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Holidays

Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations.

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Original poster

How much input does your OH half in travel planning?

26 replies

juneau · 10/06/2012 10:47

Mine just lets me get on with it. I send him links to what I think I'm going to book and ask his opinion and he just says 'whatever you think is best'.

We're off to France next Sat and yesterday my DH asked what kind of accommodation we're staying in 'Is it like a chalet?' Um ... no, it's a self-catering cottage, and 'Does it have wi-fi?' Of course it bloody does, because if it didn't you'd spend the entire two weeks at an internet cafe!

Not that I'm complaining - it actually suits me very well - control freak that I am

OP posts:

blueglue · 10/06/2012 10:49

DH has no input whatsoever. I choose, book, organise etc. We like the same stuff and he's always happy with what I've done.

Fluffy1234 · 10/06/2012 11:47

We are lucky enough to holiday abroad a few times a year and I choose everything. Every couple of years he will come up with a suggestion which are usually very good and places I would not have thought of.

ByTheSea · 10/06/2012 11:49

I have always done all the planning and it is time-consuming, so I had a moan about this a couple of months ago to DH. Now he has just handled all the travel planning for our upcoming holiday to France in August. I did give him verbal guidance but he did all the donkey work. I'm chuffed.

YouBrokeMySmoulder · 10/06/2012 11:52

None and that's just the way I like it. Am OCD about holiday planning. I really like it, am the world expert on every place we are about to go to and what we are going to do. I can't help it.

mumblechum1 · 10/06/2012 11:52

We have a general chat in January as to whether it's the States, Europe, Far East or whatever.

Then I shortlist 3 or 4 options in terms of hotel, villa or whatever and he chooses which one (obv. they're all ones I'd be happy to go to)

Then he pays for it.

He does his own packing but other than that I organise everything else, car hire, taxi to airport etc.

Works for us.

Pascha · 10/06/2012 11:54

I do it all, but I send him email links at the choosing accommodation stage for him to narrow down the choices. I really enjoy the whole process of looking out something a bit different or special. He would find it stressful and hard work that he doesn't have time for.

worldgonecrazy · 10/06/2012 12:08

I do it all, choose destination, accommodation, what we're going to do, how we're going to get there. I research all the nice local restaurants, days out, etc. and do all the packing for myself and DD. He does a bit of driving, though to be fair, he did do a lot of driving the first day of our last holiday as I had a horrible hangover.

It would be nice to not have to do any of these things, but if I didn't, we would never get any holiday. He is useless at booking time off work, when I met him he would only use a handful of days of his holiday allowance.

DilysPrice · 10/06/2012 12:14

He gets a veto on the general location, and I ask for his opinion on anything I'm not sure about (eg, is a holiday cottage which is perfect except for not having a bath acceptable?). Then I show him a website of final choice, he says "go ahead", we get in the car and I tell him where to drive to.

balia · 10/06/2012 12:15

It is only in the last few years that we have been able to have a holiday abroad, before that we used to sort out all the travel stuff together. Now we have worked out the tasks between us according to talent...so I find and book the villa, research restaurants and days out 'cos that is the fun bit and sort out spending money, he sorts out flight, hire car, airport parking and insurance. I put my stuff and the kids clothes on the bed, he packs it because he is obsessively good at getting everything in.

SecretSquirrels · 10/06/2012 12:25

Zero. He doesn't want any. In fact he'd rather stay at home but I make him go.
One year I didn't even tell him where we were going until we got to the check in desk at the airport
If it had been the other way round I would have been bursting with excitement and curiosity but he only expressed a mild "OK" when he found out.
It does mean the whole thing is my responsibility though. As well as booking I sort out all the money, passports, packing, airport parking and insurance.

DressDownFriday · 10/06/2012 12:39

Dh does everything. We decide together where and when and then I leave everything to him. For big trips he likes to do timetables and route planners.

Last year he sorted a 3 week travelling holiday without any input from me. It was a fantastic holiday.

I do the packing and getting "stuff".

We've done it like this for years and it works well.

AlwaysTimeTorACwtch · 10/06/2012 13:16

I do all the planning but never book anything until I have talked it through with dh. We have a disabled son and have to plan a trip very carefully - I like to sort out all the detail myself, dh is happy for me to do it and just give him the options!

notcitrus · 10/06/2012 13:24

I ask for general input but I'm the travel geek so do most of the research and then present him with options - eg this year we wanted self-catering in the UK, not IoW, will try driving, so after discussion with people I decided on north Norfolk, found some places, and MrNC and I went through what was available for different weeks and picked one after I told him the pros and cons of each (so we're going to a fab house but it is a drive from the beach).

For our honeymoon he wanted 'somewhere in Europe, warm, with some nice castles to look at and some pretty art and good food' - we went to Verona, Lake Garda and Venice.

He's a lot more fussy about DIY, so he does more of that research before giving me options, but as he's severely dyslexic it takes forever so I do get requests like "can you find the best value radiator that's between 120 and 150 cm long that gives out the most heat, and it has to be in stock so I can fit it on Monday?" :)

BellaVita · 10/06/2012 13:27

We discuss where we might like to go but that is it, I do the rest.

RedHotPokers · 10/06/2012 13:33

DH has input into where we go and how we get there (although normally they are my suggestions, and he just indicates preference!).

From that point on he has ZERO input apart from to make sure car is ok, pack his own bag, load car and do majority of the driving (normally 500+ miles each way as we prefer driving to flying).

We ALWAYS have an argument or two in the week running up to the holiday. Normally me being cross he hasn't packed his bag, and him telling me I'm getting too stressed. In reality I am always super frantic and stressed the week before our big holiday, and a nightmare to live with. However DHs ridiculously chilled out attitude is a PITA. Normally by the time we've got on the motorway, we're back on speaking terms .

supernannyisace · 10/06/2012 15:50

bellavita .same here. I do it all.

BalloonSlayer · 10/06/2012 16:01

DH does it all. I can't stand holidays.

When people ask me where we are going on holiday this year, I say "Um ah somewhere in . . . sorry can't remember what county it is." I can't even remember when we are going. Well - we are going in the summer holidays. I am not sure whether we are going to be away while the Olympics is on or not. I don't know when the Olympics are actually.

I think I can remember the place we are supposed to be staying in looks like. The thing is, I got so bored looking at all these cottages he'd found and, rejecting some because of this and that, that I really can't remember which one we went for in the end.

I will do all the packing for the DCs though, and the food. My other job is to stand anxiously and doubtfully in the front doorway as DH packs the car, and to produce something large, unwieldy and utterly essential that we really really need to bring just when it is packed so tightly it is about to explode.

IsabelArcher · 10/06/2012 16:08

None. Not once in 20 years. I have often complained but as I really like going away I have bitten my tongue and got in with it as he was always 'too busy'. More than a touch aggrieved that he's found time to sort out trip just for him and dd1 to a foreign music festival to see band I wouldnt cross the road to see live!

noramum · 10/06/2012 16:15

We chose the location together then we both start looking but it is mostly me. DH then gets the links and we decide together.

I then start looking for things to do as I hate going and not knowing what we can do. DH normally reads the travel guide on the plane.

Labootin · 10/06/2012 16:23

it's pretty much a joint thing, I couldn't cope with the stress of it being crap if I'd solely booked it so carefully engineer it so he feels responsible.

We do spend roughly 16 weeks travelling per year though ( and he also travels extensively through work)

I have on occasion got his PA to arrange holiday bookings as she knows far better than me where he'll be at certain times of the year

Original poster

juneau · 10/06/2012 17:02

Ha - lots of other couples like us then. I love planning holidays! I can spend hours on the internet researching all the various bits. But ask me to research stuff for the house we're building - render, roof tiles, flooring, baths - and within about 5 mins I want to slit my writs. Luckily, DH loves all that stuff.

OP posts:

Rosa · 10/06/2012 17:04

I do the lot , suggest 2or 3 hotels / apartments, brief chat ,I decide , book and he pays.. I pack , unpack , re pack etc , he does ask have I got X , mind you I am used to it and don't mind , and am bloody thankful that we can go on a holiday or 2 .....

Bunbaker · 10/06/2012 17:04

None. We discuss where we want to go and I organise it. If I left it to him we would never go away.

Sabriel · 10/06/2012 17:07

I end up doing pretty much all of it. My theory is that if it turns out to be crap he can blame me.

HecateTrivia · 10/06/2012 17:10

We decide together and either one of us can take care of it, depends who's got time and feels like doing it (which is pretty much how we run every aspect of our life, tbh ).

I do more of the packing, he does more of the unpacking. I don't know why. it just seems to work out that way.

I don't find it stressful. Pick a place, book it, pay, pack, get there, unpack, have a great time, pack, get home, unpack.

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