Do you enjoy going on holidays?

[flobadob]

It mind sound like a silly question but I've just returned from a holiday in Majorca and while there I noticed that a lot of people were quite miserable. There were people that I never saw smile. People that seemed to just sit at the pool, drinking and sleeping. Some people basically spent the whole day running after and shouting at their children. There were people who had babies, only a few months old or so, constantly looking after them. Maybe I misread the situations but a lot of those people looked like they were working very hard to get through the day, and I was wondering why they were there as they did not seem to be having any fun.

So, when you go on holidays, do you enjoy it or do you find it hard work to make it through?

[cazzz1975]

I dont know to be honest, I have not holidayed for years, I would imagine if the holiday is with small kids then its probably quite stressful especially as you all have to share a smaller space away from creature comforts.

holidays as a couple are probably a lot more fun or when the kids get a bit older

[Prudie]

I live for my holidays BUT if I had young kids with me then yes I would detest it.

[flobadob]

Why do we even have 'em?

[Prudie]

What kids or holidays?

[flobadob]

Exactly.

[cazzz1975]

natural biological instincts lead people to have kids, stress and a need for a change of scene lead to the desire for a holiday.

[flobadob]

So we bring kids into our stressful lives so that we can have a reason to go and be stressed in a different geographical location. Cool. Or not. Whatever.

[cazzz1975]

lives are not always stressful, neither are holidays. if you take children to a holiday specifically catered to children they are likely to have a great time and the parents likewise. its not all black and white.

sometimes parents want to take the children on holiday at the end of a long year at school as a well earned break, Im sure the plusses outweigh the minus's otherwise they would never go on holiday again

[CatGirl4]

I haven't had a holiday for years,so i can't really remember! Feel like i would like to go some where exotic,just to see.

[China Doll]

I enjoy holdays. I went on one holiday where you were not allowed to stay in the hotel unless you were 16 and over... That was great! :c)

[cc1]

Too many people have unrealistic expectations of holidays, you're suddenly together all day and night in unfamiliar surroundings, instead of being at work, going shopping, watching familiar TV.. We didn't take the childfren on long holidays when they were toddlers, made do with trips out and maybe the odd night away.

[Hopkirk]

Are you criticising people for constantly looking after their young babies?

[vulcan]

Isn't it part of the British psyche that we can only enjoy ourselves when we are miserable ?

[saxy_jag]

So many people seem to make such a great event out of the annual holiday in the sun that it can't be anything but stressful. It's a bit like a wedding - everything has to be perfect or the whole thing is ruined, and if that means the kids have to eat nicely at the table and sit quietly like little angels in the airport lounge, then so be it. And if it should rain? OMG - the holiday is a complete disaster!

Frankly, anyone who claims to enjoy such a holiday is welcome to it. Meantime, I'm off tomorrow with the caravan for a few days' peace and quiet in the British countryside. I can eat what I like, when I like. I can go down to the nearest pub and be sociable, or I can stay in the 'van with a bottle of wine and amuse myself watching the antics of other campers. The best thing is, when I've had enough, I can pack up and come home again without having to wait three days for the package flight.

[flobadob]

saxy, I've got to say the thought of taking a cramped caravan to a rain soaked middle of nowhere offers no appeal to me whatsoever. Saying that, each ti't own.

[karenmac60]

The folk I know just seem to want to go on holiday because it's the done thing. It's not even one holiday, it's 3 and 4 a year and they go on and on to each other about when their next holiday is and how much they deserve it because they've worked so hard (meanwhile ignoring customers cos they're too busy gabbing). Then when you ask them where they are going they don't even know. One colleague was going to the Canary Islands and she thought they were off the coast of America. Then they come back and moan about everything that was wrong with the holiday, how no one spoke English, it was too hot, the hotel was rubbish, the men were all creeps cos they kept looking at them in their skimpy bikinis etc. And then they start on about how they can't wait for their next holiday, they really need it. I'd rather stay at home thanks.

[rowanwitch]

I only like holidays when the following criteria can be met:
a) No kids
b) good birding
c) decent food preferably cooked by someone else
d) decent bed
e) a beach with stormy weather for at least some of it

Wales in October it is then...... avoiding half term of course

[karenmac60]

Rowan, I thoroughly recommend Ardnamurchan for your stormy beach - I used to go to a wee cottage overlooking this place -bliss
http://www.sannabay.co.uk/

[jomifl]

Karenmac is right (again) I once camped wild there for a nearly week, one magic day a fish and chip van stopped by in the middle of nowhere, just as well we had a couple of bottles of IPA stashed away. The wind off the sea keeps the midges away too. It was a wonderful holiday, I can't say I've ever had a bad one.