People who can’t do simple holidays

[smerina]

How would you describe someone who only really seems to go on hard to organise holidays? Like we like going to Dubai or Mallorca, nice and easy, one flight and done. Or if we go further afield then we do a package with Tui to Cancun or Dominican, usually AI.

But I have colleagues who seem to go on really whacky or trips that sound like a pain. They’d go to Greece and then get a ferry to some place no one has ever heard of. Or if they went to the Caribbean then they’d pick somewhere that needs two flights and a ferry to get to. Never do AI or something easy and relaxing but self cater and drive around.

This morning?! 🤪 Try the past 20 years

I’ve given up overseas travel, but when I did, package holidays and all-inclusive didn't appeal to me at all. I’d rather plan my own trips, see lots of interesting, and not end up sat around a pool drinking cocktails all day. An AI would be more stressful to me than getting off the beaten track. We’re all different and there’s no right or wrong way to holiday. I’m

I love relaxing in a nice resort but I equally love discovering the world and learning about new cultures, seeing places, choosing restaurants etc, for me it is all part of the fun and discovery. An AI package in Dubai sounds a bit dull to me and I would question why do you bother spending so much money and traveling so far away when you don’t even want to leave the hotel? But then we are all different I guess and that’s the beauty of it.

Oooh wonderful! Belize is next on my wish list, so few people have been there it would seem. Did you book all independently?

I would describe those people as normal whereas people who go on the type of holiday you enjoy as unimaginative.

Interesting or adventurous or confident?

Basically this. I mean, you do you, but the only AI holiday I'm interested in would be at a safari lodge on the Serengeti. The idea of paying to sit by a pool eating hotel food baffles me. See also: cruises

Leaving it at just Mallorca would have done for an example of simplicity. Chucking in Dubai, Cancun and Dominican just sounds a bit....showy?

But for what it's worth, with the exception of Mallorca, I have no desire to visit any of the above destinations and sit on a beach or shop all day. Island hopping and touring is much more appealing.

I'd describe you as pedestrian and boring. Brit abroad. Flopping by the pool and getting wasted in some generic hotel with hundreds of other lobster-red, noisy drunkards around. Wouldn't go if you'd pay me.

Your colleague likes actually travelling, is normal, adventurous and likes exploring places and cultures (the whole point of travelling). Why fly thousands of miles so you can vegg out rooted by a pool, drinking shitty cocktails for a week, not seeing anything? I'd rather just get drunk where I live , would be cheaper (and more fun).

AI kills local economies. The places you've never heard of in Greece probably don't have AI. They have wonderful tavernas, quiet beaches shaded by olive groves, peaceful fishing villages which may not be your thing.

I would say the people you describe like nice holidays away from pissed Brits in football shirts as that's my impression of the type of holiday you like. I've never been on your type of holiday though so I could be being terribly judgemental. Like you are being.

You just like different things. Neither is wrong

I wouldn't describe anyone as boring.
I can well imagine that someone with a frantic job or lots of kids or SN kids just wants to relax. That's fine. As long as they are not expecting me to change my holidays.

Is the difference between travelling and exploring and going on holiday.

we used to “travel” with dc when little - road trip New York to Chicago then to Wisconsin Dells; Vancouver to Calgary through the Rockies. Now dc are teens and AI beach holidays are fun and relaxing. We also did Orlando too. Dh and I will go back to travelling but it’s currently more about needing to relax and be together as a family at the moment.

People get snobby about package holidays but they can be really fab, just depends what you’re after. Neither is superior, it’s purely taste.

I'd rather do that than a package holiday in all honesty

Oh I do love how the “do stuff” and “enjoy travel” people call it “exploring” not sightseeing or looking round the local towns, explore has such fabulous Grand Tour connotations !

i guess @smerina you need to realise you use a holiday to relax, that’s not what other people are using it for.

(I recognise my own combination of enjoying doing stuff/seeing stuff and hating the wasted time of travelling makes me perfect for a cruise where I’d wake up each morning in a new place to “explore” for the day, without having to make the effort to travel to the new place. I just otherwise hate the idea of a cruise. )

I call them travellers and you a holidayer. You want to get away and chill. Travellers want to see that specific area and immerse themselves in life and the environment there.

2 weeks AI is my idea of hell and I’ve never taken my kids on one. If I travel abroad I want to wander the place and if I see a ferry, I want to ride it and see where it goes. The ferries go to places where the tourists like you don’t go so it’s likely to be unspoilt and say more about the country than an AI resort.

I would only go to Dubai if paid to tbh. There’s loads of places in the world I’d like to see and wasting it chilling on a resort is not for me.

Neither is wrong or right- people like different things from their trip.

Mumsnetters?

We like villas in Europe. We book our own flights and then our own hire car and our own accommodation.

No one spoon feeds it to us like on a package holiday.

To see the world

People like different things on holiday. SHOCK HORROR.

I wouldn't describe them.at all, I have no.opinion on other people's holidays and have no idea why you would care.

All Inclusive in Dubai sounds like utter hell.

A remote island in Greece... lush!

What an odd thread to start!

I would describe them as confident, independent and pretty cool.

Why would it be problematic to go to a Greek island without an airport for example? You just jump on a ferry. It’s not rocket science.

Nothing wrong with what you choose.

No need for the little dickish sneer at the package holidayers though. 🤨

You'd probably put me in that group!

Never do package holidays anymore only because we like the freedom to book exactly what we want and where . This year doing 2 weeks in India. Mumbai and Goa. Instead of flying between the 2 are taking an all day train for the experience.

This actually is quite a basic one compared to other holidays.