How much do you do on holiday

[gollygosshhh]

Bit of a row between dh and I on holiday today - in Balearics and have spent most of the week in the resort. It’s a good family friendly place, loads of activities for kids and a beach and water park nearby which we’ve visited. But when abroad I like to see a bit more of the area and suggested a boat trip to a different part of the island tomorrow. Dh basically shot the idea down saying it’s too hot and it’ll be a nightmare with the youngest (3) who to be fair is probably happiest playing in the pool and attending the hotel activities. Older ds (12) may benefit from seeing a bit but isn’t really fussed either. But I get bored and just feel like it’s a waste to come this far and basically stay in the hotel all week.

I don’t disagree with Dh per se but feel a bit deflated and I guess guilty for not making the most of our time away. I’m not talking exclusions everyday but if it were up to Dh we literally wouldn’t go anywhere. Is it worth pushing this or do we just stick to norm.

You’re in the Balearics not on a once in a lifetime trip to somewhere it’s taken you 24 hours to get to.
If everyone is having a good time hanging out together in the resort that’s a great holiday.
Please don’t waste good family time thinking about what you should be doing, or what other people are saying you should be doing.
What you should be doing is what’s right for you guys.

Same. I don't see the point of relaxing in a resort. I prefer to go out exploring and see a bit of the world.

I’m currently on holiday and we had the same discussion last night, we have done lots of trips but the majority of the people we see are at the pool when we leave and return. Haven’t seemed to have left all week. Can’t understand it, seems odd to go to another country try but not explore but everyone is different.

We normally go out and about and sight see. However we went to Turkey last year and only left the hotel for 2 walks up and down the beach. It was a great holiday I felt like I'd really relaxed!

I love the idea of doing nothing for a week but I am rubbish at it. I now book nice hotels, with a pool or beach, but with cities or places to explore nearby.

It’s not morally superior to go out and explore places. Let people just lay for a week. They may run themselves ragged the other 51 weeks of the year and just want to lay horizontally for a week. They’re enjoying themselves equally as much as you are going out and about.

I've always taken the approach that the holiday is for everyone so there needs to be a mix of activities, not just things for the kids, so some stuff is for their enjoyment and some stuff is for the adults. That's how my parents approached holidays too and I appreciate now why they dragged us along to things we thought boring (or thought would be boring but turned out interesting) because it wasn't just about us, they deserved to do things that interested them too and I appreciate the exposure I got to different experiences. Even now we often go on holiday with my parents and we do different activities to please 3 generations with different interests and my children get new experiences which they may or may not enjoy but will always have the memories of (sometimes its the worst part of a holiday that makes for the best memories that everyone laughs over years later)

DH is happy with his book by the pool for 2 weeks. I’m a scuba diver so I tend to take myself off diving in the morning, sometimes with one or both of the DC who also dive, then I’m back round the pool in the afternoon. I might manage to get DH out on a boat trip, and we do sometimes head out of the resort in the evening for dinner/a wander to a local town. I quite enjoy having a bit of time by myself, as we can find we’re all a bit on top of each other otherwise!

@Bedroomdilemmas113

because OP isn’t she…she’s a bit bored. She presumably paid for, organised, planned etc this holiday why shouldn’t she get to do what she wants to do?

@DreadedInn

a family holiday doesn’t mean being joined at the hip 24/7! It’s ok to have time apart to do different stuff

I think what I would want to do would be very different if it was 35 degrees in August to what I would do when it’s 22-25° in May or September, which is when I take holidays. If you have a young child and it’s very hot I can see why your DH would want to just stay on the resort site, and presumably if you are on a large resort, there will be things for the children to do there. If you aren’t confident to go out and about by yourself, you could book on one or two of the organised trips (assuming you are on a package).

We are normally out and about visiting local towns, but we tend to do one thing a day, get up late, back to accommodation to relax late afternoon and we don’t holiday in main summer any longer. Nor do we have young DC, so very different situation.

It sounds from what you are saying that your DH is pretty much suggesting that the temperature means you are compelled to stay around the pool, and it sounds as though you, not unreasonably, find that limiting. And maybe that your youngest, and actually, all of you, are struggling a bit with the heat.

We ten to do lots on holiday. We prefer mildly warm conditions over hot conditions, so in summer we holiday in places where the temperatures and local environment are more conducive to being active and doing things we enjoy doing. It's pretty normal for us to be in full length wetsuits on our summer holidays, and long sleeves and trousers in the evenings.

Our holidays away often look something like:

• coastal camping, with beach (paddleboarding) time morning and evening and local cultural stuff, or other active stuff (cycling, hiking) during the day;
• a self-catering stay somewhere mountainous, with hiking, cycling, gorge-walking, and a few meals out in quality establishments.
• shorter city breaks out of high season, soaking up the local sights, sounds and cuisine.

A bit of both! Some days just flop by the pool than good book. Other days a bit more adventurous and go exploring. I get bored just lying on a sunbed every day for a fortnight

It’s been a while since I’ve been on a boat, but aren’t they a good way to cool down because of the breeze? I’ve also been on a few that stop and let you swim in the sea for a while. I can understand wanting to relax on holiday but for me, that doesn’t exclude boat trips. I would understand your husband’s hesitation if you had to get up early, travel miles and hike all day or something, but I would also be bored staying in the resort all the time.

You should get in the pool. It’s more fun that way. 😬

Yes boat trips and also watersports are a great way of doing activities without getting hot and bothered.

When the kids were younger we stayed in the hotel most days and had one, maybe two half days out. It could be a boat trip or we’d go to a local market for example. Now it’s just me and DH, we like to go out most days. We do a mixture of theme park holidays and cultural holidays. On the cultural holidays it will be a mix of food walking tours (love those), boat trips, museums, spa days, bunkers (that was in Tirana), general wandering in the local area…that sort of thing really.

My next holiday is an absolute do nothing holiday, it’ll be up and by the pool until lunch, couple of hours in the shade having lunch at the pool bar and back to the pool for the rest of the day and then out for food in the evening

Me and DH used to do a lot of seeing stuff all the time on holiday before we had kids. We did it on our first full family holiday too and quickly decided it wasnt worth it. It was hot, kids were cranky and it was too much like hard work. Turns out they dont remember much and just wanted to be by the pool anyway.

They're young adults now and still just want to lounge by the pool unless we do adventurous activities like theme parks, water parks, high wires or water sports. Otherwise they prefer to be by the pool with WiFi. They just dont like sightseeing or doing stuff for the sake of it. It's their holiday too. And now 20 years on I also prefer lounging by a pool, with maybe a little sightseeing or trip to the beach on one day only!

I don't see the point of relaxing in a resort

I do wonder what all the posters who have posted this sort of comment, do for work. To me the whole point of going on holiday is exactly to relax. Just to switch off from all the 'busy-ness' of normal life.

I can understand people who say they aren't very good at sitting still, or that they are really interested in seeing the area they are holidaying in, but to say you "don't see the point of relaxing" is bizarre.

I totally understand that feeling of "should do something"! I also get that when kids are very young, those resorts are easy and great for everyone. I think when our kids were toddlers our balance would be more resort, but we'd still get out to a few activities that would be enjoyable for all, like a zoo, aquarium, theme park, cable car, night light show or interactive museum. Indoor activities might be a welcome break from the heat. I probably wouldn't do a long boat ride or shopping. We spend a lot to fly to a place so like to make it memorable.

This.

Also my ideal holiday is skiing rather than summer holiday . We can now all ski together, but sometimes split up as some like snow parks, jumps, off piste or just hooning, whilst some don't. We are super active skiing, so any summer holiday is a bonus for us, so we all do what we want to chill. Much prefer skiing though!

I just went on a boat by myself with 2 kids in Mallorca . Husband stayed at the hotel as it was too hot. Everyone is happy at the end

I spend all my holidays mishioning around and seeing everything i can and barely stop at the hotel