# Anyone else dislike holidays?



## Bluecheese50 (Jan 14, 2016)

By now people will have realised that I am rather weird, but I have never liked holidays, even as a child. 

Obviously we have had plenty over the years, for the sake of my husband and kids. Many were of an educational nature for our children, which we believed to be important when they were young.

We went back to my island childhood home most years when my parents were alive. I haven't there for three years, and doubt I will be bothered to go this year either. 

I like being in my normal routines and get discombobulated if I am out of them!


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## hollydolly (Jan 14, 2016)

I luuuurve going away on holidays...(vacations to our US friends)....I love to visit new places, learn the culture, mix with the locals, visit the beauty and the not so beautiful areas... 

I have a home in Southern Spain too, and members of my family also in different parts of the country .. we spend as much time there as we can given that we are both still quite a few years from retirement and it's our complete chill out and relax place and less than 3 hours flight...that said , just because we have homes there, doesn't mean we don't get to visit  many other places too when we get the chance.  ...Cyprus is one of our favourites as is many places in Europe..not forgetting the UK  when we can 

Out of interest BC...where is you 'childhood Island home''? 

I do know quite a few people particularly as they've got older who just can't be bothered with holidays,. Apart from all the hassle of packing and travel and cost, like you it seems to unsettle them being away from their comfort zone.. 

It has the opposite effect on me..it unsettles me to thing about coming _Back_ ..:sunglass:LOL


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## Bluecheese50 (Jan 14, 2016)

I have always liked my comfort zone and being in my own space. I dislike socialising and eating in restaurants etc. I had my first trip away to the UK when I was two in 1952, the plane was not pressurised and one had to put cotton wool in the ears and suck a barley sugar sweet! I don't mind flying, but I really hated being shown off to my English Mother's relatives and friends, and having to be dressed up all the time, YUCK!

When I was six I had the only family holiday we ever had with both parents, (they usually went away separately) and one of my younger sisters. That was hell on earth, we flew to the UK again and had to be dressed up and on our best behaviour, or else, when presented to people they knew! There were a few more holidays during my childhood, which didn't thrill me. At home we were surrounded by sea and sand, so didn't need to go away for it.


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## Greeneyes (Jan 14, 2016)

I love and hate the holidays. My hub and I didn't celebrate them and enjoyed doing something special together on certain holidays. Now that I am a grandmother, my holidays are focused on gifts that we really can't afford, so I do surveys in my spare time to buy gifts online. That is my life right now, either babysitting or doing surveys. I am used to my new life and adore my g'kids.


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## Capt Lightning (Jan 14, 2016)

I like holidays although when I was working, they didn't seem so attractive.  I used travel a lot on business, stay in good hotels and had  good expenses.  Getting home was a holiday for me!  Sometimes my wife would fly out to stay with me for a long weekend or longer at the company's expense.   After retiring I thought we would have more holidays, but our lifestyle somewhat restricted that and it's only now we're starting to travel more.  

Now we usually manage 2 or 3 foreign holidays a year and love to visit new places, enjoy the culture and sample new food & drink . 
We use the camper van for local trips - sometimes I discover how little we know of our own country.


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## Falcon (Jan 14, 2016)

Yes, ME !   Can't wait til they're over !


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## Butterfly (Jan 15, 2016)

I think we are talking about two different things here.  In America, holidays are like Christmas, etc.  In the UK, as I understand it, holidays are what would be called vacations in the US.

I think vacations are great (especially back when I was working), but don't like the "holiday season" (Christmas and New Year's) anymore.


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## Karen99 (Jan 15, 2016)

I like short getaways..up to the mountains or over to the ocean.  We have our favorite places to explore. Our weather is mild during winter and I get enough heat in summer here...so it's a perfect holiday just being retired and enjoying our home.


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## Debby (Jan 25, 2016)

So with all the folks who've admitted to not liking holidaying yourselves, how do you feel when friends or relatives pull out all their travel pictures?  

You know, the ones that too often show them standing at the top of some stairway with a flowering bush beside them and they're squinting into the sun or a nice shot of the family lined up on the beach (and squinting into the sun)?  Personally, I despise them all because let's face it, we're not talking about National Geographic quality photos here are we?  And trying to pretend interest gets harder every time the newest batch gets pulled out doesn't it?  Especially if you've mentioned in conversation on a regular basis, how much you dislike travelling as you try to get that point across that nobody is noticing.  I just never have the nerve to just say it....'sorry, I'm not interested and don't want to see your photos'.


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## Bluecheese50 (Jan 26, 2016)

Debby said:


> So with all the folks who've admitted to not liking holidaying yourselves, how do you feel when friends or relatives pull out all their travel pictures?
> 
> You know, the ones that too often show them standing at the top of some stairway with a flowering bush beside them and they're squinting into the sun or a nice shot of the family lined up on the beach (and squinting into the sun)?  Personally, I despise them all because let's face it, we're not talking about National Geographic quality photos here are we?  And trying to pretend interest gets harder every time the newest batch gets pulled out doesn't it?  Especially if you've mentioned in conversation on a regular basis, how much you dislike travelling as you try to get that point across that nobody is noticing.  I just never have the nerve to just say it....'sorry, I'm not interested and don't want to see your photos'.



My family would never bother to show the photos to me, knowing I have no interest in them.


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## hollydolly (Jan 26, 2016)

Butterfly said:


> I think we are talking about two different things here.  In America, holidays are like Christmas, etc.  In the UK, as I understand it, holidays are what would be called vacations in the US.
> 
> I think vacations are great (especially back when I was working), but don't like the "holiday season" (Christmas and New Year's) anymore.




Yup you're absolutely correct ''holidays' in the Uk are what Americans call Vacations...


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## Bluecheese50 (Jan 26, 2016)

hollydolly said:


> Yup you're absolutely correct ''holidays' in the Uk are what Americans call Vacations...



Although us Brits and people in the US supposedly speak the same language, there are great differences, and in spelling as well.


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## Capt Lightning (Jan 26, 2016)

The term holiday basically means a break from work.  It comes from 'holy day' and as such includes Christmas and Easter..  But we in the UK also use the same word for 'vacation'.  So, it's Christmas holidays, summer holidays, half term holidays, and if you live in rural Scotland, tattie picking holidays.

Two countries seperated by a common language.


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## Cookie (Jan 26, 2016)

Every holiday/vacation I've been on has been great -- just wish there had been more of them.  

Here vacation/holiday is used interchangeably when referring to going away or taking time off work for our 2-3 weeks off per year (vacation time).

Holidays in Canada also refer to Easter holiday, Christmas holiday, etc. or our Victoria Day holiday long weekend.  Whatever the name, we like them a lot.


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## mitchezz (Jan 27, 2016)

In Australia our 4 weeks paid annual leave are referred to as holidays. Days that everyone has off i.e. Anzac Day, Christmas Day are known as Public Holidays. The term vacation isn't widely used.


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## Butterfly (Jan 27, 2016)

Capt Lightning said:


> The term holiday basically means a break from work.  It comes from 'holy day' and as such includes Christmas and Easter..  But we in the UK also use the same word for 'vacation'.  So, it's Christmas holidays, summer holidays, half term holidays, and if you live in rural Scotland, tattie picking holidays.
> 
> Two countries seperated by a common language.



What's a tattie, Capt?  A potato, maybe?


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## Bluecheese50 (Jan 27, 2016)

Butterfly said:


> What's a tattie, Capt?  A potato, maybe?



That is what some Scots call potatoes.


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## Ameriscot (Jan 27, 2016)

Obviously, I love holidays/vacations.  Nothing better than exploring different cultures and having adventures.  I love where we live but the world is huge and I'd love to see it all.  Won't happen but I'd love it.


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## Bluecheese50 (Jan 27, 2016)

Ameriscot said:


> Obviously, I love holidays/vacations.  Nothing better than exploring different cultures and having adventures.  I love where we live but the world is huge and I'd love to see it all.  Won't happen but I'd love it.



My sister and her husband are like you, and enjoy holidays abroad. They have travelled all over the world. They particularly like cruises, which takes them in the vicinity of the Arctic and Antarctic as they like snow, something my home island doesn't get very often. 

My husband would have liked to have travelled a lot more than we did, and planned to have some adventures once he retired, without me I hasten to add! Sadly his brain haemorrhage in 2006 put paid to that idea.


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## Ameriscot (Jan 27, 2016)

Bluecheese50 said:


> My sister and her husband are like you, and enjoy holidays abroad. They have travelled all over the world. They particularly like cruises, which takes them in the vicinity of the Arctic and Antarctic as they like snow, something my home island doesn't get very often.
> 
> My husband would have liked to have travelled a lot more than we did, and planned to have some adventures once he retired, without me I hasten to add! Sadly his brain haemorrhage in 2006 put paid to that idea.



I will never go on a cruise.  Being stuck on a ship with hundreds of people does not appeal to me.  I like to get to know the locals and you can't do that in a big group.  I do plan on a 10 day river cruise since my sister wants to do it.  And I did do an 11 day coach tour with her to Rome.  But these kinds of trips are not an adventure.  Our biggest adventure of course was living in Uganda for 2 years and we really got to know the locals and the culture.  

We are going to travel on our own until one or both of us has health issues and can't.


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## Synergy (Jan 27, 2016)

Dear BlueCheese, I completely agree with you about disliking holidays.  When I was a child, I loved Christmas.  We're make decorations ourselves, and we loved doing that each year.  I liked waiting for presents, and getting them on The Big Day.  And until about 10 years ago, I liked Thanksgiving, too.   I loved stuffing myself with food.  But then I quit that, too.  One reason is that some Native American tribes consider TG a Day of Mourning. Another  reason is I no longer feeling stuffed with food, and eat small meals now.  The main reason for avoiding Christmas and TG is my family.  They always have been dysfunctional, irritating, too loud, and confrontational.  So I told them I was no longer sharing the holidays with them. The only one who gave me a hard time about that was, of all people, my sister-in-law.  She's not even family, and most of us (except her husband, my brother) don't like her, and don't get along with her. She's very secretive about herself, and creates gossip about members of our family, which she uses to manipulate some of the members of the family.


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## Ameriscot (Jan 27, 2016)

Synergy said:


> Dear BlueCheese, I completely agree with you about disliking holidays.  When I was a child, I loved Christmas.  We're make decorations ourselves, and we loved doing that each year.  I liked waiting for presents, and getting them on The Big Day.  And until about 10 years ago, I liked Thanksgiving, too.   I loved stuffing myself with food.  But then I quit that, too.  One reason is that some Native American tribes consider TG a Day of Mourning. Another  reason is I no longer feeling stuffed with food, and eat small meals now.  The main reason for avoiding Christmas and TG is my family.  They always have been dysfunctional, irritating, too loud, and confrontational.  So I told them I was no longer sharing the holidays with them. The only one who gave me a hard time about that was, of all people, my sister-in-law.  She's not even family, and most of us (except her husband, my brother) don't like her, and don't get along with her. She's very secretive about herself, and creates gossip about members of our family, which she uses to manipulate some of the members of the family.



Synergy, Bluecheese is in the UK and holiday refers to vacations (as well as xmas etc).  How do you feel about vacations?


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## Synergy (Jan 27, 2016)

Okay!  Thanks for the "translation" Ameriscot.  As for vacations, I no longer like them, either.  When I was a child, the family went on 2-week camping vacations.  I loved them! When I was in my 40s, twice I went backpacking on the Pacific Crest Trail in Oregon, USA.  Those were 3-day trips.  A few years ago, I took a historic steam train trip with a friend across the state.  Lost summer I went with my partner for a camping trip for 3 days.  Now, though, I only like 1-day trips out of my home city.  The train trip and recent camping trips were breaking my long-time decision to no longer travel overnight.  Just way, way, way, too much hassle, and in traveling a lot of things go wrong.  I like to stay in my comfortable home.


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## Bluecheese50 (Jan 28, 2016)

Synergy said:


> Dear BlueCheese, I completely agree with you about disliking holidays.  When I was a child, I loved Christmas.  We're make decorations ourselves, and we loved doing that each year.  I liked waiting for presents, and getting them on The Big Day.  And until about 10 years ago, I liked Thanksgiving, too.   I loved stuffing myself with food.  But then I quit that, too.  One reason is that some Native American tribes consider TG a Day of Mourning. Another  reason is I no longer feeling stuffed with food, and eat small meals now.  The main reason for avoiding Christmas and TG is my family.  They always have been dysfunctional, irritating, too loud, and confrontational.  So I told them I was no longer sharing the holidays with them. The only one who gave me a hard time about that was, of all people, my sister-in-law.  She's not even family, and most of us (except her husband, my brother) don't like her, and don't get along with her. She's very secretive about herself, and creates gossip about members of our family, which she uses to manipulate some of the members of the family.



That is sad for you.


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## Synergy (Jan 29, 2016)

Bluecheese50 said:


> That is sad for you.



Hi Bluecheese, Well, I'm not really sad about it.  I'm basically just angry at  pretty much my whole family of origin.  Yes, it's sad that my family is so harsh.  To each other, that is. They are loved by everyone else besides some of the family members. We've always been very good at putting on the image of being a perfect family!  So fake.  It's sad that I can't have a harmonious relationship with most of them.  But I actually know very few families where relationships are peaceful and people are kind to each other.   I had several aunts and uncles that I loved very much, but they are all gone now. I do want to point out, though, that I have a loving partner. We treat each other kindly, have conversations and actually listen to each other and care!  Also I have  several very good LOCAL friends I've known for a long time.  We get together often, and talk on the phone a lot.  I belong to  several creative groups of people, too.  I'm not at all lonely!


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## Warrigal (Jan 29, 2016)

Australians really love our holidays and/or vacations.

We have 9-10 gazetted public holidays per year, 4 weeks of annual leave and accrue long service leave while working for the same employer until after 10 years we can take an extra 10 weeks of paid leave.

This is how ordinary Australians are able to travel all over our own continent and explore overseas too.


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## Synergy (Jan 29, 2016)

Warrigal, Australian labor conditions sound so much better than in the United States!  A lot of people get no paid vacations, no paid sick leave or family leave, no medical or other benefits, and on and on (or I should say off and off).  I'm glad I'm retired.  Actually I stopped working for The Great American Workplace and started my own businesses -- twice. The first one, a secretarial service, grew so fast I could not handle all the work, so I sold it.  I can't work 2-1/2 jobs in one 8 hour day, which is what most employers here now demand.  It's called "speed-ups".  Also, an 8 hour day is pretty much a thing of the past here.  We have a great candidate for President -- Bernie Sanders -- who if elected will stop all that workplace abuse.


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## Warrigal (Jan 29, 2016)

Employees on a casual contract don't receive annual leave or get paid for public holidays not worked but their hourly rate is adjusted by a loading to compensate for these benefits enjoyed by permanent employees. Sick leave might be earned after so many days worked but I'm not sure. It would depend on the industry and the enterprise agreement.

Yes, Synergy, Australian labour conditions are much better because of the work of our unions. Unfortunately fewer and fewer employees bother to join now and don't pay their dues. This has allowed a level of corruption to set in and we have had some judicial inquiries into corrupt practices in the health and building industries recently.

Still, in many ways OZ is the workers' paradise.


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## Ameriscot (Jan 29, 2016)

I was really lucky that my final 10 years working in the US before moving abroad was at a state university.  Great benefits.  First 5 years I earned 1 day a month vacation plus one personal day, then all the holidays including 6 days at xmas.  Sick leave one day a month.  When I got to 5 years I earned 1.5 days a month vacation and at 10 you earn 2 days a month.  Faculty of course always earned 2 days a month.  Since it was TN though the pay was crap, but the cost of living was low.

The UK has very generous holiday/vactions.  Even as a clerical temp I earned 20 days a year.

Warrigal, our niece who is a nurse in Melbourne and her husband who is a store manager took 6 weeks off to tour the US.  I couldn't believe they could get 6 weeks all at once!  Is this typical?


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## Warrigal (Jan 29, 2016)

Absolutely. Four weeks annual leave plus days off in lieu of paid overtime or penalty rates and six weeks is very achievable.

I took my long service leave of 10 weeks at half pay, stretching it out to 20 weeks plus school and public holidays that fell within my period of leave and was able to go on a world tip, taking 5 months off work.


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## Ameriscot (Jan 29, 2016)

Warrigal said:


> Absolutely. Four weeks annual leave plus days off in lieu of paid overtime or penalty rates and six weeks is very achievable.
> 
> I took my long service leave of 10 weeks at half pay, stretching it out to 20 weeks plus school and public holidays that fell within my period of leave and was able to go on a world tip, taking 5 months off work.



That's great!!  

Niece and her hubby (then fiance) went to the US when the US dollar and Aussie dollar were about the same, so it was quite a bargain for them.  At one point I think the Aussie dollar was actually worth a few cents more than the US.


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## Cookie (Jan 29, 2016)

deleted (wrong thread) ooops


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## mitchezz (Jan 31, 2016)

We also get a leave loading of 17.5% on the 20 days leave.


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## Warrigal (Jan 31, 2016)

Now you're skiting, mitchezz.
Next you'll be saying we have paid parental leave for all workers.


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