Gone off holidays

[PerkyOchrePeer]

I feel lucky to have been able to go abroad over the years and I've been to some lovely places but now I just feel I want to stay at home.

I find travelling quite stressful now and even going on holiday in the UK I can't be bothered to pack a suitcase travelled to the destination stay somewhere that's not your own home. For the record I do not suffer from anxiety but I just prefer to stay at home. Does anybody else feel like this

I'm the same, I used to live for holidays. Last one was January 19, we had one booked for May 20 but covid put paid to that. Zero interest in any more. I'm retired and have the means to go.

I agree, much prefer a nice day out then back to sleep in my own bed.

I love to travel, but I agree that since the pandemic it's become a far less enjoyable experience. It's much more expensive, airports seem a lot busier and the delays now are ridiculous. We travel several times a year and last year we had quite significant delays on every single trip we did.

The exhaustion and days of feeling spaced out due to missing nights of sleep and big time differences too is becoming more of a deterrent. I think I'm just getting old, but I was talking to my DSis about this (also a keen traveller) and we agreed that we want to do our 'bucket list' trips in the next 10 years or so, because we can both see a point where we simply won't want to do the longer trips any more.

Being on holiday is great.

The faff of packing and travelling, not so much.

We tend to do holiday cottages off season and stay home in the summer.

I've gone off the faff of travelling abroad, which I used to love. Traipsing to the airport hours before the flight, fannying about at security, weighing bags...I just can't be arsed anymore. I also feel like I should be dressing up and going out every night when I'm abroad, when really I'd prefer a couple of nights out and the rest watching tv or reading a book.

What I am enjoying very much is going away in the Uk. I love walking so chucking everything in the car including a load of batch cooked meals and spending a week at a cottage by the sea is my idea of relaxing. Walk every day, maybe a pub lunch, afternoon reading/napping/eating cream teas, evening stroll on the beach. Heaven. Not even bothered about the weather, I've got waterproofs!

Scottish schools are all on holiday in July, and Cairngorms is really popular with Scots as well so the high season starts early. If you could pull your dates into late June, or push out into late August you might get a better deal.

this is true. Back in the day you could talk to a human travel agent and now you have to do it yourself- lots of apparent choice online but also risk of being ripped off (as I was via the Booking website) never mind dynamic pricing for everything.

Last year I used an airport (Bristol) for the first time in about 15 years. I was frustrated by the amount of sitting around and then moving to another set of seats as we got called forward in the terminal building, made even worse when we couldn't see outside or get any fresh air.
We travel the length of the UK and always use our car. Yes, we may be sitting down, but we're sitting down and moving forward on our own terms.

Same. We are nearly 3 hours from nearest airport and when we went to Lanzarote last year travel took up a whole day each way. Not to mention the antisocial hours of the flight times. Giving it all a rest this year.

Haven't had a holiday in years .
Obviously have leave from work , but spend some of those & weekends getting out about sightseeing.
Dh loves driving and round trips of 200+ miles are no bother to him .
Make a full day of it by getting up early and seeing the travelling as part of the fun , lots of stop offs for teas & wees etc .

I understand how you feel. We have travelled a lot over the years and enjoyed it.

We were spending about £8000 on 2 holidays abroad a year, which was a budget we set ourselves. We'd ticked a lot of affordable places off our bucket list and started struggling to find places we wanted to go.

My DS had both got to an age when they didn't want to go on holiday with us anymore, so we decided to get a micro pop top caravan for the 2 of us.

We've had it for almost 3 years now and only use it from spring to autumn, but it's been brilliant. DH and I are mid 50s and both work full time, but still manage to make great use of it and have had some brilliant trips visiting some lovely parts of the UK.

I think after this summer, including the caravan which we bought brand new, its accessories, the cost of servicing, insurance, campsites and petrol, we will have probably spent the same amount that we would have if we'd gone on the kinds of holidays we used to do over 3 years.

We also make our own food while away in the caravan rather than eating out, which makes our trips so much cheaper and we can eat more healthily.

We really like hiking and the caravan provides a great base for us in the countryside for that.

DH took a bit of convincing as he didn't really consider himself a caravan type of person. It was a bit of a risk as he wasn't sure he'd like it, but was willing to give it a go.

He's come to appreciate its benefits and the advantages of now being able to plan really affordable holidays without worrying about the cost. I absolutely love it.

. I also feel like I should be dressing up and going out every night when I'm abroad, when really I'd prefer a couple of nights out and the rest watching tv or reading a book

If you stay in an apartment or villa you don't need to get dressed up and go out every evening though. We normally eat out at lunch time and stop in and relax in the evenings - just bread, cheese etc as we've eaten our main meal at lunch time. We'll maybe eat out a couple of times. If that's the way you like to holiday in the UK then nothing to stop you doing it abroad. Most places we stay at now have Smart TV with Netflix, or you can watch on laptop / iPad.

I'll admit I wouldn't feel so happy about going places if it was miles to my nearest airport. We are around 40 mins in a taxi so it does make a difference.

If you're abroad somewhere warm, you can sit on the balcony or terrace all evening with a drink and snacks, reading and chatting.

Like @ShinyAppleDreamingOfTheSea we've often had a decent lunch out, often on 'Mediterranean time' ie mid afternoon, so we don't want much in the evening, so wine and crisps, cheese, olives etc is perfect.

Do what you want to do, not what you 'feel' you should do. Like the PP who wouldn't have a holiday at home, because she couldn't stop herself from doing chores, watching mindless TV and surfing the internet. Of course you can.

Yes I do

You have to pack/unpack four times!

And it's rarely as comfortable as home when you get there

Caravan sounds great tbh

I'm the same, "am" an avid traveller, been all over the world.

Not feeling it this year.

I'll just do a last-minute if I can be arsed, packing, heaving airports, the stress, crowds.

Anyway, I live in one of those places where tourism the whole year round is 20 to 1 inhabitant. 😯

Oh, and booking dot com has utterly fucked the rental market.
Prices have shot up and young people can't find a roof over their head.
It's a disgrace.

I’ve never especially enjoyed overseas, multi-week holidays int the sense of finding them relaxing. I look back and am glad I visited amazing places, but I find the actual BEING on holiday quite stressful. I didn’t mind it so much as a teenager/twentysomething pottering around SE asia and across europe and the US, but I’m nearly 40 now and haven’t left the UK since 2019 😀

I do, however, go on a lot of shorter holidays and days out in the UK. I love to explore, i just quite like my own bed and/or no flights!

Our last 'big' holiday was in 2022, a 3 week road trip from Atlanta to meet up with friends in Texas.
Although we had a fantastic time and enjoyed every minute, it completely killed our holidaying mojo, I just cannot work up any enthusiasm to do more than mid week breaks a lot nearer home.
I am sad to think that I may not visit my American friends again, but like pp's have said the hassle just doesn't seem worth it.

Unless we can have a transporter like on the USS Enterprise, where our molecules are zapped from one place to another!

Not sure what age you all are; but I think as you get older you just want to relax and not bother with the hassle of arranging a trip, going to airports, etc. Also, the costs are putting people off. Flights are becoming really expensive.

I am 50, still love travelling and getting away from the UK grey skies; try different foods, discover new places and experience other cultures. Make memories with the family, otherwise life becomes very monotonous. But I agree that holidays do go quickly like everything else and sometimes you wonder if the costs is justifiable.

I also feel like we really connect as a family when we go away; at home everyone do their own thing mostly,

I don’t find the airport or packing stressful anymore; we have done it so often that It just become part of the routine; and we pack last minute and travel light. We mostly do self catering and rent a car. We loved our las trip to Japan and got wonderful memories

I'm feeling the same. I used love going on holiday and am lucky enough to have had lots, but now I find the build up to them stressful e.g. ensuring work is completed before turning on my out of office, buying anything needed for the holiday and then packing. I would much prefer to stay home with my cats!

I also HATE airports - especially passport e-gates, the usually long walk to and from the departure/arrival gate, using endless flights of stairs when the lifts/escalators aren't working, other passengers...the list goes on.

Cruising is a lot easier than airports, so might look to do more in the future rather than flying.

Some of our best holidays have been driving ones in the UK, again might look to do more of these, but they are still a lot of hassle.

I'm pretty old, and I still love holidays. The planning is part of the fun. Airports are annoying, I agree, but simply a means to an end. I would be constantly travelling, if I had the time and the funds!

I completely agree with this. I haven’t been on a plane in a few years, and I don’t think I ever will again. I find that by Day 5 or so, I’m desperate to come home.

This year I’m doing a few 3-4 night breaks in the UK, and hoping for decent weather, but I’ll enjoy these no matter what.

I do like the occasional cruise from Southampton though!