Prioritising where to go on holiday

[doistayordoigo]

Chatting with DH last night and we were talking about holidays we'd like to take in the future, and which ones would have to wait until after we retire due to length and distance. It occurred to me that if we had a couple of holidays a year, each a week or so long, we would only be going away about 20 times between now and when we hope to retire. That suddenly didn't seem like many trips (and yes I know we are fortunate to hopefully be able to go away twice a year).

So that being the case, where would you prioritise for these 20 holidays?

I'm in the same position, I'm roughly working out which trips we can do in time scales which annual leave allow vrs the dream trips which require persuading my employer to give me extended unpaid leave (dp can work remotely) vrs once we have quit work. Hoping to retire in 8 years then just take temp work between trips (I'm significantly below retirement age, dp is older and thinks he can persuade his employer to let him work fully remotely on a pt basis so we can travel long distances, I can help him to reduce the hours per week he's working further, it's a plan which may or may not work )

Anyway we are thinking Caribbean and Central America 2 week cruise next year, South America and the Falklands needs 3 weeks so 2024 to butter up my boss. We are hoping to plan some city breaks and I want to do the picos in northern Spain via the ferry. I know I'm very fortunate for money to not be an issue but it's taken 30 years to get to this point and we deliberately bought a smaller cheaper house so we were mortgage free to be able to fund our lifestyle. The big trips after retiring will be over landing by motorcycle, I'm brushing up on my blogging skills

Work really gets in the way doesn't it 😂
Whilst in theory I could take two weeks off, and DH could stretch to nearly three due to his shifts, if I take more than a week the amount of catching up I have to do when I get back makes it too stressful.

We've still got a mortgage and are putting DS2 through uni for four more years, but hope to retire at 60. Have plans then for at least three weeks in British Columbia, and hopefully motor-homing around Europe. Would also like to do Costa Rica, so might try to get that in before retirement so we're not too old to enjoy it.

Can't do cruising unfortunately, but your trips sound amazing! We went to the Picos on our very first holiday together 25 years ago, it was amazing 😃

I would go for places that don't fit well into a grand tour. We're excited to go to Iceland this summer. My other thought is Egypt for the history. We did the most amazing Nile cruise but I am sure there will be road based options.

Iceland is definitely on the list! We're going to Madeira in September and Jordan next year. I like the idea of Egypt but I'm a bit nervous of being ill, as everyone I know who's been has been.

I've had 2 holidays in Egypt, a 3-week & a 2-week. Never been ill.

Boats on the Nile & Lake Nasser have impeccable hygiene, & the top-class hotels do as well.
We organised our own tours in Cairo & Luxor, & the guides are very careful where they take you for lunch.
Obviously, only drink bottled water.

@doistayordoigo
Ive been to Egypt and was not ill. Use a reputable ship for a Nile cruise.

My DH worked full time until 65 and we’ve done loads of long haul holidays. Why do you think you can’t? We’ve often managed 14-16 days or even 20. I’d rather go where I want rather than 20 short haul!

Just to list where we have been (no grand tours!): Egypt, Japan, Peru, Brazil, Chile, lots of Caribbean islands, Russia (sadly now off limits), Canada, loads of times to USA, Iceland, Tanzania, Zambia, South Africa, Kenya, Botswana and more. All possible with 2 weeks.

Forgot to say Argentina. Going to Alaska shortly and Argentina, Falkland’s, South Shetland’s and Antarctic later this year. That is longer but DH now 69!

@TizerorFizz Sorry didn't mean to confuse, we can do long haul after retirement no problem, and DH could now as he can get a longer block of time off. My job involves monthly reporting which means if I take more than a week off I'm playing catch up for the rest if the month and it makes it really stressful. So for proper long haul, or places where I'd like to spend a longer amount of time, like Canada, it makes more sense to wait until we're retired.

My husband and I are currently doing this. Trying to work out what holidays to do and when where etc is more complex for us as he is 15 years older than me, but I'm disabled so when he retires it's feasible that I can travel with him. He has 8 years left on the mortgage and a small private pension and full state pension in 12 years. So we are trying to over pay the mortgage as much as possible and then going to pay the spare money into his pension.

Our retirement plan is to spend 2-3 months at a time driving around Europe seeing the places we want to, we will have enough for a decent car and caravan or a used small motor home. His private pension should give him £2k a year just for this. In the mean time we are doing one /two cheap DIY foreign holiday a year and trying to do one bucket list trip every two years. So currently in a self catering in Rome for the week (£300 each Inc food spends) then found two weeks SC in Greece in six weeks ( £700 each) including spends and car hire. Next year is Venice in May (£320 each ) and ten days AI in another Greek island for his birthday ( £800 each). 2024 is a two week trip to Egypt with a week in an AI and a week AI river cruise. The year after is a big birthday so we are saving up £10 a week each to go towards Canada . We are on a low income over all but we really prioritise travel over everything else as we enjoy it so much.

@devonianBiatch Exactly the same as us, couple of cheaper holidays a year and then a "bigger" holiday every few years hopefully.

@doistayordoigo

I absolutely LOVE finding bargain holidays and we've been all over the world on a shores string budget with our 4 kids. Youngest is now 14 and is rapidly approaching the "too old" stage so that will make it a bit easier for us going forward. I just love holiday planning!

We mostly did camping and self drive to France & Spain when the kids were growing up, so planning DIY foreign holidays is new for us, but I'm looking forward to giving it a go 😀

@doistayordoigo
I see. We still have loads of places we want to go to. Be careful though! Don’t get ill after retirement. Seen it happen quite a lot and then no one goes anywhere. We have pre loaded so to speak. DH was self employed but had lots of staff. They, and him, had generous holidays!

@TizerorFizz That's definitely a worry, and also the reason for hoping to retire at 60...we lost my mum this year and she was only 68, which is the age DH and I would probably be retiring at if we went to state retirement age. Also the reason for doing "bigger" trips every few years or so before retirement, and making the 20 holidays between now and then good ones!

Plus, I have a generous holiday allowance, just too stressful to use it in long blocks!

DH and I have long reconciled that the list of places we'd like to go is far longer than the places we'll realistically go in our lifetimes.

What changed holidays for us was spending sometime after each one discussing what was good and what was not, which has stopped making the sames mistakes every year. Turns out that luxury hotels are wasted on us but a food tour on day 1 will always be appreciated. We love holiday planning we have a spreadsheet and everything

I'd also agree not to leave things too long after retirement, you don't know how long you will get. Saddest thing I saw was someone who never got to move into their dream home in Spain that they had worked their whole life for.

@AnnaMagnani I agree, I know of someone who died tragically on the actual day of their retirement, so sad. I like planning, but DH just likes me to sort it all out, so I fell a bit like if I arrange it and it's not great, it's all on me.

Given your list of places to see is long, how do you decide which to prioritise?

we plan it as to where we'll need the most energy/mobility, have been travelling extensively since before kids though. Have south America on our next list, then aus/New Zealand. will do Europe in detail when we're in our late 60's

Sorry your mum has recently passed

We weren't ill in Egypt either nor at the top end of luxury!

@devonianBiatch My top tip for Venice is pre book from here the Secret Tour of the Doges Palace. It's really interesting and so many people don't seem to know about it.

@EwwSprouts Thanks.

It's good that none of you have been ill in Egypt, maybe I'll put it back on the list, although I'm not great with boats. My Dad's wife got dysentery which put me off a bit 😬

We haven’t really prioritised. We like wildlife, culture, food and scenery. We’ve also used umpteen companion vouchers with BA. Evaluate what you like and see what ticks most boxes. Apart from food, what do you like?

We also like smaller boutique hotels. Not bothered about big ones. Guest houses in South Africa are amazing for example.

We have found we can make a great holiday out of almost anywhere, now we know what we like.

So there are the mega destination holidays but also the small, one of us is going to a conference and we'll make a holiday out of it holidays.

Best effort was we made a holiday of the trip to the DIY Kitchens showroom - did eating out in Leeds, Royal Armouries, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Hepworth Wakefield, some stately homes, it was a nice break. And we bought a kitchen

There are limits of budget, weather - I don't like the heat, asthma - fantasy trip to China or anywhere v polluted has gone in the bin, and generally we have to agree. But often the next trip plans itself.

I think we probably like too many things, which makes narrowing it down really hard 😀

So you want interesting holidays but not longer than a week at a time..

1. Egypt - just been, didn't fall ill and it is safe.
2. Morocco- Combine Marrakesh with trip to desert / Atlas and anti atlas mountain.
3. Spain- Malaga, cordoba and Seville , Barcelona and costa brava
4. Croatia
5. Greek islands - Crete is fabulous.
6. Scotland - was one of our best holidays
7. Northumbria
8. If you can stretch it to 10 days - Goa.
9. East coast of America - New York, Boston, Washington.

10. Jordan 11. Israel 12. Lake Garda, Verona 13. Summer in the alps 14. Amalfi coast 15. Antalya coast Turkey 16. Iceland 17. Lake Bled 18. Jersey 19. France - Pick any region, fabulous country 20. Montenegro. 21. Berlín

I haven't been to all of them, we want to go to far away places when we are earning , are able to go and with our children. S