To have lost the travel bug

[Sundaynightterrors]

I have always loved travelling and have been fortunate to have visited lots of amazing places - Grand Canyon, Sahara Desert, Niagara Falls, Caribbean Islands etc. There are obviously still lots of places I haven’t been to but I seem to have lost to desire go far. We have been to some beautiful beaches etc in this country and I am now happy just doing this. Next year is a big birthday and DP has mentioned doing a special holiday - Maldives, Mauritius, or similar. This lack of desire to travel isn’t just to do with beach holidays but also exploring other countries in general.

AIBU just want to find some lovely empty beaches here to explore rather than flying half way round the world any more

Same. I’ll still travel to take DD places and give her experiences and we have a family holiday booked later in year. But i think i’m just tired of it all now. I’ve been lucky and travelled extensively, even lived abroad but now I’m content to stay put with a few days at a cabin and a hot tub (still pricey in the uk). I live in a beautiful area people often go on holiday to in this country, near sea, mountains, forests and can go paddle boarding, skiing etc, activities people pay 1000’s travelling to do elsewhere. It’s taken a while and still a work in progress but I now love chilling in the garden when the sun makes a rare appearance. Just can’t be bothered with crowds, packing, lines, heat, admin in a foreign place etc. I worry a lot about safety of my daughter, panic about getting sick or hospitalised or jailed for unintentional stuff.

I follow a lot of mummy travel bloggers on instagram who go away every school break and it just makes me feel so tired at the thought of doing the same. It’s never as effortless as it all looks 🤣

I fell the same. Travelled a lot in my youth - always presumed I would travel more once the kids left home. I now don’t see the point. Mainly the issue is cost and the impact of flying. Travel also doesn’t seem very foreign anymore. You go places in Europe and they have the same chain stores you have here.

Agree.

The airport and transfers are just a temporary inconvenience on either side of the holiday. Cannot imagine giving up holidays abroad just to avoid a few hours of flying. I frequently do long haul to Asia (min 13 hours). You develop tips and tricks for long haul flights. Anyway, with the Iran war, I guess I won't be flying to Asia as much.

Do people who don't do international holidays for leisure also turn down work trips?

I feel the same tbh. I loved travelling. Now I just find it exhausting and quite himself feels like a waste of money now. At the end of it I am not rested either and I really don’t sleep very well on holidays!!

I could’ve written your myself OP. I used to love travelling and as a family we’ve been to some amazing places but like you I’ve lost the travel bug. Unsure why I feel like this, it may come back but who knows

Yes. This is our outlook now too. There are loads of fascinating places within 3 hour flight and we use a local airport that takes 30 minutes from parking to gate. We only go to places connected by train from the airports we can get to from our easy use local airport. Spent last summer exploring Bohemia on Czechia trains and autumn in Lithuania on the baltic coast. Couldn't do long haul now but there is still so much to see within a couple of hours.

I'm a bit like this too op. Can't bear the packing, getting case under a certain weight is always stressful. Paying for airport parking winds me up! Too many people. Seems to create more jobs. Totally get it.

Who does all the organising and packing OP?

I'm the same, can't be arsed with the decision making, preparation and travelling, queuing, other guests being rude, loud, pilling their plates high at the buffet, blisters from 'nice' evening shoes with hot sweaty feet, mossie bites (they adore me), looky looky men and their crappy shops etc.

Before Covid I literally had at least one future holiday booked at all times, went abroad generally 3 times a year. I used to tell people I worked to go on holiday. Now I work and just watch the money sitting in my savings not giving me any joy.

I have travelled all over the world and will continue to do so solely to show my young children the planet.

I hate flying. I hate airports. I hate people.

When the children head off into adulthood (we have some time to go, youngest is 4), I will fly no further than 5 hours max and it will be bliss. I will stick to cruises, city breaks and short haul beaches.

Until then we have Florida, New York, Boston and New Orleans on our list. I will grin and bear the travelling.

Always have a good time when we get to where we are going btw. It’s the jet lag, the length of the flights and the.. hassle.

I'll swap with you in an instant! I can't travel abroad right now for health reasons and I'm desperate to go places. Although having said that, Maldives and Mauritius aren't high on my list.

YANBU. Long haul flights hit differently as you get older. I travelled extensively in my 20s and 30s and loved it. Since having kids, then COVID I haven't traveled much in the last 15 years.

I'm based in Australia so basically any overseas travel is long haul. I went to India last year & the flight home was 24 hours door to door, accounting for traffic on the way to the airport, wait time at airports & stopovers. I did not sleep at all. It was awful!

I've turned 50 this year. I'm going to London in a couple of weeks and it took a lot of convincing for me to book it. This is 24 hours of flight time, not including getting to & from the airport and waiting at either end for immigration etc. it will be over 30 hours door to door. I am really not looking forward to it 😢. I've bought an eye mask, converter to use my own headphones, pillow... Basically anything to try to make it more comfortable.

That’s a very, very weird comment. Where have you actually been? I’ve seen some amazing and astonishing and profoundly moving things while travelling.

Brunei for me! Luckily lots of other amazing places near by.

AIBU just want to find some lovely empty beaches here to explore rather than flying half way round the world any more

Not at all, but you, or probably your DH are being a bit unreasonable to think that you need to fly half way around the world to find anywhere worth visiting.

I went to Iceland for a big birthday. We also holiday a lot in the mountains between Malaga and Granada which are a world away from the 'all inclusive lager and English breakfasts' image of 'the costas'. Most people don't speak English, hardly any foreign tourists outside the cities, traditional Andalusian lifestyle as well as the history in Granada, Malaga, Cordoba etc as well as hiking and mountain biking are at least as interesting as the Maldives, which let's face it, are a luxury, aspirational version of an AI package holiday in Benidorm.

If you're close to London, you can travel to Europe easily by train. I know a few people who've been interrailing in their 50s and 60s, visiting France, Germany, Italy and other places.

You could go on a cruise or a 'grand tour by train' through the Alps or aforementioned Spanish cities.

In my 70s and I still like long haul (BC) holidays. I much prefer touring, rather than beach holidays. We usually have one long haul holiday a year. I am aware that time is short and that I might not want to do this in my 80s. I also love the UK too and there are still so many places I haven’t seen here.
OP, if it is your husband’s big birthday then I think you should do what he wants.

How sad for you.

How noble of you, going on all those expensive long haul flights just for the sake of your little ones 😆

I agree on the process of travel - it never used to bother me but I really dislike the whole airport and plane experience now. I hate being herded about, from one endless queue to another, then waiting, then being delayed, it's all horrible.

But I still love being somewhere else and so it's still worth it for me. I can appreciate lovely days at home (like we've just had - perfect, gorgeous weather), and there are some amazing places to visit in the UK, but I just can't get excited about holidays in the UK, whereas going abroad just switches something on in me that otherwise lies dormant.

@crackofdoom

Well.. I can’t have them growing up and saying they were neglected as children, can I? 🙄

I was taken all over the globe as a child, there is nothing wrong with your children having nice experiences ffs.

I’m feeling similarly. For me it’s a combination of my hatred of flying, environmental guilt and my low budget that prevents far flung travel these days! There are places that I would love to see but just can’t see myself on a plane for 8+ hours, or having enough funds for that sort of holiday anymore.

Thanks everyone for your responses. Just to clarify a couple of points I didn’t make clear.
Firstly it’s my big birthday next year not DPs. I know that when it is his, I will be led by what he wants to do.
Secondly I don’t find travelling stressful. I really always found every bit of it exciting and saw it as part of the experience, from queuing for security to waiting in the lounge area, etc so I don’t think it is this aspect. I just don’t have the desire or enthusiasm to want to see anywhere - there’s nowhere that I can think of that excites me.

I’ve just read that and I realise I sound very sad!!!