Holidays into the unknown ;)

I think half the fun of going somewhere new is checking out whatever you can before going.

Totally foreign idea to me that someone not know where they were going and what they might expect to find there.
It all adds to the excitement!!

Having had a surprise cruise paid for once too, we visited places I might never have heard of or chosen and they were fascinating.

Not just holidays. A young woman was asked to tell the little ones bout the countries of the UK; she could not point to Wales on the map.
I looked at holidays in North Wales, and set up the notification, but all I get is Pembrokeshire, so whoever programmed it had no idea either.

The number of people who end up in Austria when they were aiming for Australia is mind boggling. They have a special desk to deal with these eejits.

anniebygaslight

The number of people who end up in Austria when they were aiming for Australia is mind boggling. They have a special desk to deal with these eejits.

Can't be true, surely? 😂😂😂

Well, I suppose they both have ski resorts!!

anniebygaslight

The number of people who end up in Austria when they were aiming for Australia is mind boggling. They have a special desk to deal with these eejits.

It's an urban myth, totally untrue but keeps doing the rounds on social media.

😂😂😂

I have spent many years both travelling for holidays and living abroad, and am old enough to have done all my own checking out before there were even Rough Guides to follow. My holiday is quite precious to me as would only be having one so think it is worth the effort to find out all about places to ensure I go to somewhere that interests me. Another point is that I have always learnt the basic common courtesies and questions in whatever language is used. I find it rude and arrogant to assume everyone will speak english, and that people do not even know how to say please and thankyou,

I used to find out about different places, how to travel on local buses to various places - cheaper and more interesting than travelling with a group of british people. The other thing I do is to find out about local food and what is their speciality as again it is usually cheaper and well cooked and very enjoyable. It never ceases to amaze me when people seem to have no sense of distance or in some cases which country they are going to, and there are plenty of people who do not seem to know lots of places in Britian. Each to their own but personally I feel I have a better time with a little knowledge and the opportunity to find unusual places.

I know this is hard to believe but gods honest truth, it is.
In the 70s we were taking a holiday on the Isle of White.
My Aunty Ivy asked me to get her some duty free fags. 😂

We wanted to go to France one year but had just moved house and finances were limited.
As we'd promised the DC a ferry journey we went to the Isle of Wight instead. They had a wonderful time (we did tell them it wasn't France!)

Grammaretto A lizard and some hens and 2 dachsunds.

Barbadosbelle

Grammaretto

Like those people who go to the likes of Sandals and other AI (all-inclusive) places and never step foot outside the resort.

They never learn anything about where they are or contribute to the local economy. Although, I have to admit that all those I've known/met who go on those kind of holidays have been, without exception, rather shallow and boring people!!!
.

My niece and nephew were taken to Mexico by their dad. When they came back, my niece told me they'd stayed in one of those all-inclusive resorts and never set foot outside it. She was very disappointed at travelling all that way and not seeing anything of Mexico itself. She said for all they saw, they could have been anywhere.

Grammaretto

Where’s your sense of adventure? The best holiday I had was an outward ticket to New Delhi and the return from Tokyo.
We used the internet to help us explore.
I have a friend who, like you, plans to the nth degree and will drive directly from A to B with no deviation even for the most enticing signs and sights.

Do you holiday alone, usually?

I lived abroad when a student. My friend was going to study in Manchester University. I asked her about the kind of landscape and region it was in. She said,, all I know is that I will be flying to an airport there. Haven't you looked at the map I asked? No, she was not interested in looking at maps was her reply. As a geographer I was astounded. I love poring over maps. We are all different.

Was happy to be going to Malaga again last year, until a couple of weeks before we flew, and DD2 confessed she’d booked New York instead! (She knew my ESTA was valid and I’d be pleased).
A friend’s ex d-in-law said they’d been to Spain, because she knew her ex wouldn’t want her to take their daughter to Morocco! They didn’t tell the child where she was, but she had her hand henna’d and that let the cat out of the bag at home.

Georgesgran

Was happy to be going to Malaga again last year, until a couple of weeks before we flew, and DD2 confessed she’d booked New York instead! (She knew my ESTA was valid and I’d be pleased).
A friend’s ex d-in-law said they’d been to Spain, because she knew her ex wouldn’t want her to take their daughter to Morocco! They didn’t tell the child where she was, but she had her hand henna’d and that let the cat out of the bag at home.

We were going to Norfolk but the weather forecast was shocking, so we went to the travel agent and booked Lanzarote instead, went the next morning.
We enjoyed it very much, it was very interesting!

Barbadosbelle

Grammaretto

Like those people who go to the likes of Sandals and other AI (all-inclusive) places and never step foot outside the resort.

They never learn anything about where they are or contribute to the local economy. Although, I have to admit that all those I've known/met who go on those kind of holidays have been, without exception, rather shallow and boring people!!!
.

I do recall a holiday on the W coast of Barbados when dds were small, when a local interviewer asked which island attractions we had visited.
Answer, none. Not one.

Reason being, dds were real water babies, very happy in pool or sea virtually all day, while dh and I also loved the sea and would take turns to dd-watch while the other went snorkelling or water- skiing.

Plus DDs would NOT have enjoyed being dragged around the island by car or bus in the heat when all they wanted was beach and sea/pool.

To me it’s very ill-advised to judge people whose idea of usually expensive holiday enjoyment may be different from yours.

We consider ourselves quite well travelled and have spent many years living overseas. However last year we had had a stressful few months and booked a week in a Greek hotel where we enjoyed excellent food, stretched out by a sublime infinity pool and didn't leave until the taxi arrived to take us back to the airport.
It was a perfect week and just what we needed. Not our usual holiday but sometimes needs change.

To me it’s very ill-advised to judge people whose idea of usually expensive holiday enjoyment may be different from yours.

The whole thread is judgemental.

People have been doing it for years

Not our usual holiday but sometimes needs change.
👍

Each to their own. Personally I like to research a holiday destination beforehand. When we go on a cruise it’s always chosen because of the ports visited. Mind you, some can’t be avoided, like Gibraltar and Lisbon! We stay on board if we’ve been previously. I also like to learn some of the local language on DuoLingo.

I enjoy cruising and especially "Mystery Cruises"
Only those on the bridge know exactly where the ship is going all the passengers get is cryptic clues as to the whereabouts, the crew are told about 1 hour before arrival and the rest of us are told when we arrive.
So far we have not been disappointed and our holidays have been wonderful

Grammaretto

Each to their own but not my kind of trip to turn up somewhere you know nothing about and expect it to be a good holiday.

It's rude and shows a sense of entitlement all too common these days.

When some people return from these holidays all they seem to do is grumble.

These days? I remember over 40 years ago a Granada news piece from Manchester Airport asking passengers on a package holiday to find their destination on a map of Europe, many couldn't even find Spain!
Getting the Rand McNally maps out was always how we planned our US roadtrips, too many are slaves to the sat nav, a version of Computer says Go!

ViceVersa

Barbadosbelle

Grammaretto

Like those people who go to the likes of Sandals and other AI (all-inclusive) places and never step foot outside the resort.

They never learn anything about where they are or contribute to the local economy. Although, I have to admit that all those I've known/met who go on those kind of holidays have been, without exception, rather shallow and boring people!!!
.

My niece and nephew were taken to Mexico by their dad. When they came back, my niece told me they'd stayed in one of those all-inclusive resorts and never set foot outside it. She was very disappointed at travelling all that way and not seeing anything of Mexico itself. She said for all they saw, they could have been anywhere.

Maybe it was a precaution for security reasons. Tourists in many locations are seen as easy prey for robbers who may well be violent.

We were once on holiday in a location not generally considered dangerous, when right outside the hotel, someone tried to snatch a female tourist’s handbag. Her husband resisted and was stabbed for his pains.

Lucky to survive, he then spent several weeks in the local (excellent) hospital. As his (extremely brown!) wife who stayed, told visitors some weeks later, everyone, including the hotel, had been wonderful.

JackyB

Back in the early 1970s we backpacked around Israel, using public transport. We got talking to a couple who were there on a package tour. They had seen some sights as part of the package, but they asked us "How do you know where to go?" I really didn't know what to say!

These days, it's so much easier to look things up on the internet there really is no excuse.

Also back in the day, there were many American servicemen and their dependants (probably other nationalities too) who were flown to places all over the world, stayed in their barracks and on their bases and never had any contact with the outside world. I met many others, though, who were really interested and took their families to fun places every weekend. I live near several big American bases* and had some really good times with some of them.

YouTube is full of clips about (usually) American tourists who are"shocked" by even the slightest differences to what they are used to. They dont seem to get that the whole point of travelling is to see how others live, what they eat, and how they do things. And to learn from thjs. This is apparently a mindset that is not exclusively American.

* Gone now of course.

OH taught Army brats in Germany years ago, one of the Regiments didn't rotate every 2 years so some families had been there for 15 or more years. One woman who was in that position was amazed that I went in German shops, she had always bought everything in the NAAFI.