Upper Middle Class not well travelled AIBU?

[Tabbytiger122]

There are some very wealthy folk we know & some I'm acquaintances with on fb from college. All seem to run off similar schedule for holidays... Christmas skiing in France/Switzerland (same place every year) Midterm said place again, summer is always spent somewhere in France ,Italy or Greece (but always the same town)
That's it never different countries... it seems to me they are not well travelled & that familiarity is more important than going somewhere new for the heck of it! Aibu?

Some people use holidays for experience and learning, others use them for pleasure, some do both. These different attitudes are about personality, lifestyle and what people enjoy. I don't see a link to social class.

To be fair though OP, your original post used terms that were inherently judgmental, such as "not well-travelled" as opposed to a more objective statement that they like to go to the same places.

You were trying to needle in the way it was worded. It went beyond an innocent question.

There's a lot of bitchy comments on this thread isn't there 😂.
We do things properly as opposed to the type who don't. We go for quality as opposed to the type who'll sleep in any old shack. We do a deep dive on the culture as opposed to those who like to do tick box touristing staying in a resort.

So insecure isn't it? You'd think if you were going on holiday it would be all about the things you like as opposed dismissing all the things other people ( the poor) like.

Class based posts are brilliant on MN - all the people trying to gently assert their social positions (without boastingmuch because that wouldn't be classy) - but they get the markers in - even on an anonymous forum - it's none of your business! Funny - thank you OP - very good! 😂

It’s because your OP was judgemental in itself, which you seem weirdly in denial about. You would have had different responses if you’d simply said ‘Is going on winter and summer holidays to the same few places a usual UMC thing?’

Stop tying yourself up in knots about class. What wealthy people choose to do is their business alone.

These type of posts demonstrate how little understanding of wealth and its subtle signifiers most people on MN have. They're very telling.

But apparently they are quite happy to share their business on this thread in a not so subtle way. Funny that!

It’s middle class people with lots of money.

Done to me means explore extensively as opposed to a single two week holiday.

What is ‘middle class’ defined as? A university degree?

How much money? £1m in assets/home?

So what?

Why are you asking specifically about ‘upper middle class’ rather than rich people?

Who cares?!

Everyone does stuff differently depending on their preferences. Some like routine and familiarity and getting to know a place.

I go to Hastings every year 🤣

They're definitely not upper middle class though. That's the issue I assume.

I honestly don't even feel I have "done" my own country.

Well, I agree — it’s not wealth signifiers, but class signifiers. I mean, I get that we’re talking people who go on holiday at least twice a year, but if there’s a family holiday home, possibly, in both places, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re wealthy. I mean, I hate skiing, and I’d class us as educated WC, but we have friends with a family chalet in the Swiss Alps we can use if we like in the winters, and have had the use of other people’s holiday homes in the past. All that means is that, because of going to Oxford, we have friends with family money and second homes.

I think it sounds lovely to enjoy somewhere so much that you keep returning.

I think because, despite OP’s protestations to the contrary, there is an underlying value judgment. The MCs are supposed to be more cultured and culture seeking? The wealthier MCs (what she calls ‘UMC’) have even less excuse for not being ‘well travelled’ because they have money.

It’s inverted snobbery. People access culture in many ways that aren’t linked to where and how they chose to holiday. Those things are generally more limited/shaped by whether you are salaried/self employed and limited in the amount of holiday you can take, whether you have kids (and are limited to school holidays and/or locations that are family friendly), whether you have SEN kids, whether you have a high stress job that already involves travel and just want R&R and time to reconnect with family, whether you have access to culture where you live and overseas experiences through work.

So, yes, OP is judging and finding ‘UMC’ people wanting if they don’t fit her definition of ‘well-travelled’.

I sort of agree but all the ones I know also spend a fortune visiting their young adult children in Australia, Canada, Scotland and wherever else they have ended up.

I know a few families like this. And to a certain extent you're right. But I don't think it's because they're boring. It's almost always because they want reliability, comfort and relaxation. And as a couple of people have said, they often holiday with other families and it's a socialisation thing.

In many cases, they're also people who have "big" jobs with lots of stress and responsibility so the relaxation and reliability and comfort is a huge thing for them.

The ones I know are also very well travelled, but that's separate to their big familiy holidays. They've often travelled a lot when younger, both privately and for work, and then while their kids are relatively young, they revert to these easy, comfortable, relaxing holidays. But then it starts to get a bit different again as the kids get older - a city break in a new place etc.

But no, they're certainly not backpacking around India. They've either done it before when younger, visited for work or are not interested.

As a rule, DH and I aren't rushing back to the same places every time, but quite frankly, that's because while we have lovely holidays and I'm not complaining, we can't afford the kind of holiday that when we get there, it's "perfect". So we're always sort of looking for the next place that WILL be perfect. But realistically, unless our holiday budget gets bigger, that might not happen!

It’s normally a uni education and a professional job - white collar - rather than a manual job - blue collar. But definitions vary. You can be middle class but not well off. You can be working class but well off. Go and look up the many MN threads debating this definition.

I agree, that’s my retirement goal, to travel all over the UK. Before kids I did backpacking all over the place. With kids it was easy holidays in Europe. Retirement is the UK. Never even been to Northern Ireland.

Perhaps they own chalets there ?

Travel looks different for everyone. Some people crave novelty. Others crave comfort. Neither is wrong. They've chosen places they love and keep going back. That's not 'not well travelled.' That's knowing what you like. If they were never leaving their hometown, that'd be different. But they're not. They're just not as adventurous as you might expect.

For some people a holiday is not the place you go, but the things you do (and the things you don't).