Holidays are just not worth the money

[Phonicshaskilledmeoff]

Holidays are just not worth it.

The kids are desparate to go on holiday. I struggle to see the value though. For the 5 of us an abroad holiday is about £3k minimum. I struggle to get over the cost whilst I’m there - £500 a day and I sit wondering whether it was worth it.

The kids are excellent travellers and beautifully behaved when on holiday so it’s nothing to do with them. I just think it’s insanely expensive for what you actually get.

I enjoy it whilst I’m there - how do I stop being a cheap killjoy?!

Cottages are usually pretty expensive compared to other UK options. The biggest source of cheap domestic breaks are caravan parks. Lots of places you can get a week's caravan accommodation on a park with some activities for less than 1k in summer. I don't know about camping.

If you need car rental that will push it up, albeit there's some places where it'd be doable on public transport.

It's very expensive to holiday in the UK, it costs a lot more than booking an Airbnb in a beautiful city in Europe. Not everybody gets the experience they are looking for in the UK and it's a lot of money if the weather is crap the whole time because you tend to rely on being outside a lot on UK holidays.
I'm currently in Gdansk though where it's raining unfortunately but should hopefully improve tomorrow. It's so beautiful and unique in this city.

I kind of get it.

There are places I would love to see but weighing up the cost, hassle etc against any benefit means it’s not really worth it.

You can find Airbnbs in complexes that have pools, as a good example, in 2020 we stayed in a 2 bedroomed apartment with balcony overlooking copacabana beach in Rio, the complex had a pool and it was £40 a night! Renting from a local in the place you want to visit is always a bargain and we've been 63 countries and mainly used Airbnbs. Something like that gets you a bit of both worlds because you get some good exploration and the kids get pool time.

Neither is mine. For a hundred reasons, I’ve not regretted spending a penny of the five figure sum in total of the travel I’ve spent as an adult, over three decades. I already have certain regrets and I want to minimise further ones so travelling more is on my agenda. When the time comes, people generally regret the same things - I wish I’d spent more time with family and friends, I wish I’d travelled more.

Each to their own!

I used to think holidays were a waste of time and then I had a terrible breakdown and realised holidays away were critical to my creative regeneration- building positive memories and new inspiration. I hope you find joy whether home or abroad as these memories will last a lifetime!

I agree. Holidays in the UK often cost more than abroad, there is no guarantee of good weather and swimming in the sea is COLD.

My children are both autistic and we’ve been unable to holiday for 7 years. I’d pay £10k for a day trip or sell a kidney for my my boys asking to go on holiday.

It’s not really a matter of whether it’s ‘worth’ the money. If you pick the right place you can give your family a whole new experience, new place, culture, nature, different climate, different food, places of interest, education etc.
The issue is it’s just too expensive! If we had the money it would be worth it, we just can’t afford it.

@Anarchy99

yeah and why bother when you can just see these places on the telly anyway. Same thing

What I don’t get is why people get the arse about it. Why does it matter to you?

The stress and cost of going to those places (including being stuck in an aeroplane with a load of people without being able to get off) is not worth any potential benefit.

And that’s fine as it works for you.

I spend plenty of time with family and the great thing about choosing not to spend the time, money and stress on travelling is that it won’t be a regret when my time comes.

Do people really regret not travelling more? I grew up in a time when hardly any of my peers went abroad on holiday so it’s not like it was something I was used to,

@Anarchy99

I don’t have the arse about it…but I guess I am fascinated! I mean…imagine a safari for example…how can anyone think that experience wouldn’t be worthy of packing and sitting on an airplane?! Genuinely curious!

I agree that holidays abroad tend to cost at least 100 pounds per person per day.

For those advocating driving to France and doing Eurocamp, that's OK if you live near the south coast and have at least 2 drivers If you live in the North it's a long drive before you even get to the ports unless you take a boat from Hull, but that's an overnight ferry and you need to book cabins - it isn't cheap.

Personally, as a single parent there is no way I'm driving solo all the way to France and doing all the driving and everything else once there - that's not a holiday for me, that's hard work. Even in families with only one driver, if there are 2 parents, the driver can have a bit of a break once you've arrived. I'm the taxi service at home, I refuse to drive at all on my holidays.

So I either fly somewhere or if I can't afford that, I don't go. I live in the countryside, so a cottage in the country in the UK is pointless for me.

For me, there’s so much value in travelling overseas that can’t be replicated with staycations. To me, it’s priceless. £500 a day for day trips etc. would mean same old scene, same places, the hassle, the time and expense of travelling to and from visitor attractions, unpredictable weather. As much as I like UK days out, these can pretty much be done any time of year. I’m biased because I am longing for a sun-drenched holiday abroad and really value that escape from the same old same old. If my parents had suggested a staycation when they could afford a holiday abroad, I might have put a brave face on it and agreed but I would have been very disappointed.

If it's not worth it to you, don't book it. The location doesn't matter, the price doesn't matter, its that dedicated family time and new experiences together that they remember.

What kind of trips do you enjoy?

Could you start saving a few hundred a month now towards a holiday next summer?

I understand OP, I am not good at spending money on holidays.

I look at lovely places and then my mind wonders whether it is actually possible to enjoy myself to the tune of £5k, and I come up with 'I think not!'.

Like you I could afford it, it just doesn;t represent good value - I know I am probably being unreasonable but I really don't know how to chnage my mindset on it. I feel I have worked hard to increase my savings but to what end?

We have never gone any further than France with the kids but we have had some great holidays.

I personally don't particularly enjoy the travel aspect and I often feel justified in my choice when I see things in the news about travel chaos/delays, 40c+ temperatures in Europe and I'm thank ful I opted to go to Norfolk...again!

Because different people prioritise different things. I am not going to choose to do something that is guaranteed to cause much stress for little reward.

Let’s face it, nobody (including me) wants to find out if I’m going to have a meltdown on the plane due to sensory overload.

I am not missing out on anything by not going so why bother

@Anarchy99

well yeah if you definitely wouldn’t enjoy it, don’t! Stay home 😊

A holiday doesn't have to be expensive...

You don’t actually know what you’re missing out on.

Then I’m not missing out on it, am I? Would my life be better for enduring the crap part and experiencing the good part? No. So it’s fine.

You may feel your life would be poorer without and that’s also fine

I feel exactly the same as you. We have got savings and can easily afford it bit still feel resentful at the amount it costs. As you said about £500 per day seems a huge amount - it's also a risk as you never know what the hotel/place is really like til you get there so it's an enormous gamble!

I wonder if part of it is around how you save/pay for holidays. I can imagine if you had a general pot of savings that taking £3000+ from a holiday might feel very frivolous and easy to compare it to other purchases you could do etc, feel a bit painful watching your savings reduce. For us, we have a specific holiday savings account, we pay a certain amount a month into it, and I have a general idea of what holidays I want to do about 1-2 years in advance so I know how much I need in it. So mentally it doesn’t feel like we are taking X out of savings, instead we are saving for holiday…if that makes sense?!