To ask... are holidays abroad with kids worth it?

[ImALittlePea]

I'm currently fixated on going abroad in late September/early October with the family (myself, DH, 9yo and 2yo). I don't know why, really, but I'm desperate for the children to have the experiences that DH & I never had as kids of going to the A/I style resorts, planes etc. 9yo has been abroad once, before starting school and covid hit. 2yo has never left the country. We've done UK holidays - Airbnbs, holiday parks etc - all-in-all quite successful (and one only a couple of weeks ago - four nights in a holiday park along the south coast of England), but I can't shake the feeling of wanting to take them abroad.

But as I look at the packages and prices, I'm starting to second guess myself about whether it's really worth it. We have a modest budget with which I can find what seem to be packages that I'm happy with - a week of A/I in apartment style resorts with plenty/enough for kids to do, space for us to chill once they're in bed etc. But if we do spend the money and go away, we'll feel the pinch and have less freedom/leave from work over the long summer holidays.

Please help a holiday-hungry overthinker out!

YABU - holidays with kids are harder work than they're worth
YANBU - life is short and for living - holidays are always worth it

It's a bit tricky because of your age gap, we didn't go abroad until youngest was 3.5 and kept it to an AI holiday as they're so simple with young ones. Whilst I've no doubt people have amazing holidays with toddlers it has never appealed to me. So I'd be tempted to wait until your youngest is a little older, but appreciate that means your 9 year old missing out and they're great age.

When they are out of that stage where you are at the mercy of their routine, yes absolutely holidays abroad are worth it and make up the bulk of my favourite memories raising kids.

I'm in a similar position, constantly looking at holidays for next summer at the moment. Mine are 10 and 7 (so probably a bit easier than your youngest) and have never been on a plane, and I would love my son to have that experience before starting secondary school.

I would say go for it and if its not fun just leave it a few years before trying again 😊

We first went on a family holiday abroad when my youngest was 5. We spent the summer teaching her to swim (so less worry around the pool) and went in the October. We actually took them out of school for a few days and that made it a bit cheaper. We all loved it and it was definitely worth the money. My oldest was 8 and they both went to the kids club and did all the activities they could. I would definitely recommend all inclusive as they could get a drink, snack, ice cream etc whenever they wanted and didn't have to worry about the extra cost. I never went abroad as a child until I went with the school in secondary school but really wanted my kids to have that experience. We don't go abroad every year but try and go every other - definitely easier now they are teens though!!

You will be fine op, I have 3 special needs kiddos, 15 asd, 7 complex genetic disorder is tube fed age 7 but mentally 3 and a 5 month old also genetically complex and delayed holidays are the only time we get to truly have fun as a family (I have to pack a shit ton of medical equipment, medications and buggies aswell ) we try to get abroad 2 to 3 times a year, they absolutely love it ....... is it relaxing definitely not for me but I wouldn't and couldn't go without them so I'll take my 5 mins with a book while they nap and cherish it somewhere new.

My 1st went on a plane at 3 months and my 2nd 6 months. We've had at least 1 holiday abroad every year (apart from covid). My thoughts was I wasn't having kids till I could afford to take them away every year because I never did as a kid. They 12 and 8 now and look forward to going on a plane every year. Although they wouldn't be bothered if we holidayed in the uk. The do love going to different places. I say do it. You'll have the best time. Although I wouldn't be so fixated on having time to yourself of a night. The kids will probably have a nap in the day time so go to bed later because of the heat and the excitement of it all.

The 9 year old, possibly. The 2 year old not so much. We gave up when DS was that age. It was too hot so we spent the whole time in the air conditioned bedroom. And the food didn't agree with him.

We stuck to UK self catering for a few years.

I was lucky in that there was only a 16 month gap between my two, so they liked the same age appropriate things.
DH died when they were babies. He was a great traveler and I know he would have wanted them to see the world, so I took them abroad a lot. We didn’t just do beach holidays, (although we did a fortnight on each of the major Greek islands in various years) - they had all kinds of experiences, from the opera at Verona to Dracula’s castle in Transylvania, the soukhs of Marrakech, the Dutch bulb fields, a gondola ride round Venice, Roman ruins in Albania, even as teenagers a trip to Krakow and Auschwitz to better understand the Holocaust.
I think travel really broadens their horizons, and their understanding of history and culture. DD1 is autistic and still obsessively enjoys learning foreign languages now as an adult.

They are absolutely worth it imo. We always had a modest budget but scrimped and saved to take the kids on a budget AI package holiday. Some of my best memories of them being little are splashing in the pool, playing on the beach, dancing to the kids disco etc. we would always have a meal or two out and found European restaurants so kid friendly and welcoming to families. Loved it. If you can, I definitely would.

I took my 2 year old on holiday to egypt last month as a single mum. We stayed in a lovely family 5 star resort. The first day DS was out of his comfort zone but then he absolutely loved it. I'm so glad I went as I've made wonderful memories to look back at.

We’ve done UK self catering holidays which were nice but a bit of same routine, different place type thing and also abroad with all inclusive and I would definitely prefer abroad in a resort holiday. the trick is to not expect it to be like those type of holidays pre children so there isn’t the lounging by the pool but there’s a lot of time in the pool having fun. you have to relax about food because they may struggle and if they eat plain pasta and ice cream for a week then so be it as long as they’ve eaten.

I think holidays abroad with kids can definitely be worth it, but I think it depends what sort of holiday you are talking about and what your expectations are. Honestly, an AI resort that you pretty much don't leave, it probably doesn't make much difference to being in the UK, really. Except for the warmer weather. I went on those sorts of holidays as a child and while I definitely remember them as they were so novel and different from home, I can't say they were my best holiday memories as a child. Actually, my best holiday memories are of a local seaside holiday that we did every year.

I do think that going abroad can be worth it if YOU can make the most of it to do something YOU really want to do, or if your child is old enough to appreciate culture and food and seeing new places. For example, I took my youngest on a weekend city break in Spain as a baby - obviously, he has absolutely no memory of any of it, but I have a wonderful time. We did lots of fun (to me!) things and I enjoyed my time there with him. Similarly, I took my eldest to Italy when she was probably 6. She's 10 now and still says it was the best holiday she's ever had. She remembers it really fondly, but we did lots of really interesting things - restaurants out, museums, boat trips, cultural stuff - not just beach and pool (which we could have done at home really). So I think it can be worth it, but depends what you're after, and I don't think you have to do some big abroad holiday to 'make memories'. We go and stay at a beach hut near us every summer and my kids love that and talk about it all year long asking when we'll go back for this year. It's literally like a cabin with a compost loo and there's nothing there but a BBQ and the beach. It's great.

Seems like you can afford it so go this year, then you'll know whether it's worth it for your family.
It's no good me answering, it will always be worth it for me , because I love travelling.

Twins are 1 boy 3 and a teen and abroad is super fun nothing extra different to uk fun we had

we loved holidays in the sun.
We didn't do hotels, we did self catering so that we had flexibility.
We spent 2 weeks sitting round the pool with the kids swimming.
They all learnt to swim by just being in the water for 2 weeks.

We couldn't have done that in any holiday at home, so that is why I loved them.

They also loved seeing new stuff, trying new food etc etc

But in terms of cooking and work etc it was still hard work.

We only ever do holidays abroad, she's 6 now and has always been great on them and enjoyed them. We love AI as gives plenty of options to choose from and a chance to try new things, we also look for a good pool with slides and a kids club.
Honestly we have loved every one of our holidays with her.

Mine are 10 and 7 (so probably a bit easier than your youngest) and have never been on a plane, and I would love my son to have that experience before starting secondary school.

You could fly within Britain, i.e. up to Scotland or down south if you live there.

I'm part of the holidays are always worth it school of thought. We're just back from 2 incredible weeks away and I'm absolutely dying to book another trip soon. Admittedly, I only have one child but he's 20 months old so a fairly difficult age and I'm 25 weeks pregnant with my next child.

We've been on many long haul and short haul trips at various ages from 3 months up and I've never regretted any of them. They get better the older my child gets because he gets more and more enjoyment from them and his joy is my joy. I would have thought your children were brilliant ages to travel with (spoken by someone with no experience of kids those ages!)

My kids love a foreign beach holiday - they spend most of their time in the pool and having AI means no worry about paying for ice cream and drinks etc.

Your post echoes my own thoughts. As a child we didn't have holidays, and certainly no trips abroad. We had day trips to the seaside and a few days out but no holidays and I really want mine to have that experience.

I love an abroad holiday, the sunshine and different holiday way of life. UK breaks just don't do it for me I'm afraid and although we've had some lovely breaks, they don't feel like a holiday to me.

Mine are little, they love anywhere we go and I did an abroad holiday when I had 1 child aged 18 months. She still needed a nap etc in the room in daytime and it was a different holiday to what I am used to but I still loved taking her. I think adjust your frame of what your holiday looked liked previously and you will have a fab time.

From the other side of it - some of my most vivid and fond childhood memories are of holidays abroad. I definitely think they are worth it, although we've only every managed to take our kids abroad the once. Hoping to do more in the future though!

There was a couple with a crawling baby on holiday abroad . Delightful baby but they were constantly having to entertain chase after baby and could not relax or even have a drink. I could see it was a relief for the parents when the holiday came to an end .

I personally would not take children abroad on holiday until they were fully mobile and could talk and entertain themselves with toys and games . Imagine if the child got sick in countries where healthcare is not the greatest.

Mine are 7 and 3, ds1 has been abroad 5 times, all between being 18 months and 4 years, then Covid hit and we haven't been away since yet, so DS2 has never experienced it - next one is a 2 week AI already booked for May next year and we all cannot wait, he will be almost 4 by then. It is absolutely worth every moment. DS1 still remembers the different places, he's been to Cyprus, and 2 of the Canary Islands (Tenerife twice) and Turkey. DH and I also love this type of holiday though which of course helps.

I'd say it depends how chill your two year old (and you as parents) are. If you have a two year old who is incredibly cranky if they don't get their nap at the precise time, who only sleeps with blackout blinds, white noise, being held till they fall asleep, who is very fussy about food, who gets overwhelmed by new places/noisy situations/crowds, and you find yourself very stressed trying to manage your way around those sorts of situations and upsets, then none of you are likely to enjoy it very much. It is parenting a toddler in an alien situation, without your home comforts, where you can't so easily make them beans on toast and sit them down in front of a couple of episodes of Paw Patrol to just get through a rough morning that started at 4:30am.

Holidays with a young child are hard work but that's never stopped me taking my DC (although sometimes I've metaphorically torn my hair out while there!). I don't think YABU but I'd wait until your younger DC is 3. Then they'll be old enough for the kids club and you can get a few hours of peace.

We've just got back from 10 days with our 3year old. The best memories made, our DD experienced lots of firsts (airport, aeroplane, little suitcase, making friends on holiday, mini disco) and she loved every minute.

Will she remember it? Nope but we will! I wasn't overly bothered about going, I love UK holidays and don't pine for sun,sea, abroad but I'm already looking for next year. Kids definitely make it for me.