Do you think people are taking more holidays these days? Are you?

[holidayQs26]

I remember when I was younger and reflecting on what I wanted to afford it was for one nice holiday (abroad) a year. This is what felt like the aspirational ideal growing up, not that we could afford it mind!

When budgeting since having a family of my own I have always saved for one holiday a year but it feels like more and more people I know are going on multiple holidays a year now. Some people I work with have some kind of break or holiday every period of annual leave they take.

Admittedly it’s probably just the fact I grew up poorer but now work in a firmly middle class field. But I do find myself feeling sad if a school holiday is coming up and we haven’t got a break planned! Even finding myself feel somewhat awkward when people ask!

Have you noticed this?

I guess I’m taking more than usual. Christmas / NY and Feb. Skiing holidays. Followed by a spring and summer holiday. Quite nice. Can’t imagine not going abroad tbh.

Id just love to know how they afford it! Our summer holiday has come to 12.5k and it’s taken me a year to save for it!

@StressedStudentPara - that’s pretty high though? Most people can holiday abroad for far less.

We are in the holiday industry. It’s busier that ever. Bookings happen earlier and earlier. We are generally booked up around 12 months in advance, sometimes earlier. Many returning guests.

But then there’s so many people in the world, there’s always going to be people travelling, even if that’s only a small % of population at a time

We spend our disposable income on holidays. It will be limited by exams for the next 4 years, but that means only skiing and main summer holiday, prior to that at least 2 more get aways.

@StressedStudentPara I think that’s part of it for us, our holidays for this year and next year are pretty expensive so we can only go the once, I could have split it out more and gone away more frequently but we were keen to do the destinations weve picked. But am now wondering if I should have split for next year!

i think it depends on the person and their stage in life and priorities

i hate flying. So lots of foreign holidays are not for me. Also have a very needy dog which needs doggysitting, a child with wrap around childcare costs, a large mortgage for a large house (and I completely own that decision) and a slightly insecure working situation (redundant last year: work on short term contracts just now). We go a few UK breaks each year; but a foreign holiday every couple of yenaes

my brother and his wife have similar salaries. But different lives: grown up children: they live in a small, inexpensive house with no outstanding mortgage: they go on multiple foreign holidays to exotic locations

@StressedStudentPara

Curious to know where you are going for 12.5k !? How many is that for ?

I don’t like flying much so no. I will fly and go away next year maybe also this autumn. Plus I’m just getting over a mental health episode so it’d have to be somewhere safe. No treks down the Amazon.

We are away about 5 times a year.

We’ve been to Budapest in February, Disneyland Paris in March.. Antalya in June, Tunisia in July and Tenerife in October. Also have London and Edinburgh booked two weekends apart in September - we are in NI, so flying. We don’t count those as “holidays.”

Our abroad holidays aren’t generally super expensive though, I think that’s the thing. Six figure combined income.

We generally have several holidays or weekends away a year, some UK, some abroad. Young adult kids though so they’re not always coming with us, and try to avoid school holidays.
@StressedStudentParaMost people aren’t spending £12k on one holiday. Presumably that’s a special kind of trip, not just a week in Spain.

I’ve just added ours up.. that’s about £13k a year split over 5 holidays and 2 UK breaks.

Haven’t been on holiday in about ten years, just finance wise it’s never really been an option, so lots of staycations. We’ve got a plan to go next year though and I could not be more excited

No. Haven't been abroad for years. Kids in private school. Our choice, but any spare money was swallowed by VAT.

One long break for a month over Christmas and New Year in Andalucia. That's non negotiable as I refuse to be at home for the absolute crap of anything Christmas. I hate it. OK I don't have Santa kids and I see extended family and in laws all year round. I will not give up that one extravagance for anyone.

Other than that, I'll try for a few days in Europe on a city/history orientated break, and a few days discovering areas near me at home. I live near the sea so it's easy to catch a walk in the sea air, but not during the school hols!

There's a lot of hassle involved in foreign travel now, and sometimes the thought of going anywhere outside the above puts me right off!

We tend to do 3 abroad holidays, one as a sunny one in the summer, one as a winter break and then one September ish as a city break and then we do a UK cottage/lodge type thing 3 or 4 times a year as well, it’s what we choose to spend our money on. I’ve done & am doing more this year than usual because I’m on mat leave with my second baby (2 years old & 6 month old) and have made the most of some of these crazy “how fast can you pack” deals which are ridiculously cheap. Obviously not something I can do when at work & my husband can’t join us as annual leave is limited but me and the kids have done a few already and I just keep an eye out as can go anytime and for the price of the deals it feels like a no brainer! Our last one was 6 nights in France and cost £230 all in for flights/luggage/half board hotel, before that we had 5 nights Tenerife and again for everything it was £250! That’s just for me & 2 young children so would be more if my husband had joined us but those same holidays if I looked to book them now for next month were £1200-1500. It’s a way of doing it cheaply that I had never really thought of but would be tricky to do if at work.

Judging by comments here the answer is yes. They are.

Yes, I am. I have travelled a lot as part of my job and studies since the age of 16. Usually tried to add a couple of days to one of the trips, once or twice a year. I was a broke student and then an unpaid or lowly-paid intern so even though the opportunities to travel were amazing, it never felt like a holiday as I couldn’t take an extra day to enjoy the location, explore properly, eat out…

A few years ago I got an amazing permanent job and I can finally afford to travel. I go away 4-5 times a year, on top of my still-very-frequent work travel schedule. Long haul at least once (my “big” yearly holiday, £2-3k), and a bunch of shorter, usually European ones. Some are visiting friends or family in their respective locations though.

I am still young and choosing to spend my disposable income like this, instead of aggressively saving or investing to buy property… It makes me incredibly happy and I’ve had years of just scraping by.

We do about ten trips per year. Some expensive: three weeks in South America and some inexpensive: week self catering in uk outside school holidays. I have visited over seventy countries and have lots more on my list.

Yes growing up we'd try for one holiday a year usually camping in the UK. We have plenty of years we never went. I did have friends and family who went abroad more regularly but they were in different financial positions. As a family now we do uk long weekends either one or two a year. Or staycations.

Now it feels like everyone goes away a lot more particularly abroad. I don't know how people are affording it. Clearly it must be having more money or family gifts.

I haven't been abroad since 2012 and my children have never been. I would love to take them but it just seems so eyewateringly expensive and overwhelming.

Local friends seem to go on multiple holidays a year. Almost every school holiday. We do live in an area with a lot of money sloshing around. I still struggle to work out how they can afford it. We do one holiday a year plus visits to relatives where we pay for travel but not accommodation. We couldn't afford to do more.

I've had 2 holidays in the last 18 years. Once DD went off to uni and chose to go on holidays with her friends then I didn't bother. I prefer weekend breaks in the UK if I'm honest.

We stay with my mum in Cornwall for 1-2 weeks in summer every year. A couple of years ago we spent 9 days in Sweden. My siblings live in Australia, so we have visited there twice in the last decade… it would have been just once, but my brother decided to get married, so my mum helped us out with the cost of flights.

That’s about it for holidays.

Yes I've noticed this too. We do one big holiday a year, I'm not sure how people afford lots but I'm guessing lots of research for good deals. I would absolutely love to just book a month anywhere in Spain . We normally go to the USA but suddenly craving just heading off for a month.

We are enjoying more holidays now. We have no mortgage and the kids are adults with their own homes plus our wages have increased allowing us to do so.

No. People on Mumsnet are not, on the whole, typical of the rest of society.