Had a taste of the good life and now want more

[Aislingklo]

My parents withdrew some money last year and were able to take me dh and ds on a few holidays abroad. We never really went away abroad much as a family until then, just once abroad as a family of 3 years ago. It was great and now I want to go away more but we just can’t afford it. It really depresses me and in a way I wish we’d never gone as now I have this intense itch!

I also only drink on holidays (or birthdays/parties only when at home) so it
would also be a deal breaker for me.
I get that you don't want to cook, but I don't understand why self-catering means you couldn't drink.

In the sense that I couldn’t have cocktails and all the variety of stuff that you get in a hotel.

OK, I see.
I have a holiday fund – I put a bit of money aside every time I get paid, have round-up on my current account so, every time I spend even a small amount, some money goes into it, anything I sell online I put in the fund. It adds up. Saying that, we go self-catering, usually with Airbnb (although we hardly cook at all, just toast and stuff in the mornings and a few snacks; we eat out cheaply).

I sense you don't want to make any changes to enable a luxury holiday every few years,

Nor are you prepared to tone down your wishlist for the holiday - having knocked back all PPs suggestions.

So, you have my sympathy in terms of being hooked on the high life, but I think YABU in terms of being depressed about having experienced it. Some people never even get that.

All of these points.

Can you book a holiday well in advance when early discounts are often offered and then set aside money in a high interest savings account over say, two years, and pay off the rest when it's due? Something to look forward and work towards? As others have said, TUI is great for this and you can filter for free child places.

We'd all love ultra luxury experiences, but it's just not realistic for most people. Ask yourself what you can realistically make possible.

You have to work with what you have or work towards earning more. It's the only way.

I've never been out of the country.
@mindutopia would like to read some of your experiences?
@DottysCollywobbles I wouldn't have been amused either re the Devon / Cornwall complaints..

I go on regular holidays 2 -4 a year
Ive had some amazing ones in Thailand and the Maldives Mexico Miami in previous years that were £££££

but now I try to go 4 star as I think the extra money for 5 star is generally not worth it and I would fill disappointed & ripped off

some countries are much more expensive for 4-5 star holidays

I’ve just had an amazing holiday in Turkey 2 week AI
private beach jetty’s numerous pools amazing food

paid 1350 each for 2 weeks AI
And we also did 3 nights on a gullet with our own cabin for 150 each all food and drink inc

I’m off to Gran Canaria at a 4 star in Feb
and the hotel isn’t as nice as the one in Turkey but it’s almost over 1500 more because it’s the Canary Islands

Loads of cruises are like that. Even the more budget p and o take your cases off you at check in and take them to your cabin. And food is all inc

Have never been in a cruise and don't really have a desire to. But have been on many Airbnb holidays and loved them. So affordable. So relaxing.

have you considered house sitting? I have been on 8 house sits including 2 abroad and they were amazing, I went to Denmark for 3 nights and the entire thing including flights and food cost about £250 as the accommodation was free

Can I ask, did you do them through one of the housesitting sites like Trusted Housesitters? I've done them, but only in the UK; I feel nervous about overseas ones, for a few reasons but largely because when you're travelling further, using planes/long train journeys etc, it feels like there's more that can go wrong, and I really don't want to leave someone in the lurch because my flight is delayed or whatever.

yes they're all through THS :) I was also worried about going abroad too, but I only picked sits that had reviews from other international sitters and were close to the airport and accessible by public transport. I would really recommend it! it's great for expensive locations like Denmark as you can use the kitchen to cook all your own food and save money that way

Thank you; that's reassuring.
And sorry to all for derailing...

When my DH passed away he had 100s of 1000s of air miles which had a time limit so I flew me and my kids business class a couple times and then premium. Now economy is torture. I save up all my Tesco points to convert to air miles to bump us up to premium now. Never flying long haul in economy again (my kids do though - DD flew two ten hour and two four hour flights economy this summer - middle seat too)! Once you get a taste it’s really hard to go back!

I went on a cruise with Cunard last year - it was the Friday the schools broke for the summer holidays. £740 for a week all inclusive.
I used to book the last week of the summer holidays, as this was also often cheaper

you can get some good deals on Spain, but you have to be savvy
book self catering and eat dinner out each night

go to the super stock up on lollies ice cream fizzy drinks wine and then have pre drinks before dinner

sometime AI at 3 * isn’t great so it’s better to go SC

I think that's fair. OP, you can either dial back the time you spend away, or the way you spend it. So take a long weekend a short flight away in termtime in a nice hotel, or find cheaper accommodation and deal with self-catering for a longer period in school vacs.

I find it really weird how offended some people get when someone nicely says on here ‘that’s not quite what I’m about.’

Op, I get it. I feel like a budget holiday kind of feels like darning old clothes where the effect is weirdly worse than if you just styled it out and looked like a scruff bag was your style.

100% THIS!!

Yes, I feel this. We have been business class a few times and doing long haul in economy is just awful now.
Plus, people underestimate how good the business/upper class lounges are before the flight...

Thankfully premium economy is a good alternative and just about affordable.

I hear you OP. We do self catering on holiday and mostly eat at home with a couple of takeaways and meals out. This year we had a long weekend for my 50th and had nearly every meal out. It was an absolute luxury - not just the eating out but the time saved not shopping, cooking and cleaning up. Unbelievably relaxing and luxurious! I can imagine a whole week or two of this - now that's a real break!

Exactly. That's what a holiday should be.

You seriously think that P&O wouldn’t be an amazing holiday?! Compared to what - you’re currently considering “nothing”!

no fly cruises don’t need expensive term time flights, they usually have offers on 3rd person sharing a room, you don’t need to spend a penny if you don’t want to - excursions and extra restaurants aren’t necessary and the drinks package can work out expensive given the the drinks are mostly pub prices. And Easter is cheaper than summer.

we often do the repositioning cruise which is cheaper if you don’t mind spending half your time at sea and the other half in the Caribbean.

your gross salary doesn’t give much information as we have no idea how much your expenses are.

go every 18 months or every 2 years. But you have to prioritise it above other things you might be spending.

sorry but if you think that a P&O cruise wouldn’t be good enough for you then yes, you’re shopping out of your league. In my experience (55 years cruising) most cruises are better value than 95% of land based all inclusive holidays.

If the flight is bonded (often is) you don’t even need to collect your luggage at the foreign airport it’s delivered directly to your cabin. You have a cabin steward who will bring you daily ice if you want and you can do as little or as much as you like. We tend to be manic in port, get local buses to see what we want or just potter around the port town if nice enough, then collapse in a heap on sea days, daily quiz is about as energetic as we get.

i have in my youth travelled first and business class and stayed at top hotels. I’m amazed that anyone would consider a P&O cruise beneath them. If you don’t want a huge ship, choose one like Britannia which is incredibly stylish and has an amazing library and dedicated free cinema.

I appreciate that it’s normal to feel dissatisfied with life from time to time but nice things are only nice because they don’t happen all the time, they would become mundane if they did. I also wonder if having things, even things that we really want truly would make us happy. Humans are generally bad at judging what really brings us contentment.

Great post, I like that deep thinking behind it and do agree. I guess that's why rich celebrities etc are often seeking pleasure etc elsewhere and often die young or don't find that contentment.