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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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:
AnApparitionQuippedFromDeepInsideACrypt · 30/10/2022 18:54

Kolarbri · 30/10/2022 18:41

@rainbowandglitter yeah, there’s mumsnet and then there’s real life!

Do you think everyone on here is a robot, then?

FrownedUpon · 30/10/2022 18:56

I don’t think of a UK break as a proper holiday. It’s just not the same to me & I’d hate to never be able to go abroad. I do still enjoy UK breaks though.

Buffyfan26 · 30/10/2022 19:06

I don’t consider a trip in the UK a holiday, for me it’s going aboard for sure!

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 30/10/2022 19:40

I'm starting to wonder now about when people tell you how hard up they are and hey say "I haven't been on holiday for 8 years" - how many of them actually mean what they say and how many just mean they've had UK holidays for the last 8 years.

Would they also insist that they hadn't actually eaten for a week, because they hadn't had any steak or lobster, or a meal out?

Is this another variant of "I don't have a single thing to wear" - just because you've worn all of the many perfectly fine garments in your wardrobe at some stage before?

EmpressoftheMundane · 30/10/2022 19:41

🤷🏻‍♀️ The dictionary definition is clear, no need to go abroad for it to be a “holiday.” Insisting on changing the meaning of the word to suit your opinions is ignorant, and comes off as vulgar.

Lots of posters have gently explained this. If you insist on letting TUI define the word “holiday” for you, then go ahead. No well mannered person would ever create the not do subtle social dig of letting acquaintances know that poor them, they’ve just had a “break” not a “proper holiday.”

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 30/10/2022 19:43

I live in London for a bit and knew someone who had been abroad lots. And London. But not ever really seen anywhere else in England!

I've noticed that a lot: many people who only have holidays abroad end up with very little knowledge indeed of their own country outside of their own area/county/region.

bellac11 · 30/10/2022 19:56

And in countries where the inhabitants tend to holiday in their own country as a matter of course, those people have NEVER been on holiday?

So funny!

bellac11 · 30/10/2022 19:59

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 30/10/2022 19:40

I'm starting to wonder now about when people tell you how hard up they are and hey say "I haven't been on holiday for 8 years" - how many of them actually mean what they say and how many just mean they've had UK holidays for the last 8 years.

Would they also insist that they hadn't actually eaten for a week, because they hadn't had any steak or lobster, or a meal out?

Is this another variant of "I don't have a single thing to wear" - just because you've worn all of the many perfectly fine garments in your wardrobe at some stage before?

Good point, I hadnt thought of that, that would explain why so many people with seemingly manageable incomes apparently havent had a 'holiday' for nearly ten years.

They've been sitting with a cats bum face in Cornwall.

Swissnotswiss · 30/10/2022 20:08

I live in Italy and for the last few years, thanks to Covid, I've been on holiday in Italy. It certainly felt like a holiday. 😊

AnotherPidgey · 30/10/2022 20:17

I've been bloody lucky to go to some amazing, unusual and varied places in the world, but I still love a holiday in Britain. We've got an amazing country. We've got vast warm sandy beaches, we can surf, we can ski, we've got mountains, we've got flat broads, ancient history, modern cities... we've even got other languages
There's so much that the UK has to offer. You could live your whole life in the UK and still have diverse and enriching experiences that are at least equal to international travel.

Correcting that your week away in the UK was not a holiday also means by default that anyone else's UK holiday was not a holiday either and it's dismissive of other people's choices and opportunities. It's also factually wrong.
Staycation is when you stay at home. A contraction stay at home vacation.
A holiday is staying away from home for the purposes of leisure. Where that is is not prescribed.

Some have got such a prescriptive notion of what a holiday is that most of my international holidays would also be discounted due to the lack of heat, swimming pools and hotels. Funnily enough my UK holiday this year was far hotter than my international one, and I spent more time in the pool and on the beach in the UK!

If we just do whatever we feel like with language, I think I might go on more Urlabs to upgrade the prestige of my travel for leisure.

reluctantbrit · 30/10/2022 20:26

I love any holiday which is away from home and doing things I am interested in.

But, a UK one is often more difficult I find. The weather is less predictable, the costs are quite high I think and I feel it needs to have so much more organisation.

We go on sunny holiday abroad and is a lot more spontanous for us, I love having time in guaranteed sunshine, not worrying about what to do if it rains, only thinking about where to eat in the evening.

We have been to Germany (home country) for holidays and they are similar to a UK one quite often, we love them but I feel I need a another break in the same year somewhere where I know I have sunshine.

BogRollBOGOF · 30/10/2022 20:28

bellac11 · 30/10/2022 19:59

Good point, I hadnt thought of that, that would explain why so many people with seemingly manageable incomes apparently havent had a 'holiday' for nearly ten years.

They've been sitting with a cats bum face in Cornwall.

Show quote history

😂

Cornwall's great, but I swerved it in 2020 to avoid the surplus of trapped Brits skulking around wishing they were thousands of miles away in an AI. (I love an AI buffet and a break from thinking about what anyone else in the family wants to eat)

DoubleDinnurs · 30/10/2022 20:41

Surely it's subjective? It's upto me what I think a holiday is as I'm the one paying for it.

I went away abroad a lot 20 or so years ago as it was cheap then and my last trip was 2018. I don't miss being abroad. I have two kids and one is challenging and has possible SN. A trip away in the UK is challenging, let alone getting on a plane or going somewhere hot and has a pool to contend with. It wouldn't feel like a holiday at all. A UK holiday doesn't really either.

DdraigGoch · 30/10/2022 21:55

Astralitzia · 30/10/2022 10:58

I think it's another symptom of our consumerist culture - you haven't done something "properly" unless you've done it to the max and in the most resource-heavy way.

You haven't had a proper holiday unless you go abroad, buying second hand presents is grotty and doing handmade ones is tight, you need to buy a new outfit for a date or a social occasion... In other words, buy buy buy and consume consume consume.

Show quote history

That reminds me of a fly on the wall police film I watched earlier. It covered a Saturday night shift. A woman on there said that it wasn't a good night out if you weren't spewing over the pavement.

CulturePigeon · 31/10/2022 08:55

Ha ha! I don't think OP's got a leg to stand on here. The dictionary will confirm that a holiday doesn't have to be abroad.

You might as well argue about what constitutes a 'proper' cup of tea.😎

Pinkittens · 31/10/2022 09:27

I see a UK holiday as a proper holiday but my DH feels only a plane holiday is a proper holiday. We've had some amazing and unusual UK holidays which we all thoroughly enjoyed but I know in his heart he still doesn't really count them as a holiday, more of a break/trip.

Arayes · 31/10/2022 09:59

CulturePigeon · 31/10/2022 08:55

Ha ha! I don't think OP's got a leg to stand on here. The dictionary will confirm that a holiday doesn't have to be abroad.

You might as well argue about what constitutes a 'proper' cup of tea.😎

AS if the dictionary is any help here, with a subjective opinion on what "proper" constitutes a holiday!

You could absolutely argue about what constitutes a proper cup of tea, the dictionary is of no use to you there either.

Honestly, why do so many people struggle to understand opinions and subjectivity? This notion that your definition is the only possible one...it's very British.

Arayes · 31/10/2022 10:01

EmpressoftheMundane · 30/10/2022 19:41

🤷🏻‍♀️ The dictionary definition is clear, no need to go abroad for it to be a “holiday.” Insisting on changing the meaning of the word to suit your opinions is ignorant, and comes off as vulgar.

Lots of posters have gently explained this. If you insist on letting TUI define the word “holiday” for you, then go ahead. No well mannered person would ever create the not do subtle social dig of letting acquaintances know that poor them, they’ve just had a “break” not a “proper holiday.”

They have gently explained their own stupidity.

You missed an important word. We're not discussing what the word holiday means. We are discussing what individuals think of as being a PROPER holiday.

If you can't figure out that an extra word changes the meaning of a thing, you really shouldn't be posting in such a condescending and patronising way. Cringing for you.

Lcb123 · 31/10/2022 10:04

I consider any thing where I'm not working to be a holiday!

EmpressoftheMundane · 31/10/2022 10:22

Keep telling the world who you are Arayes.

Kolabri · 31/10/2022 10:26

I am going on holiday on Thursday. We’ll drive to the airport, get on a plane, land in a different country where the Language is different, and the sun will be shining.😀 I cannot wait!

In early December I’m going away again for a few days in the Uk. Really looking forward to that as well.
The former is a proper holiday (for me), the latter is a nice little break to catch up with friends.

Holidayexpert · 31/10/2022 10:31

@Arayes Spot on! I think that certain posers on this thread have a bit of a persecution complex, and/or a bit of the green eyed monster about those of us who see holidays out of our own country as proper holidays!

Arayes · 31/10/2022 10:32

EmpressoftheMundane · 31/10/2022 10:22

Keep telling the world who you are Arayes.

The world knows how great I am, thanks.

MGMidget · 31/10/2022 10:36

A holiday is when you get a break from your usual routine and a chance to relax. It could even be in your own home when you are having time off from your usual work or chores. So yes in my view a UK holiday is definitely a holiday and I have often had more relaxing holidays in the UK than abroad.

Some holidays abroad (especially with young children can leave you ‘needing a holiday’ when you get back. Certainly I have had friends say that about some of their holidays and I have felt it too when flights have been disrupted and we were left stranded in the airport with nowhere to go with two young children and Eazyjet providing no assistance! With all the complications of foreign travel in the past two years during the pandemic I think travelling abroad is more of an ordeal than a holiday whereas UK holidays really are holidays!

Arayes · 31/10/2022 10:38

Kolabri · 31/10/2022 10:26

I am going on holiday on Thursday. We’ll drive to the airport, get on a plane, land in a different country where the Language is different, and the sun will be shining.😀 I cannot wait!

In early December I’m going away again for a few days in the Uk. Really looking forward to that as well.
The former is a proper holiday (for me), the latter is a nice little break to catch up with friends.

And that is absolutely fine. But there are many posters on this thread who will sneer at you and inform you that your own feelings are wrong because they looked up one of the words you used in a dictionary when they really should have looked up "opinion" and "subjective" instead!

Enjoy your proper holiday, and enjoy your little break too!! Probably the ones whiniest about your thoughts are having neither and that is actually the root of their nastiness.