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?

But again it’s just pretty obvious isn’t it? Most people with kids need to take their annual leave during the long summer holiday to cover childcare. It makes sense to go abroad when the kids are off school. The only other good chunk of time my kids get off is Christmas. We don’t tend to go away then because for many people in Britain Christmas is a big cultural event spent with family and doing various different events, and generally costs a lot of money. So most people won’t go away then. It really doesn’t take a lot of working out.

Also in a lot of typical holiday places it will be out of season during those unpopular times. So there are less activities to choose from than if you go in the summer.

it cost under £1400 for 4 for a week in Menorca in June, I'm not likely to get similar somewhere that will be nice and warm in November or whatever am I? No guaranteed sun where I am so it's a no brainer given that the cheapest suitable cottage I could get for the same week was £1700 and I still had petrol etc on top and to pay for meals and activities since it would no doubt be cold and rainy here - which it was.

I agree notacooldad I’d say that in the Southern Med area you are pretty much guaranteed sun from May to September. Of course there’s the odd exception but hardly. More risk of a heatwave than cold grey days.

There’s a reason the Brits famously talk about the weather so much, it’s because ours is so unpredictable compared with other countries!

I get what you are saying op, I had friends who always went abroad in winter for this precise reason.
One of the problems I have is my neighbours. They don’t stfu. If I stay at home for a week during reasonable weather then I can hear them shouting and screaming every day outside.
Unfortunately the only option we have is to go out.

In my case because I can only take 3 weeks off in total during school holidays / year and the only time I can take 2 weeks together is in the summer break which has to be organised at least 12 months in advance. Once kids are out of school holidays it will be much more flexible!

To me the UK is not a proper holiday. Last year we went to Devon as I didn't want to risk a foreign holiday cancellation due to Covid. We had a nice time and it was better than not going away, but weather was a mix of OK and absolutely shit, it was more expensive than going abroad and took us 8 hours to drive home in the traffic. Sea was too cold for me to swim, although the kids and DH braved it, no swimming pool only hearing British accents, same shops as hometown etc. Not for me.

I’ve just looked at a one bed mobile home on a site in Cornwall for £1200. Add petrol and eating out etc thats £2k for 7 days. Last year we had storms and rain most days for our summer holiday. Infact one week we packed up the tent and came home as a storm was arriving. That’s not fun.

I can get all inclusive in Spain for less than that.

@Kanaloa well no that’s what you choose to do. I choose to take my family in October, February and Easter abroad because of the reasons I’ve stated. It’s fine that people have other ideas, my point of view is that it’s counter intuitive for the reasons I’ve stated.

I am confused why people keep mentioning UK holidays though because that’s not what the OP was about at all. It was about staying home in the summer and going on holiday abroad at other times.

It still doesn’t take someone super intelligent to think that there might be an obvious reason why people go away in the longest of all the holidays. OP understand perfectly why people go abroad in the summer - it would be hard not to.

YANBU - weird to go abroad at this time of year.

It's true that people with school-aged kids need to go in the summer, but weather is not guaranteed these days, thanks to climate change. We went to France in August (quite far south) and it pissed down all week.

I have neighbours, a wealthy retired couple, who travel a lot. She was moaning about her trip to Greece one summer, how unbearably hot it was, how harsh the light was on the white houses, and how arid and rocky the countryside. It didn't seem to have occurred to her that maybe she should holiday in the lovely green UK instead - it doesn't have the brag value, does it?

If you have kids the summer holidays are a long stretch if you just stay at home.

I don’t consider going away in the UK a holiday really.

I am going to a cottage in Norfolk for a week, but I don’t really consider it a holiday because it’s somewhere I could drive to in a couple of hours.

Some posters have suggested staying in England because they can visit beaches or national trust places. But I can do that at a weekend.

A holiday, to me, is only a holiday if I’m abroad. If I can drive home it’s not a holiday.

BTW I’m aware of my privilege. I was never taken abroad as a child.

Why is it weird? It’s when plenty of people can take holiday.

😕

What? People aren’t going to Greece to brag. They just want a change from the ‘lovely green UK’ or don’t fancy sitting in a tent in the pissing rain.

@SusieSimpleman, I've just had a quick look on loveholidays and found about a dozen holidays to warmer countries , inc Spain, for 5 nights in August for 5ppl for under £1000 self catering, but inc flights, so it can be done.

@Kanaloa i don’t think those reason are obvious though as I’ve said I think it’s counter intuitive. It’s fine if that’s what other people want like I’ve said I’m not really sure why you’re taking it personally? As I said in my first post, different strokes for different folks. What works for one doesn’t work for another.

I’m allowed to have an opposing view point to you without you questioning my intelligence thanks. I agree with the OP, you don’t, that’s fine.

Why?

So having a Jordanian sister-in-law is the same experience as exploring Petra?

Because you can't guarantee the weather. I've suffered too many UK holidays in the rain.

Is that August by any chance?

UK weather is unpredictable, holidays need to be booked in advance. Also, most of us have avoided travel for the past 3 years and want something different.

No, but the argument that you need to go abroad to learn about other cultures is absurd. It’s one way of doing it, it’s not the only one.