To ask what you dreamed would be fabulous but is actually maybe a bit shit

[hitsvilleuk]

I think this about lots of things to do with celebrity lives, when I was younger I thought it all would amazing now not so sure.

A particular one I have is that I always longed for a villa on the Italian lakes. We went to a hotel there one year for 5 days ( in the same village as George Clooney ) It pissed down for 3 days. Everything was dark and damp and that combined with the endless queuing for flights and the thought of maintaining a property in another country sort of did for the dream. Not achievable without a lottery win anyway but now I don't even want it.

Anyone else got stuff like this or that they actually got and then thought 'meh'. I seem to have it about more and more things as I get on - I just don't want stuff anymore. Is it just to do with age?

I also regret going to University. It wasn't really my choice.

I feel like a lot of our parents pushed us into going into University, as it looks good for them (my darling child is university educated), and the child never got a say in what they wanted to do.

My mum didn't go to University, and I pointed out to her that she had a lot more freedom of choice in her career,then I did in mine.

I would have loved to have gone straight to work after school.

If you think about it, paying to study for four years when you could be working is ridiculous. Universities are a scam, if you ask me. They just want money.

@zafferana

I have to agree with family holidays too. I've got used to them now, but the first few years I just wanted to cry and then go home early. Holidays pre-children were real holidays - fun, relaxing, lots of sleep, lots of sex, drinking cocktails by the pool, doing what we wanted when we wanted, visiting wonderful museums, splashing out on nice restaurants, just stopping at a bar because it looked nice and sitting there in the sun chatting, getting pissed and people watching for ages - bliss! Holidays with DC? Not even worthy of the name 'holiday'.

You're just going to the wrong places ;) you need to go somewhere luxurious with half or full board (no cooking) with childcare included to give you some quiet. Expensive but 100% worth it.

Without wishing to sound like an ungrateful t*sser

Having a swimming pool - breaks all the time, don't really like swimming in slightly leafy water in cold British weather

Having a large garden - maintenance takes forever, even with a gardener and costs a lot

Buying a Range Rover - spent 20% of 2019 in the garage over 6 trips. Develops faults constantly and other road users hate you, irrespective of how considerate a driver you try to be

Lessons learnt. Smaller house and garden and a Skoda next time. Less time on chores, more time to do other things

U2 live at Slane (so playing at home). Slane is a whole day thing and it's at a castle (Ireland and outdoors). Paid for myself and my best friend to go. Was finger on the buzzer on time to get the tickets with my work broadband. I was so happy. The day was great. Ireland was playing Spain in the European cup final or something. We had brought bin bags to sit on (we were prepared). We had also brought bottles of water. They were confiscated. Bottles of coke as a mixer for the vodka. Also confiscated. So in you go, with your bin bags. Half a mile later you get to the hill. It was brilliant. So exciting. So, you had to queue up for a plastic pint of Heineken. That took an hour. By the time you had that drank you had to join the queue again. Fine. I took this in my stride. I had 3 pints the whole day as I wanted to pace myself for the main event - U2. So they come on stage and then.... I can't even tell you what happened then.

@SpnBaby1967

Being able to choose what to eat, and how much to eat as as adult.

Now I'm just fat.

I concur. My DC have dreams of buying unlimited junk food as adults and I tell them the same thing.

I love my cordless Dyson though.

Loads:

Les Mis - 3 hours of screaming and talk/singing for a guy that steals a loaf of bread
New Year’s Eve, it’s always shit. I’ve only had one absolutely brilliant one.
Sex as a teenager - it’s crap I’ve only really started enjoying it in my 30s/40s also 50 shades of grey is the worst book ever written
A brown derby the mystical looking donut ice cream combination from the wimpy menu. I finally had one a couple of years ago it was shit.

I agree with so many of these including your OP. I was so excited to go to lake como but just found it a bit dull.

Also a big house. I spent my life dreaming of a new sprawling architecturally designed house in the countryside and now I'm in one and I hate it. I dream of living in my mum's small but cozy, easy to clean, close to all amenities semi-D! I'll be out of here the first chance I get.

Nodding along to so many of these - LA, Wicked, Sodastream, Northern Lights...

I would add the Philippines. We went to an island that was marketed as being beautiful, quiet and peaceful. It wasn't. You could barely cross the road without risking being run down and the sea was chocked with boats pumping out pollution and killing the coral. Was really sad to see.

I'm with nanbread. I don't get these 'family' holidays. The children don't want to walk around viewing the sights with you! They want to be off playing friends in their day-camp tiring themselves out while you sunbathe or stroll around or do whatever the fuck you like, knowing that your darlings the little fuckers are enjoying themselves with their new best friends!

New York, I went in 1988 and have never been back. It was the hottest summer for 100 years, full of IRA supporters who heard an English accent and positively glared, openly shooting up drugs in public toilets, the people were so rude it was untrue

Also agree with Wicked. God almighty.

@Sgtmajormummy

I’d always wanted a buffet server or, in my wildest dreams, a hostess trolley.

Aldi had buffet servers about 2 years ago. Not popular here in Italy so they’d reduced the price, too. I bought one, set it up once and never used it.
It’s too big for daily use and we always eat together anyway, so no need to keep things warm under dinky plastic lids.

But the next time there’s a christening/funeral/catering event I WILL BE PREPARED.

I have a vintage hostess trolley, I got it from Freecycle I use it for Christmas and parties it's a great thing to have, but yes, it takes up space. I use it for storage the rest of the time

Oh I have a concert one too. Van Morrison in the English countryside somewhere. Very warm evening. Lovely venue. Endless queues for food and drink so hungry and longing for a beer or G&T. Before we got to the front of the queues they completely ran out of booze, just as VM came on. We left and found a pub.

@Thisbastardcomputer

New York, I went in 1988 and have never been back. It was the hottest summer for 100 years, full of IRA supporters who heard an English accent and positively glared, openly shooting up drugs in public toilets, the people were so rude it was untrue

The IRA sympathisers were in NY shooting up drugs in the toilets, glaring at you and being rude? What were you doing in the toilets with the IRA?

Oh dear.

breastfeeding - had visions of myself blissfully curled up in a comfy chair with half-asleep baby contentedly suckling. In reality, I never saw a single drop of milk come out of my boobs, every time my DD latched on, the pain was excruciating, like having electric shock treatment through my nipples. The midwives put me on a pump to try to get some milk out and I fainted from the pain. I'd rather have labour contractions over that any day.
The midwives then insisted I used formula instead, which was just a massive relief at the time, but still sometimes feel guilty about it, even though both DDs are almost grown up, and are not afflicted with any of the things I was told they would be. I was told they would be fat, thick & ill all the time - both DDs have literally been the extreme opposite all their lives so far: slim, clever & hardly ever ill.

I have since had breast cancer though, which did not help with the guilt.

Having a child. Hoping it will be fabulous when she's an adult.

@SimonJT ah I'm T2 diabetic and getting SO bored of water! Where do you get your sugar free syrups from?

Sod it im just going to buy myself one 😂

This thread had me thinking about more let-downs:

• Thai Food (people rave about it but I don't like it at all)
• Rome, except Vatican City.
• home ownership

Disappointed to hear about:

• Whale Watching
• Soda Stream

I agree with New York. It was a hot summer, it just seemed to be full of high rise office blocks. We had made the mistake of staying in an apartment near a busy junction and the New Yorkers seem to like honking their car horns ALL NIGHT LONG so I didn’t sleep. I’m from London, traffic noise doesn’t bother me, but why the need to honk horns all the time? I just don’t get it? Also the subway was dirty and not a patch on the London Underground!

Not to be mean if you come from there but was not happy that I spent part of a trip to Australia visiting Perth. Expensive and dull. It is probably very nice if you live there.

As cities go it really is dull! I lived there for three years and we had a nice quality of life with the weather and gorgeous beaches and we were in well paid jobs but it can feel claustrophobic as it's so isolated.

Auckland was another such city that had no energy and was really really bland. Again it was perfectly "nice" to live there but just didn't compare to the buzz of a major European city, even the gritty ones like Dublin have tons of character and plenty of things going on. I assume it comes down to geography.

I never had any clue what breastfeeding was, only that breast was best, but, me with mastitis, sitting in the 'breastfeeding room' with actual cabbage leaves inside a nappy pressed to my sore engorged tit certainly wasn't in the manual. Every other normal mother on the ward just happily fed their children bottles. Visitors came in and even took turns at feeding the baby. I was there with tears streaming down my face, nipples leaking like nobody's business, a crying baby and my aunt finally bringing me a tube of lansinoh for my nipples. NEVER. AGAIN. I was also the only one who had had a CS, so I had a cathether in for about 12 hours while trying to feed my baby. This involved rolling out of bed, trying to lift baby out of cot and roll back into bed without disturbing catheter. Fucking sheer and utter hell.

Thereweretoses, I assume you passed out when U2 came on in the park and had to be helped out by one of the Marshall's ?
I don't know why they confiscate water ! These huge gigs are just hard going ( so I've heard) especially when it's boiling hot and drinks are hard to come by easily.

Oh god yes, the whale watching!

Done it twice, vomited copiously, saw a few flashes of grey, quick flick of a tail and a brief head/eye pop up. About 6 or 7 hours in total. It’s a cruel and unusual punishment that they get you to pay for. I have no idea why I consented to doing it a second time.

@MaudesMum...I completely agree . I hate a Spa day and being touched by a stranger. Even the hairdressers doing the head massage freaks me out .

@Mapel99

Having a child. Hoping it will be fabulous when she's an adult.

Mine are both adults and it can still have its ups and downs! ( at least I can let them get on with it though)