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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think people are too obsessed with taking a holiday?

438 replies

Tepoi · 30/07/2023 15:40

I don’t get the attraction of saving for months to go somewhere for 10ish days. Fine if you have money but hearing how people are spending the equivalent of 1 - 2 months take home pay on a holiday strikes me as very odd. Maybe because I don’t have the money to spare.
if you do go on holiday, and it takes 4-6 weeks’ take home pay, can I ask why you go?

OP posts:
rozzyraspberry · 31/07/2023 19:55

A lot of my favourite memories with my children have been from when we’ve been on holiday.

As they get older, you get less time with them as everyone is busy with work, studies, friends, girlfriends. But when you’re away you get proper time together.

I’ve just been away with my 15, 18 and 20 year olds. Oldest 2 are now at uni so having that time with them was priceless.

OiBlin · 31/07/2023 20:03

@balkanscot Flowers
Life really is too bloody short. Wishing you and your DS many, many beautiful holidays together x

SlippySarah · 31/07/2023 20:05

I really like visiting new places and doing new things but I am relatively poor so have to manage with what I've got. I definitely can't afford a hotel holiday apart from a really low budget place and I'm scared that it will be shit and boring and my entire budget will be blown. So I tend to get an Airbnb or something similar in place that I really want to go that I can either drive to or get a cheap flight and then muddle along once we're there. There's nothing very relaxing about it but nothing much ever is as a single parent! Even camping or a weekend in a caravan is fun for us and a break from the routine. I try to spread the cost and give us a few things to look forward to throughout the year. But wherever we go I'm still cooking and driving and planning cheap activities so it's a bit like being at home. But we love it ❤️

heartofglass23 · 31/07/2023 20:18

"I've 18 holidays with my children - they're always welcome to come with us when they're adults - but I'm assured of those 18 and I will happily spend a massive amount of money to make sure we have that time together"

Don't bet on 15-17yos wanting to go on holiday with you. Unless you go to Florida every year!

JustBanPlasticAndSubsidiseTheTrainsAlready · 31/07/2023 20:21

Holidays have become unaffordable for me. We've never been on a true family holiday away. The last foreign holiday I had, I was about three months pregnant with my first in 2018 and we went to lanzarote. We went for a week and it was lovely, it must have cost £500 for flights and accommodation for two of us all together.

I'm staggered by the jump in costs now. We just can't afford it. I looked at a minibreak to Jersey thinking it would be akin to a statcation. Nope.

Just had three nights in a niceish hotel (I.e. an indoor pool and breakfast) about five miles from our house and it was about £500 but it was a joy to see the children having fun in the pool. That said, we did get thrown out (fitness instructor tapping her wrist, and telling me to take the children out) because many British hotels with pools run fitness classes during the day and children are only allowed in the pool for an hour or two in the early morning.

Gosh I love blighty.

dressedforcomfort · 31/07/2023 20:44

Because it makes me stupidly happy.

I love that feeling of sitting by a beach, cold drink in hand, feeling the sun on my skin and the listening to the waves. And knowing that everything that grinds me down on a regular basis is several hundred miles away.

M2B19 · 31/07/2023 20:47

It’s something to look forward to on the most mundane, boring, crap days at work. When I wake up in a new destination or to some gorgeous scenery in this country and I’m enjoying myself, I can justify all of the work I did to get there

LuckySantangelo35 · 31/07/2023 20:50

@Tepoi
seeing the world, meeting new people, seeing different ways of life and other cultures, trying local foods, seeing amazing sights, a break from routine, guaranteed good weather etc etc etc
I actually can’t think of anything I’d rather spend my money on
what do you prefer to spend your money you’ve saved on?

LuckySantangelo35 · 31/07/2023 20:57

Augustus40 · 30/07/2023 15:50

I prefer to work 3 days a week so feel I do not need a break. As I get a lot of rest time.

@Augustus40

yeah but it’s not the same being at home as it is away especially abroad

CrazyArmadilloLady · 31/07/2023 20:59

Surely the question is - what is the appeal about working and going home day-in-day-out, and literally never doing / seeing / experiencing anything different?

LuckySantangelo35 · 31/07/2023 20:59

Tepoi · 30/07/2023 20:55

Thank you. Lots of food for thought. I personally couldn’t deal with the stress of booking and being away from home so I don’t see the attraction.
but everyone is different and eachntontheir own. No more replied required.

@Tepoi

what do you mean you can’t cope with the “stress of being away from home”
why would that be stressful?

LuckySantangelo35 · 31/07/2023 21:08

BeyondMyWits · 30/07/2023 17:07

I'm not really a "holiday person". We spend our money making life nice the other 50 weeks of the year. So much so that often a trip ends up an anticlimax. I like my own bed. I like spending early mornings pootling about whilst my husband sleeps... a shared hotel room is my (personal) hell.

I've been to Disney world, Alaska, Italy, France, Norway etc... all were good holidays... but I like my own bed better.

Everyone is different and enjoys different things. Would recommend getting any holidays in sooner rather than later... climate change is going to change the way we do things... heat, fires, flooding... summer in some places may be changing for good.

@BeyondMyWits

must be some bed if all these amazing locations around the world can’t compare to it 🙄

ghostyslovesheets · 31/07/2023 21:11

Lifeomars · 31/07/2023 13:54

That has inspired me! might start small by doing something in the UK so I feel safe

Show quote history

This - I love going away on my own - even for a weekend - youngest is with her dad - older two are way too cool to go away with mum (they house sit!)

I went to Spain for 5 days for my birthday this year and am off camping next week for 3 days - it's nice to switch off, not think about work - or be tempted to check the work phone/lap top.

purplebunny2012 · 31/07/2023 21:13

Totally with you. We holiday in the UK (no, it's not a fucking staycation, that would be staying at home!)

EsmeSesame · 31/07/2023 21:33

We are on holiday right now. It’s our second one this year. We love going abroad for holidays, look forward to them for weeks in advance and talk about them for weeks afterwards.

We treasure them all the more as our kids are young adults and having them join us is even more special. Our 23 year old is about to do a 10 hr flight just to join us for a week.

Croissantsetchampignons · 31/07/2023 21:43

God, getting the fuck off Brexit island is worth every penny!

Off to France in a few days- can’t wait to be in Europe again!

CakeladyJ · 31/07/2023 21:54

To experience different cultures, try new food, see new places. We run two businesses and it means a complete escape from people ringing and hassling us. I’m a believer in memories and experiences over possessions.

Squeaky2023 · 31/07/2023 21:57

Because it's a big world out there and there is something amazing about getting your kids off the plane after 12 hours and watching their faces as the heat and smells and sounds of South East Asia hits them. Blowing their tiny minds is part of my parenting MO.
Laughing in the sea so hard that you think you might drown while thousands of miles away from home or seeing a whale breech is priceless.
Laughing and communicating with people when you don't speak each others' language and are at ease is something else that is really good too.
I could go on.

Maggiethecat · 31/07/2023 21:58

@balkanscot - hope you and Ds will have many memorable holidays together!

EsmeSesame · 31/07/2023 22:33

We went to the beach yesterday. Water was warm, sand was white. Paddling around and noticed a dolphin about 6m away. Magical. This is what makes holidays special.

Starlightstarbright2 · 31/07/2023 22:35

One day I will be dead or too unwell to travel . My memories are everything

collectorsedition · 31/07/2023 22:37

Squeaky2023 · 31/07/2023 21:57

Because it's a big world out there and there is something amazing about getting your kids off the plane after 12 hours and watching their faces as the heat and smells and sounds of South East Asia hits them. Blowing their tiny minds is part of my parenting MO.
Laughing in the sea so hard that you think you might drown while thousands of miles away from home or seeing a whale breech is priceless.
Laughing and communicating with people when you don't speak each others' language and are at ease is something else that is really good too.
I could go on.

Oh please do go on 😂😩 You’ve put it so beautifully. I could not agree more.

Squeaky2023 · 31/07/2023 22:40

Aww thanks @collectorsedition

PhoenixIsFlying · 31/07/2023 22:50

Haven't had a holiday abroad for over 20 years. Booked a holiday for Greece, as desperate to take my daughter and covid struck so got cancelled 🤷‍♀️

Hawkins009 · 31/07/2023 23:55

It's certainly a mix at times