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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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

647 replies

Dogscanteatonions · 15/06/2022 09:54

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?

OP posts:
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ShirleyPhallus · 15/06/2022 10:49

SusieSimpleman · 15/06/2022 10:41

it's expensive to do a holiday in the UK far cheaper to go abroad you can go somewhere

It's really not 'far cheaper' to go abroad.

I've just booked 7 nights in Cornwall for a family of 5 mid August, for £730. Self catering air bnb place, absolutely beautiful place with top reviews. Petrol probably £200 on top.

I'd challenge you to find me 7 nights in Spain this August for 5 people, including all travel costs, for £930...or anywhere close to it!

I’d love to see some of the links to places like this and the Yorkshire one that a PP said would cost a few hundred quid for a family of 4 (can’t remember exactly)

I suspect that peoples standards are different tbh. I don’t believe that some of the bargains on here are quite as nice as people are saying!

DogInATent · 15/06/2022 10:49
  1. Holidaying in the UK in peak season is very expensive.
  2. We're restricted to peak times due to term time work commitments, but we will use the spring/autumn breaks for UK trips.
  3. We'd like to get away from home/work and traffic in the UK in summer is dire.
  4. The UK has very poor and expensive provision for motorhomes/campervans. It is cheaper to take the Tunnel (even with a £250 AHC for the dog) for 4 weeks in the summer.
  5. We like to experience different cultures and languages.
  6. We can swing-by the in-laws on the way back.
  7. We like to go somewhere with fewer Brits/Brit attitude.
LuckySantangelo35 · 15/06/2022 10:51

ShirleyPhallus · 15/06/2022 10:00

It’s nice right now but England is hardly renowned for its consistently good weather

People want escapism, culture, food, scenery, weather, warm pools, experience different language, sightseeing etc etc etc

Is that really difficult for you to understand….?!

THIS!

Thefoxsays · 15/06/2022 10:52

Because I have limited annual leave & want to get away from my

luckylavender · 15/06/2022 10:53

Dogscanteatonions · 15/06/2022 09:54

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?

It we were all the same it would be a funny old world. That's what my Granny used to say.

Chouah · 15/06/2022 10:53

Username917778 · 15/06/2022 10:47

You said Britain but maybe you meant England?

Certainly not getting those temperatures in the Highlands.

Agree with this.

I'm on holiday abroad right now, lovely sunshine, able to eat outside etc.

Apart from a few random days at home, it's just not possible to be guaranteed weather during my 2 weeks annual leave (I'm from Scotland also). Also, UK prices are ridiculous.

MistyFuckingQuigley · 15/06/2022 10:54

Dogscanteatonions · 15/06/2022 09:54

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?

You do you but a walk around the village and a sit in the garden just isn't going to cut it for me 🤷‍♀️ also the weather isn't guaranteed here which I'm sure you're aware of.

Janey3090 · 15/06/2022 10:54

Totally agree Britain is absolutely gorgeous in the lovely weather, so if that was guaranteed then people wouldn't need to go abroad as much. BUT it's so unpredictable and also it's likely this particular weather won't last long.

I remember a particular holiday as a child when I was about 9 at Haven holidays in July where it rained the whole two weeks! We literally didn't see the sun once and it was miserable! My parents vowed to take us abroad the following year (it didn't cost much more), so we went to Majorca and saw only sunshine.

ForestFae · 15/06/2022 10:54

Where are people going in the UK that is more expensive than abroad?!

Thefoxsays · 15/06/2022 10:55

Sorry I posted that prematurely, I want to get away from my house & in my limited annual leave I want to know I can enjoy some sunshine! It's also expensive to holiday in the UK. Like a PP I live in Scotland so we have 4 seasons in a day sometimes! I think it's good for tourism that people still want to travel.

SecretVictoria · 15/06/2022 10:58

Is that you, dad? He is the same, I remember years ago I’d got back from my friends kid’s birthday party in the second week of July, they were about 4 I think. I mentioned that the family were going to Greece the following week. He said “What the bloody hell for? What’s wrong with here?”

My mum and I gaped at him in astonishment and invited him to look out the window at the torrential rain that had been falling for the whole day and had, in fact, caused flooding so bad that the main set of traffic lights through our suburb had failed and caused gridlock meaning it took me over 2 hours to drive one mile. I would’ve walked but the rain was so bad that both me and the presents would’ve been ruined.

UK weather is rubbish, we get the occasional nice week but more often than not it’s grey, cold and windy with rain.

brookstar · 15/06/2022 10:58

It's a bit of a daft question really as it's pretty obvious......

  • The weather. Yes, it's nice this week but have you seen the weather for next week? Lots of rain forecast where I live.
  • It's often cheaper than going away somewhere in the UK
  • People with children are restricted to school holidays
  • People like to see/experience different cultures.
The UK is a lovely place to have a holiday but sometimes you want to see something different and you want nice weather!
MistyFuckingQuigley · 15/06/2022 10:58

ShirleyPhallus · 15/06/2022 10:15

I’d love to hear where you’re going. I can’t imagine it’s a 5* resort for that price.

i agree that holidays abroad are cheaper like for like than UK

It'll be butlins or haven 🤮

MistyFuckingQuigley · 15/06/2022 11:00

And if I never set foot in cornwall again it'll be too soon.

Wisenotboring · 15/06/2022 11:01

Guaranteed hot weather.
Warm, clean sea to swim in.
Cultural experiences.
A different pace of life.
Different food.
Different languages.
Visiting particular locations/attractions of interest.
Once there, ability to spend much less money.
Relax when away from home, dishwasher, washing machine etc.
So many reasons. I love the UK, but I have varied interests and want to experience lots of places, not just my home country.

MoveAlongNow · 15/06/2022 11:01

Hahahahahhahahahha. Come to Wales and then tell me all about the guaranteed good weather 'we all' get in Britain in the summer!!

Wishimaywishimight · 15/06/2022 11:01

I can go for a walk in my local area or sit in the garden with a glass of wine and a book at any time but I really need / like a proper change of scenery and some proper hot sun. Not that hard to understand I wouldn't have thought.

Wykid · 15/06/2022 11:02

My summer holiday last august was highs of 18 degrees and rain. We went to Weymouth which is beautiful but we definitely would have had nicer weather abroad and it would probably have been cheaper too

brookstar · 15/06/2022 11:03

Where are people going in the UK that is more expensive than abroad?!
During school holidays you will find places like Devon, Cornwall etc are very expensive and it's certainly cheaper to go abroad for a holiday of similar or better quality.

LuckySantangelo35 · 15/06/2022 11:03

ForestFae · 15/06/2022 10:07

I know what you mean. I remember having a chat with a bloke who loved all inclusive in Egypt and said “you don’t have to leave the hotel it’s great!” and I said what’s the point of flying all the way around the world and never leaving the hotel.

even then, I prefer UK holidays. The UK is a beautiful country, full of history, folklore and wonderful nature. I don’t go abroad.

@ForestFae

You cannot really be someone who appreciates culture, history and “folklore” if you never bother to leave the country to experience these things elsewhere

Ahgoonyegirlye · 15/06/2022 11:03

With kids, going away is limited to school holidays - half of which are in the summer months. The other holidays from school are mainly a Easter and Christmas which are eye wateringly expensive times to go anywhere.

we have had U.K. breaks and it’s often MUCH cheaper, again with kids, to just go to France or Spain and experience somewhere new and a different culture than to do the same thing the U.K.

Stroopwaffels · 15/06/2022 11:03

britain is lovely in the summer

It CAN be. We have had some lovely UK summer holidays with lovely weather.

We have also had some really crappy holidays with wet, cold, windy and miserable weather. Going overseas gives you the guarantee of a bit of sun.

myuterusistryingtokillme · 15/06/2022 11:04

Because I'm at home all the time, I want to be somewhere different seeing and doing different things.

I'm personally not a big fan of UK holidays as they are super expensive when you factor in going out to eat etc (and to me self catering isn't really a holiday, it's just same shit, different place), and the weather is just so unpredictable.

I also don't think staying at home is a holiday really, as you just end up doing all the jobs you don't have time for.

We normally go away in May/October but the bank holidays etc meant that timings didn't work this year

SecretVictoria · 15/06/2022 11:05

@ForestFae Its not necessarily the accommodation but the extra you have to spend on entertainment if the weather is crap. I used to live by the coast in Kent, my brother came to stay for a week in August; there was on morning when it was warm enough to go to the beach and TBH it wasn’t really warm enough but my DN begged us to go. The rest of the time we had to spend money going to soft play etc as the weather was awful.

riesenrad · 15/06/2022 11:06

Scianel · 15/06/2022 10:06

Because I like guaranteed heat and Mediterranean scenery. Because every actually nice bit of the UK turns into a traffic jam in decent weather.

And if more people took their holidays in the UK, there would be even more traffic jams, as we found in 2020!

I think a lot the responses on here are unduly aggressive. I think there are lovely places to go on holiday in the UK, although I wouldn't choose August as it's too busy and the weather IS too unpredictable. If you live in Scotland and have school-aged kids you can go in early July, which is usually much better.