Long haul waste of time?

[Holidaylover68]

I’m just back from an amazing holiday in Caribbean with DH. It was a beautiful resort, went on some fabulous trips etc. He said he had a lovely time but said we could have been anywhere, like Spain, Greece etc. as it was on a resort. Doesn’t see the point in long haul generally when you can have the same experience just a couple of hours away. Nice beaches, different culture, lovely weather etc.
He’s very black & white, he doesn’t get nuances or grey areas which is probably part of the problem!
Drives me mad as I love to travel and we can afford it now we’re older and have more disposable income.
Anyone else have the same problems? How do you argue with someone so set in their ways?! (Perhaps this question is for a different post?!) Any words of wisdom most welcome!

Going long haul and staying in a resort for a fortnight can not really be classes as “travelling”

They didn't just stay on the resort, the OP said they went on some fabulous trips.

Have you thought about travelling by yourself? Or maybe group holidays.

We go long haul at least once a year because I need a winter sun holiday and Europe in Dec/Jan/Feb doesn’t really cut it. This time of year I would choose Europe over long haul as the weather is great.

If your flying long haul just to stay on a resort I really don't get the point. Your DH is right, that resort could really be anywhere so why bother flying umpteen miles when you can get beach, sun etc much closer to home and cut out all the travel time.

There’s so much history of the slave trade in the Caribbean. Locals are quite pissed off at the fact that plantation houses during the slave years have been turned into hotels for foreign visitors whose main reason to go is to be served like in the Victorian times by people who earn peanuts and have to smile nevertheless. Also, most people who go to the Caribbean do so to be able to say that they went there, but come back with very little else. It’s fine, we all make stupid decisions for one reason or another, as long as we also know the impact of our decisions on others.

Where did you go exactly OP? Did you do any trips? I've done Jamaica, DR, Greece, Spain, Portugal, France.

Carribean has a completely different vibe I've done Turkey too. It doesn't compare you've got to embrace the slower pace and venture out in the Carribean and see how beautiful the islands are. The boat trips in the Carribean have amazing views.

I think long haul if you just stay in a resort / AI, is pointless. Different if you travel around, do lots of exploring etc. we went to Mauritius last year, and went out most days, but I couldn’t believe some couples never left the resort!

Caribbean resorts are so much better than Europe ones. For hardly any price difference.

This!
I'm shocked it's taken 33 posts for this to be mentioned. Makes me think all of those slaying the OP haven't actually been on a long haul resort holiday.
We've been to a 4** star in Mexico. Something like 13 different restaurants (inc 7 a la carte), 10 different bars. Lots of facilities, 4 different lots of entertainment to choose from.
Went to a 4 star in the canaries in the summer. Perfectly nice however 1 restaurant (no a la carte), 2 bars, 1 entertainment area. Not much price difference.

I think there's a huge difference! The temperature of the sea is much warmer, the sand is often whiter and finer (and there are a lot of pebbly beaches in Europe!), the snorkelling is often far better, there are palm trees exotic plants and the whole vibe is completely different IME. I'm sure the trips out you did would have been different to what you could do in Europe as well.
Don't get me wrong, I love Spain, Greece etc - but the beaches and sea are not the same as the Caribbean!

Why go to a resort - you aren’t seeing anything of the country? You could be anywhere.

Why not plan ahead and travel around the country, see local sites, eat where the locals eat, hire a car and travel through different areas.

I agree with him if all you did was sit around in an all inclusive resort.

Regardless of the quality of resort restaurants and facilities, you aren’t seeing the country. You’re staying in a bubble which could be anywhere.

We’ve been to Caribbean islands many items - none in a resort.

@Parker231 do you have family links to the Carribean? Because let's be honest you do need to have some wits about you to wonder around certain places.... it is not Spain.

@Parker231 you're right it could be anywhere. So why pay the same price to go elsewhere for a lower standard of hotel/facilities/service?

The question isn't are resort holidays the best. The question is is long haul a waste of time. Which IME it isn't when you seem to get more value for money.

May-October I agree with him, if you've not going to leave the hotel.

I think maybe he's after something more different and different people want different things out of holidays. He's gone on the holiday and said he enjoyed it so I don't think there's a big issue but can interpret it two ways one that he'ld rather be in a European resort, presumably for shorter / cheaper flight or two he's happy to go longhaul but wants to do more different things. Maybe somewhere like Costa Rica could work where you have the rainforest, really high ziplines, and wildlife. Or Cape Town where you can go and see penguins on beach, and then go on to a safari, go up Table Mountain etc. When I go longhaul I always make sure we are doing things we can't do locally - like in Australia and Costa Rica it was very wildlife focussed. I was a bit underwhelmed by Maldives, beautiful beaches, far nicer than any I have seen in Europe and snorkelling was great but after a week I felt a bit bored. Though I do find resorts great after you have had a really stressful time just to switch off and relax. I do find the longhaul resorts quite different to the European ones but it depends where you go like the one we stayed at in Costa Rica had rainforest and coati, geckos, raccoons and monkeys. I think the Carribean ones are less different so maybe switch to somewhere more different but discuss with him. Or you can do a bit of both, a week constantly travelling, week on resort with half travelling.

What a waste of a trip to Mexico.

Fabulous wildlife, mayan ruins, pyramids, vast caves, waterfalls, cathedrals.

But you had 13 restaurants.

Give me the little cafe with the one set meal I went to in Quito, I was the only non local in the place.

Or the warm springs in Salto Uruguay where, again, I was the only non local.

@Parker231do you have family links to the Carribean? Because let's be honest you do need to have some wits about you to wonder around certain places.... it is not Spain.

If you are staying in a small place run by locals you will get local knowledge, I was told very sternly in Mendoza not to go in the park after dark.

@sashh that isn't what I asked!

I love my travel but would absolutely choose the destination based on the type of holiday we want. We have 2 DC now so need to take that into account but for example we did a cheap AI this year in Turkey. Fully intended to hardly leave the place so paid less for somewhere a bit more remote. We're off to Ibiza next year off-season and fancy doing some exploring so we'll go self catering to give ourselves flexibility. I'm with your DH on this - if not leaving a resort was our intention as we just wanted to relax in the sun, there's no way we'd travel long haul to do that.

Thanks for all the responses!
It’s the first time we’ve ever been to Caribbean, we actually went to Barbados and first time on AI resort. We holiday lots in Europe/The Med and always stay in villa/apartment and eat locally. So this was a complete change for us. I’m not very well travelled (only ever been to Europe/USA) so although we were in a resort it was such a totally different experience with the beaches, the sea, views, wildlife roaming around the resort, birds, etc. so we absolutely could not have been in Spain! The boat trips especially were incredible.
DH doesn’t want to travel long haul at all, resort or not. He hates long haul flights. This holiday has just kind of opened my eyes I guess to what’s out there. Definitely planning to visit some more new places. Hopefully I can persuade him to come with me!

I'm still not clear if you left the resort or not.

Even when staying in the resort a long haul trip to somewhere tropical is totally different to a resort in Greece or Spain. If you want swaying palm trees, coral reefs and snorkelling off the beach, warm water etc you don’t really find that in Europe plus you can go at a different time of the year. Hotels are often better value outside Europe too. I love Greece too although have never done a resort holiday there but it’s totally different to a week in Mauritius for example.

I did say in my original post that we went on some trips. We went on an island tour, a distillery visit and two boat trips - one day one sunset.

Next time maybe consider somewhere like Mauritius as no jet leg makes the travel a bit easier or Thailand where resorts don’t tend to be all inclusive and you can enjoy all the benefits of a tropical holiday and still try local food. You’ll get loads more for your money in Thailand compared to the med.