Why don't people take their kids on holiday?

[Micnerhss]

Just to be clear, I don’t mean people who genuinely can’t afford holidays... I’m talking about people who can but still don’t.

In my close friendship group, I’m literally the only one who takes my kids away. We love seeing the world, exploring new places, different cultures, and just getting out of the UK for a bit. I honestly think holidays are so important, its proper family time away from the constant busyness of life.

But none of my really close friends ever take their kids away, not even for a little UK break, and I just can’t get my head around it.

The excuses are things like “I don’t know how airports work” or “I wouldn’t know where to go”… but there’s a whole world out there!

If you can afford it, why wouldn’t you treat your kids to a holiday?! They are missing out on so much by never leaving the UK!

Maybe you just 'plan better'?

Really??

Going on holiday is a waste of money for us.

5k for a week holiday abroad for 4 of us, I could do so much more with that money that we would get the benefit out of for more than a week.

also it’s very stressful going on holiday, all the booking it, packing, lists, delays at the airport, taking ages to get from the airport to the hotel, whinging children, moaning about applying sunscreen, kids fussy with foreign food, cringy hotel entertainment, boiling hot.

no thanks!

I can’t understand why people would want to go on holiday, it was nothing but a hassle for me the last time we went away (was the first time in 10 years) and when I got back I felt like I’d pissed 5k up the wall.

I think that it has a lot to do with people’s interests. My brother and I have the same parents, are close in age and were given equal opportunities to develop hobbies and interests, yet he and my sister in law very rarely go away. It has nothing to do with there finances, as they both have very well paying jobs. It’s purely because they don’t really think about it. When my niece was 4 she was looking at the holiday pictures of mine and kept saying she wanted to go on holiday, so I invited them to come away with my partner and I.
They came and we all had a fab tine, together and separately and they even had a few child free evenings. However when they returned and my Mum asked them if they’d like to try somewhere else, they very much felt like they’d done holidays and that was it! They’ve been away a couple of times since, but it’s not their thing. I’m not complaining though as my niece is now 9 and loves seeing new things and new places, and they’ve allowed me to take her away with me.

I hate holidays. Each to their own.

You do you and leave others to their own lives.

Tourist travel isn't exactly culturally enriching.

It's funny to see the differences, no hate at all, plenty people don't like that stuff.

As a family we are like :
booking a holiday - love
Packing - love
Lists - LOVE!
Airport delays - meh very rarely happens
Travel to hotel - look out the window wide eyed at the different scenery
Boiling hot- love

We're all different, I'll happily sit on a 14 hour flight to get me to a magical destination. I best come off here before I start checking booking.com!

Yes that sort of holiday sounds dreadful and I can absolutely understand you never wanting a repeat! AI-resort based holidays are absolutely not my cup of tea.

Conversely this year we spent a little under that for 12 days in 2 US cities - would have been a lot less if one of one of the cities hadn't been New York. Next summer we'll spend a lot less on a road trip to the Alps and back.

Totally fine if holidays aren't your cup of tea of course! But there are better and cheaper alternatives for those of us who hate the overpriced resort holiday.

We used to travel loads pre COVID, pre Brexit and pre school. The combination of those 3 things has made travel much more expensive, difficult and lower quality so we don’t travel half as much. I’m also a “housework in a different country isn’t a holiday” person so there’s no chance you’ll get me self catering in an AirBnB no matter how amazing the location is!
We also have significant commitments to animals and sports which take precedent over holidays, often we haven’t got enough of a gap to make getting on a plane worthwhile. UK holidays often don’t seem worth it, the quality of accommodation on offer is so low for the price it’s feels like being robbed!

You need to speak for yourself here, though. And/or your friends.

So this year we've been to:

• Budapest (the last trip). With DD13. Went to see the Museum of Terror (amazing museum), the underground WW2 hospital in the rock, visited the Hungarian Parliament building and did a tour, did a walking tour in the Jewish quarter with a guide, and visited Dohany street Synagogue. And other things, too many to write.
• Venice - the carnival, La Basilica di San Marco, Palazzo Ducale, Jewish Ghetto tour, etc
• Krakow: obviously Auschwitz, Wawel castle tour, Wielyczka salt mines, etc
• Prague: underground WW2 bunker tour, Communism museum, Art Noveau and Cubism tour, etc
• Paris: various galleries, museums, also Versailles and yes, also Disney
• Japan (different cities) - different cultural objects and museums, to many to mention.

Going to visit Nice, Cannes and the surrounding towns in two weeks. Don't have an itinerary yet, but will be visiting Cathedrale Saint-Nicholas, Matisse museum and I'll plan the rest later.

Next year's trips are to a few European countries and one or two further afield. We both are into history, museums and (to a lesser extent) art.

We've never been to an all-inclusive drink all you can and pig out 'sun-hol' and not planning to.

Are you generally happy in your day-to-day life?

I find that the obsession with holidays comes at the stage when something is missing in every day life. Then a person tries subconsciously to escape from reality, and then claiming that it is for kids experiences and broaden the horizons. I've been through this stage personally.

Then there is the question of affordability. There are always competing priorities for the money, no matter what income is, and this depends on the priorities. At my current stage in life and outlook I'd prefer £5k+ in cash then a week somewhere abroad. But I am quite happy with day-to-day life and the amount of enriching activities one can actually do locally.

For example, our plan for this weekend: horseriding, swimming, looking at seals colonies and their newborns at the nature reserve, Cinderella ballet. Do tell me that it is less enriching for kids than your average AI in Spain/Turkey.

Haven't been abroad in five years+, family income 170k.

I’m not sure about this. My parents never took me on holiday as a kid (abroad or UK) they don’t even have passports. They’re poor, which is the main reason, but they’re also very risk averse, uncurious and frankly boring. They, my mum in particular, think the idea of getting a bus to the next town over is scary let alone going away. As soon as I was in a financial position as an adult to travel I did and I’ve now been to over 50 countries and have plans in motion to move abroad. It’s weird my parents are the way they are because they’re both children of immigrants. Definitely not genetic here!

Wow! This is so condescending! Kids aren't all the same, people with ASD are not all the same.
From the outside, people probably think we can afford holidays abroad, but we generally can't. We holiday in the UK every year and do other things that "broaden our kids' horizons", but we just can't afford holidays abroad. Last year I saved up for a year and we managed to go to Crete. It was wonderful, we all absolutely loved it, and one of the really amazing things was how appreciative our girls were. They were so grateful for our little sacrifices through the year that helped us save. They took absolutely nothing for granted and were excited about every minute. I'm not saying your kids don't appreciate it - I'm sure they do, and I would never presume to know what other children are like. Several holidays all over the world each year would be amazing and yes, we probably would if we could afford it, but you should never judge others for not doing what you consider to be valuable. Guaranteed there will be some families who regularly holiday abroad who are less cultured than some who rarely leave the country, because people learn and experience in different ways, depending on what their circumstances allow.

That's good to hear.
Sadly there's many children that have travelled all over the world but have never been to their nearest UK seaside town, city or historic buildings etc.

As the parent of an ASD child who's a reasonable traveller and therefore able to holiday often, having autism absolutely does stop some people from travelling and you sound like a tit here.

@Micnerhss do you also take your children to big UK based events like Comic Con?
My daughter gets plenty of culture just by going to events like that (and it cost £££).

I’ve taken my DC to 45 countries (including the UK extensively) and they have loved visiting many wonders of the world. I started taking my DC abroad when they were 10 weeks old and never had a bad trip. I didn’t take them long haul until my youngest started school and then gradually got more and more ambitious. Our most recent big trip was to China which was my joint favourite holiday ever and my DC’s favourite destination so far.

I’ve never come across this.

That's not offsetting carbon, that's making your life easier and saying you're doing your bit.

Seriously.... it's a thing.
Children taken on holiday abroad but barely leave their home town/city any other time.

Have you tried travelling with someone with complex disabilities? When we go away I pack one case for me but my little boy's equipment takes up half the van. Add into the mix the fact that he is unable to sit unsupported and needs a change of position every two hours to prevent skin breakdown and pressure areas. Then we need level access, hoists, a profiling bed, access to a good hospital, a shower room that can take a trolley because he can't sit on a shower chair. I need to take all his feeds because he's on prescription milk via a feed pump.

I don't know how the language barrier would work if he were taken ill abroad and seeing as he's had several sepsis' it is likely that he could end up in hospital. If we were delayed how do I feed him without his milk.

We do go away but not abroad. Just the whole lack of suitable accommodation that is reasonably priced is a barrier before we even get on to the other hurdles in our way.

Maybe they don’t want to and it’s not a priority for them. Things that seem utterly key for you and your family can just be less important to others.
Why don’t your children do ice skating lessons?
Why don’t your children learn a musical instrument?

Etc. People make different choices about how to spend their time and money.

Maybe they're just alarmed at your astronomical carbon footprint

Don't have kids but my DH is autistic and absolutely hates flying and being in unfamiliar places. We got the train from Berlin to Amsterdam last year which was lovely so we could recreate our honeymoon, but flying to Berlin where his brother was living was so hard. He had a panic attack while we were out sightseeing so we spent most of Berlin in the hotel watching Succession (which is very good). We do plan to visit Japan, as it's a dream destination for us both, but the flying is a major issue for him.

I always imagined travelling more, but I would want DH there and for him to enjoy it too. Also we miss our cat! Instead, we want to see more of the UK by train or ferry. There's so much I haven't seen here and we love hiking and history. I'm sure Japan won't be the only trip, but I hate hot weather so the idea of an annual holiday to Spain or similar isn't appealing to me.

Genuine question, what culture do you actually learn about from travelling?

Absolutely agree with this.
And as for escaping to warmer weather, we had a pretty record breaking summer here this year (tho maybe people are talking about winter sun hols?)

I have 4 kids. I haven't found a holiday that doesnt cost 3-4 grand. I just don't have that kind of money.
I went on one caravan holiday As a chils