nice doesn’t mean you want to be there constantly. I was just making the point that it’s short sighted and self absorbed to say stupid things like ‘why can’t people just enjoy walking in the woods and lying in their garden when it’s warm.’

@ForestFae but for some of us a camping holiday wouldn't be fun? For me its my worst nightmare
I know loads that love it and thats fine but I wouldn't go camping if someone paid me

That’s fine, it’s the comments that people who enjoy it are martyrs or miserable that are inaccurate and unfair.

I live in a popular touristy area in the UK and am sorry to report that the weather is not "glorious" here at the moment. Well, actually it's quite nice at this specific moment in time (sunny, 18c but a bit windy)but it's forecast to cloud over by evening and by weekend we're looking at cloudy, max temps of about 15c and possibly some rain. Which is a lot better than we've had in recent weeks (I've still had the central heating on quite a bit) but there's certainly no sign of any heatwave. There's a reason why it's so green round here. It's beautiful, and there is a lot to recommend the place, but the weather isn't generally one of them.
That's why people go abroad in Summer. Yes, if you get lucky then a British holiday can be absolutely brilliant, but the weather is often poor. If, like many people, you can only have one holiday a year then it's not unreasonable to opt for somewhere where you can virtually guarantee the weather will be good. I am not a sunworshipper by any means and am actually really looking forward to not being tied to school holidays so that I can go to hot countries when it's cooler, but my DH only gets 4 weeks annual leave per year so we only tend to get one family week away in the Summer. Traditionally we've gone somewhere hot for that week because we want somewhere where we know it will be good weather - we spend a lot of time looking at beautiful scenery in terrible weather normally, so we don't want to risk more of the same on our one week's holiday.
That said, we've opted for several long weekends in the UK rather than a week abroad this year as we don't want to spend a sizeable chunk of our holiday in airport queues or risk cancellation either. We might splash out on somewhere warm in October half term if things have improved by then - I am missing the sun more than I thought I would, and we've not been abroad since 2019.

There are seven continents in this amazingly beautiful and diverse world and to confine myself to a tiny island is ludicrous.

That's quite aside from the abject awfulness that this miserable country has signed itself up for with this unremittingly bad govt and the polarisation caused it has caused. I'm ashamed to be British for possibly the first time in my life. Forgive me if I want a bit of escapism.

Firstly, I don’t like the heat. At all. Secondly there’s a certain scenery I really enjoy - ancient forests, craggy mountains, choppy seas with moody skies. I’m a huge fantasy fan and I like scenes that are Tolkienesque for lack of a better phrase. Then you get to what I like to do - hiking, seeing sites of historical interest, ancient monuments, foraging, painting landscapes…glass seas, palms and white beaches with cocktails, with an emphasis on things like snorkelling just isn’t fun for me. I get it might be for you but I don’t like that

I don’t doubt that you like all those things. However there are loads of countries that offer exactly what you like eg , Albania, Poland, Norway, Germany, Estonia, Romania.Moldova. All fabulous places with really cool , interesting places. I’ve been to them all in summer and spent a fraction of a typical UK holiday AND villa nd beach holidays
I’m not trying to change your mind, just saying it’s good not to have a closed one

Am sure those living in flats/apartments etc in the middle of the city will be happy to come and join you in your garden and share your 'glass of something' 🙄
And because culture, diversity, history, more or less guaranteed decent weather etc etc as per lots of other pp

Just packing for a week in Cornwall. If I was going abroad to a country where I knew it was going to be continuous sun it would be one carry on bag.
But here, oh no. Summer and winter wardrobe has to be packed, just in case 😱

Yep. There’s certain topics they basically know will encourage lots of posters because it’s clearly taking a dig at people. So I’ve always thought someone on mumsnet posts them to whip up lots of interest/posts. And then doesn’t bother replying. Because nobody who is developmentally capable of posting on a website would be so lacking in comprehension that they can’t possibly figure out why people go away from Britain on holiday.