W and I used to travel a fair amount for work, and frequently one or the other of us would tag along and we’d spend a few extra days. We don’t travel nearly as much since D came along, although we still get out and about once a year or so.
One thing we’ve realized is that when we travel we’re not go-go-go types. 3-4 hours of running around is our limit, then it’s back to the hotel for some chilling out time until dinner. So we’re sort of hybrid homebodies in that sense - a little bit of exploring then a lot of hanging out. We always try to stay in nice hotels since we know we’ll be spending a lot of time there.
We’re also a little like @Wellspring - we’re not so much into museums and sightseeing things like churches. We like to travel for restaurants, beaches, shopping, local culture, people-watching at sidewalk cafes, etc. My ideal vacation day is to sleep late, grab a muffin somewhere, wander around some artsy district or some such thing, nice relaxed lunch with local cuisine in a chef-owned restaurant, back to the hotel and fall asleep by the pool while reading my kindle, clean up and head out for an awesome dinner, then bedtime and repeat the next day. Actually that kinda sounds like what I do on the weekends, so I guess we just take our homebody-ness on the road.
I’m with @maya54. I’d rather be home than anywhere else. DH has been around the world without me. I just don’t have a travel bug. I prefer the coffee table books to being in those places, and I’ve been to several of them. For instance, I’ve been dragged to the Grand Canyon a couple of times. Just a big hole. The coffee table book pics are fantastic, though, and I don’t have to leave my couch, or endure the travel, or the weather, or the bugs, or the people, etc. There are a couple of places I’d like to go, and we will someday, but no hurry. If I die without ever seeing those places or traveling anywhere again, I won’t feel I’ve missed anything. When people, especially family, go on and on about how I’ve just GOT to see such-and-such a place, I just smile and nod.
I’m never bored at home, but i do love to travel. I just wish I could take my own bedroom and bathroom (and closet) with me. Hoping someday they will find a way to make that possible!
I am not a homebody when it comes to travel, but I really cherish my weekday evenings at home. After a full day working, I just want to be home with my husband and dog, and especially kids if they are around. I am not interested in going to a movie or out to dinner on a week night! One Thursday book group meeting a month is all I can handle.
I would say that I’m in the middle but more homebody than not. My h and I like to travel occasionally but he hates it when he has to go somewhere 2 weekends in a row. I know people who go go go. And never want to be home. Trips on top of trips. No, no, no.
H is not adverse to travel, but I have to be careful not to schedule too much. And trips need to be spaced out. It’s a delicate balance. It’s ok because I like to be home also.
And I hate going out during the week, like book club. I can’t sleep afterwards and it is exhausting. We had a invitation for tomorrow night which I declined, it’s no fun when the alarm rings at 5:30.
I hope though that once H retires he will want to travel a bit more. Not all the time but we have far flung family and I’d like to visit occasionally
I like to travel (we’ve gone on 3 week trips) but hate airports. We travel carry-on and pack less and less to minimize the hassle.
.Being able to rent homes and apartments makes a big difference for long trips. Having a refrigerator and a place to cook allows for needed down time.I get tired of restaurants. I’ve taken short cruises and enjoyed them but not a real fan in general.
But I’m happy at home too.I’m perfectly content just puttering around. I don’t feel a need to be constantly on the go.
I love being home. I could go days not leaving the house. My house and property are large and unique so it feels like vacation here to me. I don’t like staying home alone. If hubby has to go for business I’ll go with him if I can. I know how to plan vacations for us now, and I do usually enjoy them very much. We like some activity, not morning to dark running around. A nice dinner is a must. I won’t stay in a basic hotel. If I can’t stay somewhere comfortable I’d seriously rather not go.
A friend had a huge party/fundraiser. Hubby and I both grumbled about going. We made it two hours. Others stayed many hours past us, a few ended up drinking too much and sleeping over. People who know me don’t really get how introverted and homebody I really am. I’m perfectly capable of being friendly and chatting, it’s just exhausting to me.
I have traveled way too much the past few months and I’m giddy with excitement that I don’t have any plans to leave until the Iron Bowl after Thanksgiving.
I love to be home but I also love being at a home away from home. When I travel I prefer to stay in one place and explore all that place has to offer. I typically rent a AirBnB in the area and explore anything I can within the confines of public transportation. In the last several vacations I went on, I stayed on one Greek Isle for a week and swam 5-6 K per day all within a 1-3 hours boat ride from that locale. I stayed in Sydney and Istanbul for a week. The last time I planned a family vacation visiting several locales in Chili, the family decided to not go a couple of places so we could spend more time in one particularly interesting city (Valporaiso). I travel with just a backpack and do need to be always on the “go” and exploring within the parameters of my selected location.
Fun! I have vivid memories of pulling out the family encyclopedia (remember the days when families owned their own sets??) and staring at the pictures of London. I was 4. I couldn’t wait to get there!
I made my first overseas trips as a backbacker college-age young person traveling with a girlfriend. My mother thought this “European travel” was top of the list of “ways to waste your money”, but couldn’t stop me as it was MY money. Those days were life changing experiences for me. Wouldn’t trade it for the world.
My own kids were not interested in doing their own travel explorations. DH generally refuses to travel with me. When he does, I have to add many more coffee/cafe rest stops than I would typically make. Luckily, I have become very comfortable traveling alone and in most cases, prefer it. One of my kids enjoys accompanying me since I pay the bills. We travel well together - Kid is always up for my suggestions which can have us “exploring” most of the day.
Home becomes a place that always needs some sort of work and refurbishment. Travel is fantasy land!
I am in the middle too. I love to travel but after a week or so I’m ready to go home. We did three trips between January and May and when H suggested another trip sometime during summer I said no. I was tired of traveling and just wanted to spend the summer not going anywhere. We did do a long weekend in Boston to visit S, and did touristy things for the first time (we usually just go or a day to see him and take him out to dinner then drive home.)
Like eyemamom, when we travel I will only stay at really nice hotels and really nice dinners are a must.
The hardest thing for H and I to do is get ourselves out of the house on weekend nights in the winter. We will decide to go to a movie or out to dinner but then bag it because its cold out and dark. So this year I got season tickets to the theatre which will force us to leave the house! I also have daily activities (tennis 2xweek,yoga class, mah jongg) so I have to get out of the house. I would become a hermit in winter if I didn’t have these things.
OP here. I also won’t travel anymore unless I make it as nice, smooth and stress free as possible. We go first class only, use Airline clubs, stay in nice hotels. It’s 100 percent better than when I used to go coach and dealt with the gate waiting area and so so hotels. But I’d still rather be home. DH likes to travel but he doesn’t like to spend a lot ( even though we can afford it) so it’s all a big compromise. Lol! And once a year is all I can take.
Introverted homebody here. I love being home with my dog. We’re in New England and both kids went to west coast schools. That was a few years with a lot of flying. DH has a job in the Washington DC area now, and we have an apartment down there. He’s a homebody too, so we’re keeping this place and going back and forth a lot to spend time together.
Our children are out of state. It’s either a day trip to see one or a couple days’ drive to see the other. Don’t fly to see the Midwestern kid because he and his girlfriend want to see the dog too, so it’s road trips.
Also discovered I do love certain types of travel. The people watching, sitting or walking around and absorbing the ambiance of a place, all feel just wonderful. I also love museums, historic houses, and gardens, but would rather see a small slice at a leisurely pace than go into input overload trying to fit in everything. Went to Montreal with a girlfriend over the summer and had a delightful time, so I plan to do more. Paris? It helps that I found a boarding situation for our dog that includes grounds with a pond, woods, paths, and classical music in the sleeping area . . . so I guess she likes to travel too!
Also in the middle. I love where we live… no traffic, openness, rural, good weather most of the year, loads of things to do outdoors. On the other hand, I like road trips, and I tend to be more satisfied overall when I travel to places occasionally. Those days leading up to a trip are usually the worst, but once on the trip, I almost always have fun and am glad I went. Returns can also be rough, so I now plan our trips to return a full day before work to allow time to shift back into working mode.
I am not a homebody but am careful how I schedule my week and week-ends lately. I avoid week-ends filled with back to back commitments where I don’t have a few hours to decompress and watch the news with a glass of wine.
+1 on not going out on week nights. My work now is contract/project based so I might have a week or two off in between contracts, but when I am working I just can’t swing getting up early after being out the night before. That’s a big change from a few years ago when I didn’t feel the effects of 2 glasses of wine.
I enjoy travel but agree that the current airport environment is taxing. I’ll go anywhere just don’t put me on a schedule once I’m there. I “meander” through a destination and hit the “don’t miss” recommendations when and if I get to them. Funny thing I have found is that some of those “don’t misses” are overrated.
I am always up for a road trip-- the longer the drive the better. I absolutely love to drive.
I must admit that my style of travel has evolved over the years. From the young adult budget, If-it’s-Tuesday-this-must-be-Belgium mentality to my current hotel demands which do not include budget. After years of daily auto commuting in a major metro area, I have come to dislike road trips. My favorite trips now are to one location/base for a week or more where I can explore one city in detail and take day trips. No more hop, skip, jump.
I just remembered the time our “homebody on the road” vacation style clashed with my sis1’s go-go-go style. Sis1 is notorious for running around shopping or whatever else for 8+ hours with no breaks (no joke she once spent 2 hours in a Sunglasses Hut when we stopped for a break on the way to the Grand Canyon, while the rest of us were sitting in the car waiting for her). Sis2 is more normal but puts up with Sis1 when they’re together.
We were all in Vegas and W went shopping with Sis1 and Sis2 one day despite my very strident warnings and urging not to. She came back late, late that evening totally wiped out. The next day Sis1 was ready to repeat, and W said “Sis1, I love you but I cannot shop with you.” Sis2 saw her chance to escape and blurted out, “I’m spending the day with W!”
Sis1 hates shopping by herself (dunno why she has to have somebody to torture), so very bitterly and reluctantly spent a leisurely day on W’s terms wandering and relaxing.
We mostly all love to be home, that’s a given. I think OP was wanting to know is…if given a chance to travel or just stay home, which would you do? . I’d travel. So for that definition of a “homebody”, I am not.
OP- you will never run into us on your travels. We try to spend the least money.
A lot of “been there, done that” by this stage in life.
H’s sister is forever going places. A friend does not go anywhere- we talk on the phone and I joke about how she’ll never come to see me when winter is cold and I’m not. She has lived in many varied places courtesy of the Navy.
I never got to do much as a child because family had no money. Then too busy, no money, with school. H and I went places and stayed at some nice hotels, both for pleasure and conferences. Took kid places. Have traveled some after kid. Now mainly back to where people live, including other places along the way or from destination.
Here’s how things evolved. Early on were at hotels nicer than our house. New experiences as well. Then we built and furnished according to our likes (while being somewhat frugal- what it’s worth, not what we could afford). Now going to hotels is a step down from the conveniences of a house with what we want in it. We could spend days in ours. When we do travel we are reminded of the inconveniences. No urge to see every castle/cathedral/city…
I can be a homebody for a long time. But- Florida is terrible in the summer and I dislike many things (palm trees, alligators, flatness…) so have the urge to go north. Less than 2 weeks seems to be our limit for not being at home. Books (good library), computer, TV shows, jigsaw puzzles… much in the comfy chair. So much can’t do away.
H has long said he would be an ideal prisoner - as long as he had books and a computer (not a foodie so that is fine).
Are we old and jaded? sometimes. But then we discover something new on a trip. Like going through Cincinnati homeward bound and taking time for its great zoo. Plans to visit son every summer and do PNW things- so much (would live there if not for the rainy gloomy season).