Why doesn't it feel like a proper holiday unless it's long haul?

[IncaMaid]

Growing up we used to holiday in France and Spain. Sometimes Greece if lucky. Never ever flew long haul. My friends were jetting off all sorts of exotic places and I was very jealous.

Now that I am an adult and earning adult money, whenever I go to book a holiday, I can only think in terms of long haul. Don't get me wrong, I love Greece and Italy and visit most years. But in my (silly) mind, these are not classed as "proper holidays". DH jokes it's not a holiday for me unless it's long haul and in business class (very rarely then!).

No idea. I just pick the destination where I want to go and if it's a short flight that's a big bonus - faster, cheaper flight means more time and money to spend at the destination, plus less environmentally disruptive. If you live in Europe though I think there are certain kinds of holidays where you have to go further afield - for example, if you want heat, lying on the beach, and watersports in European winter. Or, I guess, if you've been everywhere in Europe BECAUSE those are easier destinations to reach, you may feel like you have to go further afield to experience something new.

It’s the association you made when you were younger - A proper holiday is somewhere exotic like where your friends went. Not the places you were going, which were closer and didn’t seem exotic.

I've only ever flown long haul half a dozen times in my 50+ years, always to the US to visit friends and family. Does that mean I've never been on a proper holiday? Do you know how ridiculous you sound?

Can you take a longer route somewhere closer to make it more exciting?

As Terry Wogan used to say…Every day’s a holiday if you can get out of bed

Like Skegness via Singapore?

Long haul is my idea of hell. Long hours I sitting down. A car journey is better, at least you can stop and stretch your legs. And don't get me started on jet lag.

I've been to the US X4 and St Lucia but never Australia or NZ and the long flight puts me off.

I still have holidays though!

Long haul is more of an endurance test than a holiday for me. I like taking off in Britain and landing at my destination in time for a late lunch!

Its all about perspective isn't it? When I lived in Ireland an acquaintance (oh all right it was my horrible now ex-SIL) swanking all over the place about her very expensive five star honeymoon in Bali. It was her first trip abroad and she hated it, she never went further than Magaluf after that. Now I live in Oz, Bali is our shortest haul overseas trip and can be cheap as chips or hugely expensive from here, but the fancy holidays from here are to Europe! Bali, Fiji and SE Asia are our more local options so much more common for holidays. So long haul itself doesn't make a holiday better, it all depends on where you are starting from. FWIW I would love to be only 4 hours (or less) from Europe now. I am very glad I travelled a lot of it back in the day.

I used to travel a lot with my work as far afield as Australia. For several years I virtually lived in hotels. I now find air travel tedious. There is no excitement in it. I would rather take my own car, and often do if the destination is in Europe. I’m no longer impressed by fancy hotels either. I’d rather self cater.

If your definition of holiday is spending hours in an airport or plane, then it's got to be long haul. I'd rather have time to explore and relax - that's a holiday to me.

Yes thats an idea.
All the benefits of longhaul with none of the inconvenience.

I'm over long haul now. Haul is the word. I don't mind on the way out but coming back leaves me more knackered and stressed than if I hadn't gone (says she who's flying to Canada this week 😄).

I've told DH we can only go long haul now if we go business class which we absolutely can't afford so I can concentrate on European destinations which I love.

(I would travel more in the UK if the weather was more reliable - I'm not prepared to use up precious annual leave only to get rained on.)

Because you’re a bit of a snob?

A holiday is anywhere that you’re lazing on a beach.

A UK holiday is not so appealing to me because it doesn't feel very different from the everyday. Even in the beautiful Lake District the supermarket is still Tescos and there's a WH Smith and a Wetherspoons on the high street. After a few years holidaying in different parts of England DH and I decided we wouldn't do it again, it was no cheaper and just wasn't enough to get excited for.

I don't go long haul though. Partly because of the cost of flights, but also I am still really curious about Europe, especially Eastern Europe.

We left the UK at 7am yesterday morning and we're where we are now by 11am. 28 degrees, quiet, relaxing, nothing to do except get over a hectic few months and breathe
The thought of having to get to an airport much further away to hang around and then shuffle onto a plane and sit for 10 to 12 hours to get out somewhere probably quite similar to where we are, be knackered for the first couple of days and do the same to get back home is exhausting before I start.
Sod that!

I absolutely love a day out somewhere quiet and pretty. A walk, a swim, a book, a picnic and a pint in a nice pub along the way.

Sometimes I think to myself that it makes me happier than a fortnight's holiday makes some other people.

I've often wondered if I'm right and this OP proves it.
It also proves that travel doesn't broaden the mind.

My ideal holiday includes travel as part of the experience. I love long train journeys through multiple countries. (Although I always wish we could just teleport to St Pancras for the Eurostar.) We even enjoyed five hours on a Flixbus through Croatia.

I would be quite excited about a long haul flight plus sea plane to get to an idyllic remote location but the thought of doing the journey again to come home would put me off.

Trouble is, it's hard to disagree with the OP on threads like this because you get sneery posters jumping in to tell you you're jealous, regardless of the experiences you know you've had.
I do know a couple of very rich people who travelled a lot and it seems natural to them. They don't feel the need, for example, to mention what class they travel - iykyk.
I lived abroad in various countries for a lot of my life which made it very easy to visit lots of places far from the UK.
I'm quite enjoying exploring the UK more now.

SeaAndStars

It also proves that travel doesn't broaden the mind.

Indeed.

I believe the kids say “check your privilege”
Seriously, OP, it appears that you’ve had a great lifetime of holidays & need to recalibrate a bit. (The environment will probably be grateful too!)

That’s pretty sad that you can’t feel like you’ve had a proper break unless you’ve generated probably as much carbon emissions as a low income household does in a year. But I’m sure that won’t trouble you.

Long haul for us us a trip to visit family on Mull from Bristol. 500 miles, 12 hours travelling, including 1 or 2 ferry crossings (depending on the route). It's worth it though for the joy of seeing family, the food is amazing and the scenery magnificent. (There is no airport on Mull)

We have done two long haul trips two years in a row, first was the USA for a holiday (first time in many years we went long haul) and then the following year we went back for a family wedding. Maybe its because I am getting old but I came back more knackered than when I left - airports, crammed in economy, jetlag, long days sightseeing, socialising etc. I feel like I havent had a proper break in two years because I had to bank up all my annual leave for said holidays.

Next summer we are having a UK holiday, I cant even be arsed to fly to Europe. We had lovely UK breaks when our kids were younger but then we all caught the international travel bug, now I am ready to put that on hold.

Blimey.
Booked a holiday for next summer. Week in a motorhome on a Scottish beach 2 hours from home with daughter’s family. So excited, can’t bloody wait!
Get real!