Is it bad I have no interest in visiting most of the world?

[quaffingquentin]

Is it bad that I’ve found holiday destinations I’m comfortable with and have lost interest in exploring?

I know I love Greece and Italy. Like Spain too.
I also know I love certain places in the Caribbean and certain places in South East Asia.

I now just go back to the same destinations every few years. I have no interest in trying somewhere new. Friends of mine never return to the same country but I have zero interest in visiting X country.

I am with you.

I'm a bit the same. I recently went on a city break with my best friend. It was her first time there and my third. She feels she's done it now and wouldn't go back. I would go back again and again!
There are still a couple of new countries I really want to visit. But apart from that I'd be happy going back to places that I know I like.

I am perfectly happy to be an armchair traveller and sit at home looking at pictures online of far flung places or "visit" them on Google Earth.
I have no desire to actually travel.
Much cheaper option too 😂

No, it’s not bad at all. I’m the same. I don’t relate to the mindset of ticking places off and being like ‘we’ve done that now’.

Logistically it isn’t possible for everyone to be a world traveller, even if they wanted to, and it would be terrible for the planet — so really it’s for the best that we don’t all want to.

I think if you have limited holidays then it makes sense to go somewhere you know you’ll enjoy.

It would be different if having multiple holidays a year, then you could afford for a few trips to be less successful, and you might want more variety, but that’s not most people.

I'm like you - in fact even more so!!

We only have holidays in the UK. This isn't because we are xenophobic or think that there aren't amazing, beautiful places in other countries; but because there is so much of our own country that we love dearly and already will never have enough time to go to more than a tiny amount of it.

We also have health conditions that could make international insurance very expensive and potentially tricky; plus we like to be able to pack up the car and have it with us the whole time, instead of having to cram everything into 20kg suitcases.

Yes, most people would consider that very boring, but we aren't remotely trying to tell anybody else what holiday choices they can make!

I can't really understand it as I would spend my whole life travelling to different places if I had the the time and money but of course it's not "bad". Everyone's different. My PILs have a holiday home abroad but DH and I have spent maybe 10 days there in the 30 odd years we've been married. Going back to the same place repeatedly has absolutely no appeal for us whatsoever. But DH's parents and his siblings love it and go every year. Neither approach is right or wrong, we're just different. Which is probably just as well as not only would life be rather dull if we all liked the same things but as PP said it would be very bad for the planet if we all wanted to travel non stop, or indeed if we all wanted to stay in the same few places. It's perfectly ok to travel to places that you enjoy and holiday in the way that makes you happy and it doesn't matter what others think or do.

This makes no sense. It's like asking my kids if they like something and then ask if they tried it and the answer is no. Well how do you know if you like it or you don't unless you try. At some point it was the first time op has travelled to these destinations... I'd travel to different places but wouldn't mean I wouldn't go back to the same ones I did enjoy too.

Is this a stealth boast? Greece, Italy, Spain, more than one place in the Caribbean and South East Asia isn’t exactly every year in the same place, is it?

Thanks to my parents' jobs, I grew up traveling a lot and lived in a few different places. I absolutely loved it and it was a very special childhood, but now that I'm an adult I'm actually most eager to explore 1. my home country and 2. the UK (where I live). For all I gained traveling internationally I know relatively little about my home country, and haven't spent enough time with extended family, so am making up for lost time there. And don't want to make the same mistake again now that I live in the UK. Both home and the UK have SO much to offer, and it actually allows me to take my time and get to know places really well.

I have a colleague who travels with a tick box mentality and particularly loves going to destinations that are deemed "dangerous," controversial, extremely poor, etc. The amount of time she spends in each place is often barely enough to get out of the airport and back. Having (attempted to) talk to her about her travels a few times, I'm not sure how much she actually "takes in" these places vs. just snapping a few pics for insta and coming back to the office to show off. It's all quite voyeuristic and self-aggrandizing which is something I thought we'd left in the past but clearly not.

Absolutely the opposite. I don't tick countries off a list, but I do do 7-8 holidays a year, from Europe to Asia to other continents. This year I plan to travel in South America (2-3 countries). And I belong to the older generation! Why would you restrict yourself to visiting the same countries when the world is such an exciting place? Obviously if you can do it financially I understand that travelling is expensive. Definitely don't get it

Me too. I don't enjoy travelling one bit, and would be perfectly happy to never go abroad ever again.

I think for me the main issues are the time and money restraints plus DC.
It's easier to go somewhere I roughly know than exploring somewhere new.

If I win some ridiculous amount of money tomorrow, I'd travel the world. Stay a few weeks/ months here and there, getting to know the culture and people of a country.

But until then, I get 7-14 day snapshots of a select few countries....

I feel like this has changed for me in my forties, I used to visit as many places abroad as I could after not actually going abroad until I was 16. I haven't seen the whole world or anything, but similar places to you OP.

Now it just doesn't appeal as much, the travelling aspect of it. I much prefer to holiday not too far away and treat it as a break rather than an adventure. I'm happier putting money into my home to make my life nicer day to day.

I would still like to visit Scandinavia again, and also go to Japan, but thats pretty much it and I'm in no rush.

Yes l am getting this way too op - used to love a trip somewhere new and exciting but now, l just want a holiday to relax which l can do just as well in places l know than places l don't.

But not quite there yet - am still up for a sporadic adventure if it arises.

I love travelling and would like to see some countries but I also know that a) money, b) time and c) personal circumstances like limited mobility mean I will never make it.

We do re-visit areas but normally after several years.

I go on holiday to relax, and I don’t like having to find my feet in new locations due to anxiety issues. I like knowing how things work and familiarity, so I like going to Spain and Greece for example. I would never choose to go to a huge city or go backpacking or travelling. It might be sad to some people but that’s how I am and at my age I don’t really want to put the effort into pushing myself when I am perfectly happy going to these places that I know I love.

I absolutely love traveling to new places, am very pleased that not everyone as would be overrun with other tourists! I do also love returning to the same places again and again so understand why people do.

We don’t like going back to exactly the same place but have visited the same countries a few times. Going to some different ones further afield this year. We are staying in one place in one of the countries and loads of ppl have already critiqued our trip because we aren’t “seeing the whole country”.

We don’t want to do that - certainly not on this trip. If we love it, we might go back and travel around a bit more.

It’s your money and your break - do what pleases you!

I’ve travelled to many countries, spending reasonable amounts of time. Now, in my 50s, the actual travel puts me off. I’m looking more at Europe and travelling by train…as I find that less stressful. But still love that ‘ooh somewhere new’.

probaby because I live on a small island in the arse end of the UK…beautiful but can be v dull.

It does make sense, you spend like a few grand on a holiday and if that's your main big treat for the year of course it makes sense to go somewhere you know you'll enjoy so you don't end up regretting it or feeling you're wasting money. Similarly I'm sure a lot of us order from the same few takeaways or go to the same few restaurants because we don't want to waste our treat money on something that turns out to be rubbish. If you have more disposable cash the risk isn't as big, or maybe it doesn't matter because you haven't had to scrimp and save.

We need to wean ourselves off long haul flying, so I think doing that frequently is a very bad thing.

There's lots of Europe to explore, if that's your wont, or revisit if that's what you prefer.

We tended to take the DC back to the same place every year, but I'm getting itchy feet again!

I have three holiday destinations that I go to one of each year. and then I usually go somewhere I haven't been each year, but so far always in Europe.

How many people visit a whole country on holiday????

Unless you mean Luxembourg or Lichtenstein or you have unlimited time to spend on one holiday it's hardly doable anyway.

I find it more important to discover the area I am in instead of just staying at an AI resort.

That reminds me of a recent Tweet I saw, where some celeb gushed over how lovely it had been to meet the people of London when she had spent a day there. Somebody replied "No you didn't; not all of them" !