To think people are too obsessed with taking a holiday?

[Tepoi]

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?

I'd say we spend about 10% of the annual household income on holidays each year and have done for the last 30 years. When the DC were young this would be one long haul and a couple of UK breaks/European city breaks.
I don't regret a penny of it as we've had some amazing experiences, so much fun and have so many memories. It's not just the time we're away its the planning and research beforehand, learning a bit of the language, looking into the sites of interest. Very bonding for us as a family.
Over the years it's a small fortune. But I'd take that over a bigger house, posher car or any other 'stuff' I could have acquired (and disposed of by now) along the way.

I’d find life dull without travel & holidays. I want to see different landscapes, nature, meet new people & eat different food. I’d hate to just stay in the same little corner all my life. It’s no way to live.

I guess different people have different priorities, so allocate spending accordingly. Our priorities are holidays, we have on average two a year. Our one car is 15 years old, and we don't buy expensive clothes, we don't eat/drink out very often at all, we don't buy much at all in the way of beauty products, treatments, personal grooming etc. We enjoy family time, a break from the life admin and house/garden maintenance, and time in the countryside with our dog. We don't spend a lot on each holiday, we don't get into debt or anything like that, but we save each month for then. They're very important to us.

My mother always said that. She refused to scrimp all year for one week.

Interestingly Billy Butlin's idea was a week family holiday for a working man's week's wage. And that's what he did in the post war era.
Fast forward to now, when NMW take home pay for an ordinary factory worker would be £361. I'm taking my adult daughter and 3 grandchildren for 5 days (not 7) and it's cost £1100. Shows the value of money now compared to then.
(Not a knock at Butlins... the grandkids love it!)

It isn't and it shouldn't , people should be free to explore the world as much as finances allow.

Different strokes for different folks! I loved holidaying abroad in my teens and twenties. I hate holidays in the heat now (I love a short break in a really nice hotel with a spa).
I'm lucky in that I get to not work (my daughter is 13 now, so can't really get away with calling myself a SAHM anymore 😂). We eat out every Saturday, and we stay in a coastal town with lots of beauty spots just a short drive away. We're very fortunate. I can fully understand though why people who work full time would look forward to a fortnight away!

My husband doesn’t see the point of holidays- he’d rather have stuff but is happy for me to spend money on them.

We seem to go high end or don’t go away. I’d rather save for 2 years and have a blow out than something more average every year. I’m also not as desperate for a foreign holiday as some. I see it as a nice bonus- I have friends who see it as essential spending and would v much prioritise the annual family holiday over nearly everything else. I’m more about little pleasures more regularly.

I don’t have the money to go on holiday but if I did I would, why wouldn’t you want to explore and see more of the world, even more of your own country? It’s wonderful to have a break away from the daily drudgery and have new experiences!

Because the problem is op, cheap holidays don’t exist anymore. Even in thenUK the prices are ridiculously high. I’m a single mum and I cannot afford a holiday abroad this year and so I’m having to settle for 5 days at a coast in the UK and I literally cannot afford anymore than 5 days as the price of hotels are so high in the region we want to go to.

Gone are the days where you could go on a cheap holiday at the fraction of the amount of earnings you’d take home for the month. Instead you’re looking at 2K for a decent holiday nowadays and that’s on the lower end of the price scale. I remember years ago paying £299 for a 14 day holiday abroad. Now the prices are in their thousands.

People need a break and to get away from day to day life every now and again. Especially those with children who are on six week holidays and get bored. Even a day out at a theme park costs so much nowadays but it’s unrealistic to expect kids to stay at home and not do anything due to the ridiculous prices of family attractions. I would go nuts just staying at home every single day of the year. I find laying on a beach near the sea very relaxing and great stress relief as well as the kids absolutely loving it.

I struggle to justify it too OP, much rather invest it to have a lovely home where we spend the other 95% of the time. Every time I see how much 2 weeks abroad I think with this money could do a new bathroom or remodel the kitchen 😬. We haven't been on a long holiday since before COVID (we did Mexico and New York and went for 3 weeks) it was very stressful with the kids anyway as they were still little.

How many new bathrooms or remodelled kitchens do you need?

I work for holidays. I don't have a mortgage, don't plan to retire early and I have a good salary. It rains a lot and is cold in the UK. I like seeing new places. My kids are hard to entertain at home so we do trips out and holidays often. Work wouldn't leave me alone if i were at home (as it is they contact me when I'm abroad but I don't mind too much).

I'd be really bored stuck at home all the time. If I'm home I feel I have to do stuff like laundry and cleaning or remind the kids to practice their musical instruments. It's nice to forget about the to do list for a while and get a break from the day to day.

I don't think about how much it costs but I've worked out I've spent 3 months salary on 3 holidays (7,9 and 8 days) so far this year and am a bit sad that I only have a 7 day and 4 day break in cheap UK trips planned now but I'm planning next year's breaks for Easter, Whit, 2x summer and then October half term. A mix of sun holiday, culture and theme parks, UK breaks, trips with friends.

We have been in this house 3 years and it was a doer upper...so 2 bathrooms, a utility room, a kitchen, full carpeting on 4 main rooms. Is not like I have not been on holiday on 20 years 🤣, as I said we were on holiday before COVID but after that yeah the renovation has been priority. So if a holiday is going to cost us £6-8k that does a room up...

I’ve not been away since pre-Covid.. I’ve been through DD having a breakdown through undiagnosed ASD.. now diagnosed but I’ve spent three years in the soul destroying world of CAMHS. It took all my emotional effort to get her to take her GCSEs. Plus mum is elderly and unwell, so there is looking after her .. and I work FT.

I’m 51, my husband is 60 and retired. We have no mortgage, we made the decision not to buy a massive house, and be paying a mortgage into out 60s, we kept the mortgage at a level where we could easily afford it with one salary in case anything happened.

We have spent about 10k on a cruise for the three of us, I booked a suite with 2 proper bedrooms so we have space. I’ll be eating well, drinking cocktails, seeing some amazing places, singing, dancing, quizzing and reading. Plus, I get to sit on my balcony and watch the sea, which will be great for my well-being. My steward will look after my room and keep it tidy.

I’m knackered, drained, and need to be looked after for a couple of weeks.

But that will change once the house is done up? Your priority is the house, you surely understand that others have houses that don’t need renovation.

Enjoy. I have recently got back from a cruise with ds our first since 2018 and came back so relaxed. For ds who is also autistic having the cabin to be able to nip back to and hide from people for a bit was a godsend

@Gameofmoans81 I can’t believe how much people spend either. We will have had 4 separate holidays by the end of the year, each one between 400 and 440 each for a week or 9 days. We stay in lovely accommodation 3 or 4 star, I look for modern or refurbished and read all the reviews. As long as it’s clean, comfortable, well positioned and well priced I will book. Travel light and Ryanair flights and I’m good to go

Is that in school holidays?

I went to Thorpe Park for four days in may. It cost me about £40 a month for six months.

Getting away from home and work and exploring somewhere new massively helps my mental health.

Quality family time, new cultures, new food. We love wildlife, so the opportunity to see animals in their natural habitat..There are so many reasons why we prioritise our annual holidays over many other things.

I would much rather by stuff like a holiday, where you can experience new things and get fully away from work life, than spending it on physical things like bags/shoes.

@AngryGreasedSantaCatcus no not in school holidays. But when mine were school age we still spent way less than other people by travelling light on budget airlines, doing non packages, funny numbers of days 8 or 12 say rather than 7 or 14, booking apartments direct and self catering (eating out at night)

Holidays really make me happy. It’s not necessarily totally rational. There are ‘better’ things I could spend the money on. But they do make me really happy.

One thing I will say though is that when I wasn’t working I felt much less of a desire for holidays. Because life was a holiday!

Are you coming back to your thread @Tepoi?

I love holidays and I think a break from the routine is really important.

But I have never particularly been one for the two week lie on a beach holiday. I prefer a four or five day minibreak in a city or a walking break in the UK.

Ultimately though I don't think it particularly matters, as long as you go somewhere and reset a bit.