Copycat friends

[Mgb24]

Need advice. Our family have a campbervan and tent. Spend most school holidays traveling around England; France; & Spain camping; enjoying activities; al fresco dining; sight seeing and just having family fun.. we know that we're fortunate and these trip are the highlight of our year.

We spend a lot of time and effort planning targets; routes; activities etc. I learned the lingo to help maximise our trips.
Yet
A "friend" of my DH; his new wife & his stepchildren have taken to replicating our trips.

These holidays, we drove over 2000 miles in the last 4 weeks over a huge area enjoying gorgeous French villages away from tourist areas; range of activities & fun for the kids; perfect wee campsites with natural (river or mountain or beach) fun / adventures or bigger campsites with organised fun (pools; games; etc).. but a range to keep it fresh and interesting. Much fun was had by us

But our carefully planned and much enjoyed holidays was slightly soured when our trip was replicated by DH's "friend" & his new family as two weeks behind us they repeated our route; and our activities even staying in the same tiny villages; eating in the same restaurants; enjoying many of the same activities
They didn't ask for recommendations- seem to have just picked up the inspiration from our facebooks; instrgrams etc.

DH finds it creepy and flattering all in equal doses
Me - I find it frustrating that all the time and effort we put into planning is just then used by lazy "friends".

Any ideas of how to deal with it?
Any ideas on how to prevent reoccurrence?

I don't understand why you think it's a problem.

We've had friends do the same holiday as us and we've provided them with the information they needed.

If you didn't want anybody to copy you, why did you post so much easily identifiable information about routes, restaurants etc online for other people to see?

Hahaha, you are funny op.
Stop posting so much on social media, nobody is really interested anyway.

If you put all the details of your break on social media then people will read it and take ideas from it. When i plan my holidays, i regularly read blogs, trip advisor etc .

I think your attitude to travel and holidays is a little precious.

But, I do think there is something a little odd about replicating a friend's holiday in that much detail, especially only a couple of weeks later. I've seen photos of places and added a visit into a holiday, but wouldnt ever copy cat holiday. It's a little weird.

You are either winding everyone up, or smug and unreasonable.

If they booked the same flights and waved across the aisle, then you'd have a legitimate complaint. Following your overly publicised itinerary, so what.

YABU for such a smug OP!

Call 101 and log it.

OP I don't say this much, but you are NUTS.
Stop putting it on social media! Of course people will use your stuff as reccommendations if it looks beautiful/fun. It shouldn't affect your enjoyment in the slightest. You don't own those places.

You're being very petty. Grow up. Does it really matter.

So you just want people to admire your smug gloating social media, think how marvellous you all are, then not use the copious information you have chosen to provide? You're being an arse.

The problem here is, most people just think what you're saying.

You talk about the places you went to been off the beaten track but they're campsites and attractions designed to draw in business not undiscovered Neolithic dwellings. You haven't stumbled on some hidden secret of the world just gone to a lesser known tourist area

Can I ask what's the point of all the social media updating, who will be interested enough to want to know what you're up to all the time? Or if you were posting for your own benefit, why?
I'm assuming if you think your friends were able to recreate your holiday going only on your Facebook & Instagram posts you must've been very active on social media throughout your holiday.

I'm assuming if you think your friends were able to recreate your holiday going only on your Facebook & Instagram posts you must've been very active on social media throughout your holiday
I wondered that. A bit like lots of people who are #busymakingmemories when really they are #waitingforalovelyphotoandwatchinhmychildrenthroughmyphonetocaptureaninstagrammablemoment

I do have some sympathy for the OP mind. I'd be a bit weirded out if someone like for like copied my holiday, just like i would if they said they liked my decoration in the lounge and then redid theirs 2 weeks later etc.

Could you give us your full itinerary here, OP?

Maybe they're doing it specifically to wind you up because you're a bit......umm........precious!

Haaaaa!

Step away from social media.

I also hate to break it to you OP but you aren't the first family to visit these places nor will you be the last.

You just sound miffed that your "wonderful independent well researched holiday" will appear less exclusive to your seemingly many social media friends!

If you don't want people to copy you don't broadcast your every move!

You sound strange to me!

How very dare they.

I know. Trick them next year and go on holiday and don't post on any social media. That'll learn em.

If these Strikethrough: unlucky friends of yours managed to follow your route, restaurants and locations as exactly as you say, I am surprised you managed to enjoy your holiday at all, given that most of it was presumably spent logging on to various social media, checking in, posting pics and generally staring at your phone tracking likes and comments in response to your perfect holiday gloating?
Then you take issue when others pick up on your ideas or follow your route? Even though you decided to freely publish it all in the first place?
I think you may have a problem yourself OP, with self righteous narcissism.
As a step parent myself. I agree with others who comment about the fact that as a new step family, maybe they had enough to worry about and wanted a stress free holiday.
Maybe you could think about the joy that you may have brought to their, presumably more disrupted and less perfect lives and be happy about it instead?

Why does it matter? Unless you're doing it for the show? No one else will care that this other family went where you went, and they won't care much where you went anyway. People are too busy.

Is this a long holiday taking up all the summer break? I've got visions now of the OP suddenly ceasing to post their exploits on social media and the "friend" being suddenly stranded in deepest darkest France being all "but where do we go now? How are we going to get home??"

Seriously?

Creample

Someone could base a very funny sit com on this scenario

I'm guessing there's zero chance of you sharing your route and campsites on the camping board here OP...?

Well if you share your life on Instagram etc people are going to pick up ideas.