holidays

Humph! Luggage is easy. Most cruise lines do all the baggage handling for you and some will provide door to ship transport with a driver who will deal with the luggage.
I'm disabled on two crutches (or the famous luggie) and with a bit of forethought and organisation I manage!
As a very scatty person, if I can manage, anyone can!

Nearly all our breaks are on the cheap, so I do hope my post didn't come over as bragging about posh holidays. I spend ages making sure we get good deals. We're staying at a friend's flat in Hamburg while they're away and picked Riga not only because its old town and nearby beaches appealed, but because the cheap flights from our local airport did too! We've had great weekends away by coach with National Holidays, who are very cheap - you don't need to spend a lot. By buying early and using a rail card, travel for the two of us between London and Yorkshire comes out at £32 all in.

We have friends who spend more on a suite than we would on all our trips in a year. That's personal choice, of course, and we all have our own priorities. We'd rather make do with our old sofa and build up a few more memories before finding, as so many people do in retirement, that our travelling days are over.

ethelbags you have the wrong view of cruises. They are not for everbody ( what holiday is ?) but there is no need to dress up every night. Many now are just smart casual and most people would want to freshen up before dinner anyway.

We manage perfectly well with an average size suitcase with wheels each. You certainly do not need a different dress for each evening.

As for bragging about 'posh' holidays. It is often interesting to hear about other places. Maybe not bragging but exchanging information and conversation.

some people love to brag about their posh holidays but I often wonder if they are just natural bores or are they making it up. I had a neighbour once who used to go off for 2 or 3 weeks at a time, years ago, when it was unusual to go further than maybe spain, she used to tell everyone about her trips to Russia. Everyone was impressed but it got around that she was staying with her daughter a few miles away and had never left the country.

Its the cruise holidays that puzzle me, I know they are popular and no disrespect but how do you carry all that luggage with a dress for every night and casual clothes. I would struggle on the bus. I would feel uncomfortable with posh clothes or indeed new clothes and although I would enjoy the conversation at the dinner table and enjoy visiting new places, I would hate to have to dress up every night. I would feel false and overdressed. No pleasure there. Maybe if I had a partner to help carry everything it would be different.

I love holidays, would have more if I could. I love trying new food, visiting new place, talking to new people. I have camped in the rain in Norfolk and I enjoyed that in a funny way, we still talk about that holiday and laugh about it, and getting snuggled into the tent with a bottle of wine and a game of cards was a lovely evening. We have also cruised, caravanned, stayed in hotels, all different, all enjoyable in their own way. But, I wouldn't like to be away for too long, 10 days is the most I think, and I would prefer, if funds allowed it, to have 3 or 4 holidays of 4-6 days rather than the traditional 2 weeks, I do think i would get bored and fidgety after 2 weeks in one place. Agree about airports being awful, but needs must! One of the things I do enjoy in an overseas holiday is looking at the food shops, all the different smells and tastes.

I'm not so keen on holidays as I was when I worked- I quite like being at home and going out for days. while we were both at work we could afford expensive holidays and didn't mind air travel but we feel we have had enough of that. Not to say if the right thing came up we wouldn't go somewhere but not really planning anything. Although I love trying new food and having someone else cook after a few days I want to be back in my own kitchen and I certainly miss my own comfie bed. I find the cost of holidays horrendous and when I come back always wonder where the money went and what I could have spent making my home even nicer. At the golf club we are often outside of competitive holiday conversations about cruises and round the world trips by kayak or something.

Its not that I don't see the point of holidays as someone suggested just that none of mine have ever been up to expectations and the coming home with a feeling of let down and having to face the daily grind is enough to make me depressed the whole time Im away.

If for instance I had an uncomfortable bed as I had at blackpool once, I was unhappy for the whole stay due to lack of sleep. Probably the best holiday for me would be to get another caravan and just do my own thing, I was discussing this with DD, who agreed that DGD would love that too. However that means serious cash which I don't have so back to the drawing board.
To get back to the original OP, what makes a holiday attractive?
Does something like a tedious travel/hard bed/bad weather not put anyone off?
How do you stop being bored on holiday, the days tend to drag?

Two weeks in too long for me Maggie and ginny. When the children were young we used to drive round Europe for [usually] 3 weeks at a time and I was always itching to get home by about 10 days in! A week is generally plenty for me and we often go away in the Uk for 4 or 5 days.

When DS was ill in Japan we had 3 stays of over three weeks and I really missed home and routine.

Oh dear ethelbags you have been unlucky. However I think you are the sort of person who looks for the worst in most things ( not being nasty , just looking at other posts of yours ).

No problem if you would rather stay at home but I do feel that you are missing out on some wonderful experiences .

I agree with Maggiemaybe in that a couple of weeks is plenty of time away. Longer than that and I start to feel that I can't take any more in . Ready then to go home and plan another trip.

I think the fact that the accommodation and food etc are different is the main reason for going, Ethel. A change is as good as a rest, as they say. I love my home and family, who live nearby, and found that the 4 weeks we went away earlier this year was too long. Much as I enjoyed the experience, it was great to be home. But I love trying new things and seeing new places, as well as revisiting old favourites, and am looking forward to short breaks in Hamburg, Riga and London before the Summer's out. There's talk by my DD of a possible girls' trip to Paris later in the year, which I would love. I've only been cruising twice and wouldn't want to do it regularly, but really enjoyed the dressing up and sense of occasion in the dining room. Then again we had fun a few weeks ago with just 2 nights in Blackpool, and last week in Saltburn, walking for miles on the prom and piers and paddling on the beach. Pulling a case along for a few minutes isn't much of a hardship!

If you don't see the point of holidays though, nothing anyone says will convince you. It was my lovely granda's proud boast that he never spent a night away from his own bed. I can't understand that, but he was a very content and happy man.

I think the anticipation of a holiday is the best part, I never foresee anything going wrong but when the day arrives I find it hard as I hate travelling, crowded trains, motorways etc. I once went to the Norfolk broads on a boat with late hubby and by the time we travelled on 3 trains, a bus and along walk carrying heavy bags I was at the end of my tether, I cried and asked him to get a taxi to get us back to the station to go home, however I stuck it out but that spoiled everything plus it rained every day and I kept falling in the mud on the bank, I only had 2 pairs of jeans and after a few days I was so scruffy I could not have cared less, glad to be home, however the scenery was lovely and I would love to return someday (maybe with a sedative for the journey).

Other offputting holidays were a barn conversion in Yorkshire where it rained all day and we were so remote that I was bored stiff with a toddler of 3, a Spanish break where it rained 6 out of 7 days-blazing hot on the day we returned home, a rented caravan in lake district full of creepy crawlies etc etc

The other problem I have is the worrying, is the house going to be burgled/will I be robbed while away/will I be ill/ will my cats be ill/will the holiday accommodation be fire safety regulated/will I have a fire/will I get home safely.
Then at the end I have to face coming home, stress, bills, work and worry. as nice as it seems to go away you have the lot to face on coming back.

It's horses for courses isn't it?
I love a holiday in Britain and if the weather was guaranteed sunshine I possibly wouldn't go abroad. However, as someone who craves warm sunshine and hates the cold, going abroad to somewhere sunny is a treat I save up for, nowhere exotic just guaranteed sun.

I love travel, but don't like going to 'resort' type places to lie in the sun.

Different environment, food and languages are fascinating. I also enjoy flying.

I love travelling in Britain, it's quirkiness and the variety of places found.

Over my lifetime I have been to every county in England; I'm working on Wales and Scotland, and have yet to visit N. Ireland.

I just wish time stretched so I could visit more places! x

We don't go abroad as I hate airports (queues, delays) so tend to have several long weekends away. Our next one being in an hotel overlooking the Thames. I love the chance to explore somewhere new, be that scouring antique shops or strolling in beautiful countryside. I also like being waited on for meals and it's great to escape those phone calls that start muuuum.........

We've done the big cruises and thoroughly enjoyed them.

I suppose the whole idea of a holiday is to do something different.

I love my home but I also love holidays. Exploring new places, trying different food, meeting different people, new experiences. I also feel travel helps me to understand the world we live in and the way others live.

Of course , each to their own and if one is happy to stay put ,that's fine.

I love holidays. If I win the lottery I will tour the UK before I go anywhere else because there is so much to see and do here. Our caravan gives us a taste of this. I love the freedom and oddly the compact living. I could happily live in our caravan. Getting new neighbours and views every few weeks.

I love holidays and would spend many more if I could afford it. I love the smells, the adventure of trying different food , the people, the sights, the feeling of freedom to do what I want when I want without any call on my time. Love the thrill of packing and planning,when there, wondering around looking at all the interesting stuff. Warm seas, soft sand, soft warm evenings when you can sit and watch the world go by as you enjoy something delicious.
We had a caravan and I adored those holidays, early morning fresh smell, late evenings sitting by the barbecue with a bottle of something, lots of lovely long walks.

A change of scene is good from time to time. I also enjoy visiting new places, eating different food and meeting new people. We've done the big cruises with lots of dressing up and enjoyed it at the time. Not so keen now. Our next trip is a barge cruise. We can only hope the others will turn out to be good company but, if not, its only for a week and will be an experience. We're looking forward to it.