To want to do something other on holiday than lie on a sunlounger?

[Chocolatelover223]

The people I'm on holiday with just want to lie on the sun loungers by the pool all day every day. Is this common?

There seems to be a level of snobbery in discussions like these. Some of the comments can be read as "only chavs like to lounge and eat from buffets on holiday. Cultured people like myself can't imagine anything worse".

Honestly it just makes me roll my eyes in the back of my head!

Just because you want to be busy walking/hiking/going to museums, etc doesn't mean you are some superior holiday maker fgs.

Personally, I think the idea of actually not having chores, work, and instead enjoying luscious sun on some beautiful resort where I can drink cocktails and bake sounds absolutely fantastic!

To the people saying that they can lounge in their garden, well good for you. It's 15 degrees here, and even if it was warmer, I'd still have chores, a child to take care of and no one serving me drink and food all day!

Well, of course it's common. Lots of people's idea of a holiday is lying in the sun by a pool or on a beach every day, with a book and a cold drink, or watching their kids play. That doesn't mean everyone wants to do it, or even most people, but it's not unusual or weird.

It's not the sort of holiday I'd want - I could do it for one day, or a couple of afternoons provided I was in the shade, but I wouldn't want to do it every day of my holiday. I like stuff like going on a drive out somewhere, seeing a new town, sightseeing, getting lunch, sitting outside at a cafe, going for a walk, maybe something like a boat trip one day, that kind of thing. But each to their own. I certainly wouldn't judge someone who wanted total rest and relaxation (but equally, I wouldn't go on holiday with them either, as I'd be bored and they'd find me annoying).

That would drive me crazy. I take more exercise on holiday than I do at home! I would be heading off to explore asap.

God forbid some people just want to rest in the sun once a year

Sounds like a dream to me, we’ve always done crazy busy holidays in extreme heat with cranky kids (cranky me too lol). But if you don’t like it book some activities!!

YANBU. I don’t tan and I’m just too hot after 5 minutes of sunbathing. And bored. I’d much rather go sightseeing in the day and come back for a pre dinner swim.

You can do that in your back garden. Why go to an exotic country overseas, (and spend a fortune getting there and staying there,) just to lie on your bloody sun lounger for the entire holiday? How boring, and dull, and tedious, and unimaginative!

Thankfully I have a DH (and DC) who, when we are on holiday in a foreign country, want to spend at least some of the time, exploring the area, meeting the locals, immersing yourself in their culture, going on excursions, and having adventures! I would NEVER go on holiday with them again, if they just wanted to lie on the sun lounger all week! Some of the time yeah fair enough. But not ALL the time!

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I’d say it’s more common than the active holiday makers to be honest.

It’s not for me. I’m that knob who drags everybody up at 6am with an itinerary. Can’t sit still on a holiday although I do like to have a glass of wine in the sun and people watch here and there.

I’ve declined (politely) many a holiday offer from sun lounger holiday people. We’d drive each other round the bend. There’s no right and wrong though it’s just preference.

You can do that in your back garden. Why go to an exotic country overseas, (and spend a fortune getting there and staying there,) just to lie on your bloody sun lounger for the entire holiday? How boring, and dull, and tedious, and unimaginative!

A) the weather
B) I don't have an all-inclusive hotel in my garden
C) I don't have wait staff bringing me drinks in my garden

This! We usually have a week in the sun each year and tend to have an itinerary a bit like this:

Lazy breakfast at the villa
Wander to the beach for a swim
Visit local town/market/ancient ruins
Late lunch in a restaurant
Back to villa to laze by pool in the sun (DH) or shade (me) reading books, with occasional dips in pool
Late afternoon - head off to market/shop to pick up wine and snacks
Maybe back to beach for more swimming, or go for a walk (up to 5 miles) if it's not too hot
Back to villa for wine and snacks

We occasionally lunch at the villa and go out in the evening instead.

For us, the balance works. I never thought I could do more than an hour of beach but as I've got older, the appeal of lying around reading my book in the heat appeals more and more

Some people want sight seeing holidays, some people want sporty activity holidays and some people want relaxing on a beach holidays. They're all fine but the trouble comes when you go with a group who all want something different to you!
Where are you and can you walk into town or whatever? People are saying just go off on your own (and i'm all for it as i often holiday alone) but if you're in a resort that's miles from anything it's not always that easy.

Yes but it doesn't mean you have to do the same. You can still all meet up for sunset drinks and dinner after doing your own thing.

Have you really never heard of people wanting to spend their holiday lounging by the pool? Seems very strange, you must have lived a sheltered life.

You go off & explore if you want to. You don’t have to follow what everyone else is doing.

No, it's very rare. That's why most holiday resorts in Spain provide no pool, no cold drinks, and no sun loungers.

I hate people being snobby about holidays like this. Each to their own.

It's a popular type of holiday.
DH and I have done lots of more active / sightseeing holidays in the 45 years we've been together and this is what we do now.
I quite like sitting around a pool with a view of the sea, I sit in the shade and read. I couldn't do it for hours on end though. I will go off on my own if he isn't game but usually our lounging is interspersed with a great deal of walking and swimming.

Is this the first time you've ever been on holiday?

Even if it is how do you not know that spending a week relaxing on a sun lounger is a perfectly normal way to spend a holiday?

I don't know if you are trying to be superior or are a bit lacking in awareness

And no one has ever been known to get up at dawn to put their towels out

It's very common for some people who just want a totally relaxing break. Those people can't understand people who go on holiday and want to be out and about busy every day.. It really is each to their own, and best discussed before you go away, so that you know that you have the same type of holiday in mind.

I have only been abroad 3 times, but each time we had a mix, so days on a sun lounger/beach/swimming in the sea, interspersed with trips to local historic places etc.

It's common. It's not for me. If I just want to lie around and read/sleep/eat/drink then I can do that at home! I want to get out and explore and see different things.

Given the number of people wandering off and dying in the heat at the moment it's certainly the sensible option.

I love that people just lie around the pool. Means I can swim for hours unobstructed.

My husband and I agree that if you've seen one shattered amphora/mosaic/hoard of coins you've seen them all, so we don't feel obliged to go to every last museum etc.

I remember arguing with my parents as a child that we'd paid for the holiday cottage but weren't getting good value for money by being out of it all the time (think they regretted teaching me that argument...)

then do something else

its their holiday, each to their own

Totally agree. There's always a huge snobby subtext whenever this subject crops up on Mumsnet.

I'm quite a fidgety sort of person so spending a holiday mostly on a sun lounger wouldn't really be for me, but I can totally see why total rest and relaxation in the sun would be a lovely break and there is absolutely nothing wrong with it.

Sometimes I see people talking about their holidays on Mumsnet and it's all 'We found a fab campsite in the Dordogne and there were lots of activities for the children, they played tennis every day and of course we went on bike rides and did some kayaking trips and we were holidaying with two other families so we all played rounders in the evenings, it was lovely'. To me, that sounds utterly horrific and I'd rather die, but nobody sneers at that kind of trip because it's middle-class. (Even though, now I come to think of it, it actually involves no more culture and exploration than sitting on a beach all day.)

This, and at different times I enjoy both.

So what were you expecting and where is it? Costa brava I'd expect sunbathing, Florence is all about the culture.

If you want to explore you may have to do it alone.