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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think a UK holiday is still a proper holiday?

259 replies

Driedpotatochip · 30/10/2022 10:43

I’m going to Argentina next week and a friend commented that it’s been ages since I had a proper holiday post covid.

I’ve managed to do long weekends away and a week away twice in the UK and also went to Spain for a long weekend from 2020 to now.

True I haven’t been to a destination that’s really far away since 2019 but I feel like i still had proper holidays. Aibu or does what I did not count as a holiday?

OP posts:

2pinkginsplease · 30/10/2022 11:39

I’ve had some amazing holiday in the Uk as have my children however we have also had some great holidays abroad too.

holiday snobs are such bores, my dd’s uni friend complains she is terrified of flying but , and I quote, a holiday isn’t a holiday unless you go on a plane. Oh and did she forget to mention she has been on a plane 22 times this year as daddy has paid for her holidays. Not that scared. Also you can get a plane from Glasgow to London or Glasgow to some of these tiny islands off the Scottish coast, I take it that’s not a holiday either!

Hugasauras · 30/10/2022 11:39

Of course it's a holiday for you. I grew up going abroad at least once every year and had a very privileged upbringing in terms of travelling, but a week in Devon was as much a holiday to me then as a week in France and still is!

I also don't think it's even a 'snob' thing (always said with a faux sense of being abashed when it's a humble brag) as there's nothing intrinsically more fancy or 'posh' about a holiday abroad than at home. There are plenty of places abroad that I wouldn't class as a holiday either simply because I have no desire to go!

Arayes · 30/10/2022 11:40

SwordToFlamethrower · 30/10/2022 11:38

Of course a UK holiday is a holiday... there are countless incredible places to visit in the UK, stunning, beautiful, historic... I wish people weren't such snobs

It's got nothing to do with being a snob! It's just that for many people, a proper holiday is to go somewhere different.
It's pretty snobby to look down on them, actually.

Hugasauras · 30/10/2022 11:41

(And actually holidays abroad can be even cheaper than at home so it's not even a wealth signifier in a lot of cases).

CornishGem1975 · 30/10/2022 11:41

A holiday is anything that takes me away from my usual routine for a week. In recent years that's been in the UK and I'm okay with that as we have a beautiful country. I still get to visit new places and try new things.

UK holidays aren't cheap either, they're still a massive luxury for a lot of people so to say they're not a 'proper' hobby is horribly snobbish. People need to read the room.

rainbowandglitter · 30/10/2022 11:42

A holiday to me is a holiday abroad. We've had time away in the UK but I didn't say we were going on holiday.

CornishGem1975 · 30/10/2022 11:43

If that is the case @Arayes there are plenty of different places to go in the UK. I'm sure most of these people haven't explored every inch of it.

I had friends who went on several trips abroad every year and looked down on UK holidays, their kids were teens and had never even seen the UK coastline.

You can explore plenty of different places here - for instance I've only ever been to one place in Scotland and I'm sure there's tons to see, and learn, and try. I've seen more of Italy than I have Scotland - why wouldn't that be a holiday?

AnApparitionQuipped · 30/10/2022 11:43

Croque · 30/10/2022 11:36

It is too me but a lot of the UK is not geared towards catering for the holiday minded all year round. It stops around October and resumes the following April/May. Therefore, you can probably find a place to stay there but it will take away from the 'holiday' experience.

It does depend what you class as a holiday experience. You can't lie on a beach and sunbathe all year round in the UK, but you can walk/explore/climb/sail/eat and generally do things you wouldn't normally do.

Petronus · 30/10/2022 11:43

ClocksGoingBackwards · 30/10/2022 10:47

It’s all about your individual perspective. You may well feel like you’ve had a proper holiday from doing trips in this country. Lucky you! Personally I don’t feel like I’ve had a proper holiday unless I’ve left the British Isles.

This is such a privileged position to hold though.

LynneBenfield · 30/10/2022 11:44

Croque · 30/10/2022 11:36

It depends on the type of holiday you are doing and where you are going. I agree with your sentiment if you are going to the classic seaside type destinations which tend to mostly close down to tourists out of season. However, we do walking holidays in the UK with our dog out of season and places are open, areas popular with walkers, cyclists, climbers etc tend to popular all year round and so local pubs, cafes, restaurants etc tend to be open much of the year too.

MovingOnUpp · 30/10/2022 11:47

I think the Uk is a proper holiday, I had an amazing holiday in England after the first lockdown. Each morning we had breakfast, things like Eggs Benedict on the hotel terrace with sea views, then went on boat trips, a visit to some caves, paddle boarding etc etc during the day. In the evenings we had lovely three course meals and cocktails. I really can’t see how this isn’t a holiday.

Bbq1 · 30/10/2022 11:48

Lemons1571 · 30/10/2022 10:51

Well there are holidays and then there are Holidays!

My friend doesn’t leave the uk and considers a week in Cornwall in November to be a proper holiday.

I need to be somewhere outside of the uk, preferably sunny, to really feel like I’ve actually had a holiday. Probably because I’m having a break from laundry cleaning rain and food planning.

We had mostky UK hols as a child and all UK since ds was born. We went abroad a lot 1999 - 2004 so we are going to the US next year, flying for the first time in 18 years! However every holiday I/we have ever had has been a wonderful, proper holiday. We talk about our memories of them all the time. A lot of them have been hot and sunny, no laundry and all inclusive so no meal planning either.

We have stayed in the UK for multiple reasons. It suited us a lot. We could easily have afforded to go abroad and our last few Uk holidays have cost as much as or more than itbwould cost to go to another country. We are massively looking forward to our big holiday next year but the although we are resuming out travels further afield, I will still enjoy our UK holidays too.

CaronPoivre · 30/10/2022 11:49

If your idea of holiday is an eat and drink all you can alternating with time on a sun lounger around a crowded pool, then UK is unlikely to feel like a proper holiday.
Otherwise, of course it offers proper holidays ranging from fab city breaks to beautiful beaches to centre parks and narrow boats. High adrenaline adventures and splendid solation.
It's nice to travel further afield but often the description of 'travel' is a fairly narrow view.

Croque · 30/10/2022 11:50

Yes, I agree. City breaks are possible all year round. I don't do beaches but I love coastal breaks and since the same destinations mainly attract beachgoers, I find that certain facilities (such as coastal transportation options) become restricted in the colder months for economic reasons rather than because it is not possible to run them .

Kolarbri · 30/10/2022 11:52

Holidays in the UK are a break to me, or a staycation. Holidaying in a different country is a proper holiday for me!

TheGoogleMum · 30/10/2022 11:52

UK holidays are holidays to me! I can't afford to go abroad so I'll take what I can (I can't afford to go away much in UK either but there we are)

oviraptor21 · 30/10/2022 11:53

By that definition, my parents who are in their eighties have never been on holiday.
Which is rubbish - they've been camping, stayed in B&Bs, canal boating - probably never stayed in a hotel though! Still had multiple holidays every year.

We went on holiday every year to my grandparents home by the sea. That was definitely a holiday.

PicturesOfLily · 30/10/2022 11:53

For me a holiday is staying away from home for 4/5+ days. I don’t think it has to be abroad and even though I love to travel and plan holidays, we’ve had some great ones in the UK. There are so many beautiful places to visit and the only thing that really lets it down is that the weather isn’t guaranteed.

rookiemere · 30/10/2022 11:54

To me a holiday is any occasion you're not sleeping at home - unless it's at relatives which is different.

So our £30 per night camping trip to the Lakes for the Jubilee was just as much of a holiday as our recent break in Lanzarote.

And I have an irrational hatred of people using the term staycation to describe anything except staying at home and seeing local sights on day trips. That's literally what a staycation is,if you're two hours down the road sleeping in a cottage IT'S NOT A STAYCATION. People use it to downplay how fortunate they actually are to be able to afford any holiday at all, as many can't.

NanaBobo · 30/10/2022 11:59

Pre-DC I didn't class UK breaks as holidays. A holiday to me involved a plane journey and foreign currency. Nowadays however, a drive 2 hours up the motorway to a hotel/lodge/caravan feels like a proper holiday (even if it's just for a few nights).

MintJulia · 30/10/2022 11:59

Of course it's a proper holiday.

Being off work for a week, staying in an hotel where someone else cooks my breakfast, makes my bed, cleans the bathroom & does the shopping, spending my days climbing in the mountains and visiting waterfalls etc, then going out to lovely restaurants in the evening, is a holiday. Bliss 😊

What continent it is in, is pretty irrelevant.

Croque · 30/10/2022 12:01

I know a few people who have literally never slept away from their own home in decades. Not even when visiting family. It is the saddest thing because even a B&B two hours down the road for one weekend every year would broaden their horizons. It will never happen though.

Kolarbri · 30/10/2022 12:05

@Croque yep, , sadly these people do exist. Hard to believe in this day and age.

Kolarbri · 30/10/2022 12:06

I understand staycation to be holidaying in the country that you live in. Most people I know use it to mean that!

Astralitzia · 30/10/2022 12:08

Kolarbri · 30/10/2022 12:05

@Croque yep, , sadly these people do exist. Hard to believe in this day and age.

There's nothing sad about it, as long as they're happy with it.

Travel is not the only way to broaden ones horizons.

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