Gone off holudays

[PerkyOchrePeer]

I used to enjoy going on holiday and travelling abroad. Lately I've gone off the idea. I quite like flying but no longer like the idea of staying in a othered anymore. I dint like working out currency and trying to get understood because of a la gauge barrier

I’ve always loved to travel , I had first DC at 19 and went on holiday with him when he 10 weeks. My 3 DC and I haven’t stopped travelling since. I’m retired now and it’s gone up a level as I can now go at short notice.

This sums it all up for me. I am currently on holiday. I’m far too hot, feel sick, exhausted and stressed. I am seriously considering not going abroad anymore. I now have to watch everything I eat and exercise for at least an hour a day. Doing that on holiday when eating out and it’s very hot is hard. I enjoyed a week in the Lake District more .Plus we also have a very very neurotic needy cat and I worry about leaving her.

Pick a direction and drive for an hour, then explore wherever you end up. Stop at villages, farm shops, or landmarks you’ve never visited before. No airports, no luggage drama, no language barriers—just freedom and spontaneity.

I have always loved holidays and travel. But I am now mid 50s and not long back from a month in the UK and Ireland ( I live in Oz now) and it was hard work! I took seven planes in a month, one plane was cancelled so we had an unexpected night in Manchester, they lost our luggage for three days, and we did a huge amount of driving. We did treat ourselves to some nice hotels but they whole thing cost a fortune! Even though we had a fantastic time,I have no desire to get on another plane, especially long haul, for quite a while! I am even a bit tired of hotels, and I usually love a nice hotel! It might be because summer is coming here and I live near the beach so I can feel like I am holidaying but have all my home comforts. Maybe next year I will be ready to go away again!

I do that type of thing every weekend, it’s nice to get further away too.

@PerkyOchrePeer do you speak a language other than your own? Or is this just a standard applied to non English speakers?

Well I love travelling. I love seeing new places, trying new food, meeting new people. I don't have a problem working our currency but even if i do there is a convert option on my phone calculator. I often try to learn a few words in the language of the country I visit and I don't expect everyone to speak English. If there is a communication problem there is always Google translate now.
My holidays are the highlight of my year and I would go more often if I could afford it.
If you don't enjoy it don't do, it's not compulsory 😂

@Hummingbirdtree
I can understand your worries over your cat, but in respect of the heat, could you consider travelling to places where it is cooler, or if you enjoy warmer countries, perhaps travel outside of the warmer months. Our holidays abroad this year have been Italy (June, very hot) and Croatia (next week) and just looking at projected temperatures, I think near year we will stick to travelling between October to May.

Mumsnet often has this really strange fixed idea of a holiday must be - it must be warm, it must be abroad and it must be relaxing. A holiday is just time off work or your usual duties - that is it. How you choose to spend that time is entirely down to your preferences, it is still a holiday whether you are backpacking around Thailand or staying at home and having some day trips and lazy garden days.

I think the mistake is to think of going abroad as relaxing. I find it invigorating to have a change and see different things but I expect to come back tired and find some of it challenging - it is a fair bit of effort travelling, dealing with other languages and new things. After about seven or so days, no matter how much fun I have had I am often ready to come home.

I was away somewhere moderately different for a week, city break with day trips, and I’m still shattered 2 weeks later. We walked a lot, slept a lot….but it was’t relaxing. I’m holding out for a more relaxing trip next time and will build in some chill time. I’ve also, finally, in my 50s embraced the idea of time off at home not being a waste. I take your point.

This is what I find now. I went to Budapest last year for a few days and it just wiped me out for about two weeks. I didn’t really enjoy it and it’s put me off city breaks. I went to Paris fifteen years ago and charged around everywhere cycling and walking. I just couldn’t do that now and wouldn’t want to. I think the pace of life is so frenetic now that we desperately want a rest on holiday.

Yes we always do usually. Had to cancel in May due to illness.

Used to love travelling, but finances have been very tight last few years, and husband became disabled about three years with declining health. Just done UK holidays. Surprisingly I've coped okay without the travel, I just have to change my mind set when planning a holiday.

Which brings me to the travel anxiety. It’s all what ifs, and what have I missed? Do I have passports, driving licence and prescription sunglasses (at least 150 times on the morning of departure, and in the taxi). What if we miss our connection? What if we get to wherever and there’s no record of our booking? What if it rains? What if it’s too hot? What if one of us gets sick? What if there’s a power cut at home and my fish have no heat or filtration? What if we’re burgled? What if one of our family has an emergency when we’re so far away…

This is me!

I never used to be like this, and I'm fine when we get there, but the stress in the days leading up to a trip is so off the scale I sometimes wonder if it's really worth it.

Then you should have made the effort to learn a little Slovakian! It’s arrogant to think that everyone should speak your language!

Well I’m on holiday at the moment and have forgotten somehow to pack two vital medications. In the past I have checked and rechecked and I remember packing them so God knows what’s happened. I have had to buy replacements at the chemist which thankfully sells them over the counter.

I have also had a bad fall on day one which has never ever happened to me before. OH had a bad fall a few days later. So none of that has helped my off the scale anxiety about holidays .

Do you holiday alone op or with anyone?

I’m going on a cruise from Liverpool next month. Looking forward to the hassle less travelling to get there. I do love holidays though. Some holidays are a rest, beach breaks you can rest all day on the beach / at the pool. City breaks you’re seeing as much as possible in a short space of time. But everyone has a choice, book whatever type of holiday you want, or none at all if it no longer floats your boat.

I used to live for holidays but since covid l really can’t be arsed. I have arthritis and it restricts what l can do but I think I’d feel the same way without the pain.

I enjoy holidays but my mindset has changed as I've got older. I'm off on a city break with a friend today. We are not cramming everything in and planning it to extreme, we will see what we see and enjoy some down time. Its somewhere where practically everyone speaks English, so no langauge barrier. There are so many different types of holidays and it doesn't have to be stressful. We both plan to just relax. Holidays are what your mindset is. If you don't want to go, you don't have too.

I've always hated holidays. Occasionally we go for an overnight stay in the UK, but that's about it. Luckily I live in a beautiful part of the country so never feel the need to go anywhere else.

I do this even with city breaks now. I try and book an extra night and find a hotel with a spa and then stretch out the activities I would have gone in three nights to four or five.

I have also seen really a lot so still enjoy sightseeing but I’ve switched to a lot more doing and it will probably turn into just being there soonish. So for example a lunch at a Tuscan farmhouse and Olive tasting instead of looking at ruins.

@CeeJay81
I agree with you that our holidays are now a lot more relaxing as we’ve got older. More time to take things easy and less rushing around.

What I don’t understand is the number of people who say they haven’t wanted to travel since Covid. Can some one who feels like this explain why? Is it because lockdown taught you that you enjoy exploring the UK and you didn’t miss foreign travel? I can understand maybe being put off by reports of the delays at the time there was additional form filling and checking but airports were very short off staff, having let people go in the pandemic and not yet rehired fully. But that was around 2022. Even with refurbishment going on, my local airport is now back to normal and with new scanners installed so you no longer have to remove liquids/electronics ar security.

I think it’s just that people got out of the habit of travelling and it’s hard to regain the enthusiasm. Also memories of form filling and masks etc. I don’t feel the same about holidays anymore.

I’ve always loved travelling but I have to admit since perimenopause hit I’ve been less enthusiastic about our holidays. I’d happily have a year off travel and save the money, do some house renovations instead (although we have already paid for flights to Japan for next year). My DH however puts a lot of pressure on me to keep booking holidays and going places. I am much more content at home now that I’m in my 40s.