How do people justify the cost of holidays?

[umbrellaellaella]

I haven't been on holiday abroad in years, UK or otherwise. I thought maybe we could go somewhere next September, and I am shocked at the prices.

For a week, 2 adults, in September (ie. during school holidays), we would have to spend around £600 each to go somewhere decent in Europe (we wouldn't want to go somewhere like Turkey or Morocco, personal preference). That's £1200 before paying for things such as hold luggage, transfers, and food out there.

I then looked at hotels in Cornwall. It cost even more - around £1300 minimum to rent a room in a hotel for a week, with just breakfast included.

How can people afford and justify doing this every year? It seems a crazy amount of money. I know you only live once, but the cost of living is so expensive these days I don't know how people can spend this without feeling guilty!

Why do people need to justify it?
We go on holiday because we enjoy it and we can afford it (if we save for it). Who should we be justifying ourselves to?

And why should we feel guilty? I feel guilty about the environmental impact of flying, but not about spending money we can afford to spend on going on holiday.

Because everyone has different budgets and chooses to spend their money in different ways?

Some of my favourite memories are from holidays, it’s family time we all look forward to. Both me and DH work (me four days, him full time), I have a three hour round trip commute. We really look forward to having a holiday and escaping work and the normal pressures of life. We’ve been away four times this year, two very cheap, one very short and one a bit more expensive. Worth every penny!

Camping! We went from never going on holiday to going twice a year. A week, two adults, one teenager, two dogs (so no expense for kennels wouldnt leave them anyway) £200 . In summer holidays.

We have spent a fair bit on kit but our original set up was less than £500

Bloody love camping

We love going away. We both work and have low outgoings (No mortgage) so when we spend our money it's on holidays.

We've been on 3 family holidays abroad this year and I've just booked to go over New Year for a week to the sun because of how the school holidays fall.

I don't want stuff, we are drowning in stuff so our Christmas pressies to each other are experiences.

I’m interested as to who we should be justifying ourselves to?

How do I justify it? The memories from our trips away are fantastic, the experiences we have had have given confidence and a bigger awareness of what goes on around them. My children are relatively well travelled and I agree a million percent with the saying “travel broadens the mind”. My children probably won’t have many opportunities to travel in the way that I have taken them, for various reasons, I want them to have these memories and experiences that shape them and will for the rest of their life.

We got a week in Barcelona in June on last minute.com, £320pp 3 star, flights about £160. Ate out pretty cheaply, we don't do AI.

Week in Lanzarote last feb, £390 for 6 nights in a gorgeous cottage with kitchen on homeaway.com. Jet2 flights about £140. Cooked some nights but went for a few nice meals.

I go on whatever site I'm using, filter highest stars and cheapest price. You can get some great deals.

You should be able to almost halve this cost by using Ryanair and AirBnb.

I can afford decent holidays now I am retired. Couldn't in my 20scand 30s.
I like lots of small breaks and next year am allocating £10,000-12,000 for holidays for the 2 of us.

Maybe look again? I spent that per person on a skiing holiday including my passes and that's considered an expensive holiday!

It can be cheaper if you price it yourself as well we did a holiday in Croatia for 2 for £500.

And we will happily eat baked potatoes and beans on toast for weeks on end for the thought of a holiday.

Why would I feel guilty? I work full time and can afford it

Oh and dp and I are off to Lisbon in a few weeks. The flights were £50 each, Airbnb for 5 nights £290. Yes we will spend on food too but it doesn't have to be so expensive.

I don't have to justify it but I do take our £1,000 a year budget and split it across two Eurocamp holidays, out of season, rather than a summer holiday (for which it would not go far). We drive rather than fly.

We did buy a tent so that we can have short cheap summer trips.

Then we take picnics every single day, allow ourselves one day at a tourist spot and others free activities in the area. We don't eat out and we make sure there is a Lidl or something close by.

We would rather have holidays like this, than not at all.

We spend on holidays rather than other things - we have old cars that we own outright, old TV, no TV packages, cheapest PAYG phones etc.

We also go to France. If you go Dover to Calais the ferry is cheap and you can hire a gite for only a few hundred pounds a week if you don't stay on the coast.

@cheesefield And we will happily eat baked potatoes and beans on toast for weeks on end for the thought of a holiday.

Same.

I think the OP has been given a bit of a hard time here. Sure if you can afford thousands for a holday then fill your boots. Thats great - really.

However, i know peopke who scrimp and scrape all year or worse, get into debt, to go on expensive holidays. Again, no one has to justify anything they choose to do but i do struggle to understand why people spend so much money when it leaves them short for the rest of the year.

We spend no more than £200 on a camping holiday and then about £300 on spends if we are flush. I dont earn a great deal of money but we don't save to go on holiday nor get into debt . We go out to various places alit throughout the year and would hate to have to curtail that for one or two weeks of the year.

But if other people want to do that, fine.

We all justify things to ourselves all the time. I think thats what the OP meant. I dont think she was being judgey.

Cross posts with you Carol Danvers - i am the opposite to you. But its all goid - everyone is different

We went to Southern Italy in September. Flights £90 for 2 adults (Ok it was Ryanair but it was fine). Airbnb property - we booked an expensive property so paid £1000 for the week but there were loads around the £500 mark. Car hire from the airport £82 for a week (plus £20 for an excess policy purchased in UK). Eating out - pizza/pasta dishes €8 in lovely restaurants or self catering - we did a mix of both. No need to buy expensive package holidays.

@CarolDanvers We did that recently before a 4 night city break, we usually spend £40 a week on food for 2 adults at home. On bakeys, pasta and beans on toast for a fortnight we probably spent £10 a week.

We have an old car and buy charity shop clothes, because we live for our holidays.

Depends what your priorities are. A friend of mine says she can't understand how we have lots of holidays, but she buys expensive clothes and goes to the pub every weekend which we don't.

We are a very low income family (dh min wage full time, we receive dla for ds, tax credits and carers etc). We save hard all year and have a week away at Haven every year - we have to go during summer hols due to teenage dd and it costs us about £500 for the caravan (we receive a grant of £500 towards it from a children’s disability charity) and we take £1000 ish spending money. We love it and look forward to it all year. For us it’s money well spent! For others it wouldn’t be and they would think we’re mad spending that on Haven... but for ds with autism it’s the only place he enjoys!

Different strokes, different folks!

The rest of the year we live quite frugally. We don’t really go out unless it’s as a family to parks / odd cinema trip etc and we don’t drink / smoke etc. Our annual break is a chance to spend and laugh and not think about money for a week! (As we save for it all year).

I spend a small fortune on holidays. I'm yet to feel bad about it 🤷🏻‍♂️

I don't need to justify it to anyone. I enjoy travelling and can afford it. I won't always be as fortunate as I am now, so while I can afford to do some genuine "once in a lifetime" (hate that phrase), trips, I will.

I have a strong interest in wildlife and such holidays normally require a decent amount of money to be thrown at them.

I won't be regretting it on my deathbed.