What do you like to do on vacation?

Parent Cafe
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No judgement zone

Sometimes I think we flounder on vacation because we don’t know what to do.

Do you like busy days with lots of activities? Or slow days?

Are you a beach person? How do you fill your days?

Do you like to cook? Or go out to eat? Read books? Scroll on your phone?

Love a cocktail? Rent a car or take taxis? Or stay at the resort?

I’m not sure that I know what to do on vacation? We don’t drink much, we stay out of the sun? I can read a book at home since we are retired now?

If this sounds like a stupid question, I’m being dead serious.

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I’ll bite.

I like two types of vacations:
the visiting new places - which tends to be busy, eating out, touring the sites and museums;
and the being together - could be anywhere, but typically a beach vacation - which tends to be more relaxed but cooking together, board games, pool or beach time with books.

I try to do the first at least once a year.

I’d like to do the second annually as well, but it is hard to coordinate everyone’s schedule.
I managed to book a beach week with coordinated schedules this year. I’ve now found out that one SIL and my DIL will need to leave a bit early for their respective flights for the next week’s obigations. Anyway, we will get 4-5 days of togetherness (and a professional photo shoot!).

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DW and I like to walk extensively around cities and try to experience what it is like to live there. We get anywhere from 20,000 to 35,000 steps in a normal day. We hit the main tourist spots, try to do walking tours on the first day, and prefer to eat/drink locally. The walking tours are great as you get a feel for the layout of the city and background, plus the guides will tell you their favorite spots.

Virtually never rent a car; instead use public transport. We tend to not stay in the nicest hotels or eat at the nicest restaurants, probably a result of having done that a lot during my working days and just not typically seeing the value. We have done a few “nature-oriented” trips but not typically.

I drink and wife will occasionally have a drink but infrequently. No reading books unless it is some sort of travel book. We have let phones creep into our lives and actively try to limit scrolling time, unless city/country related.

We cannot stay on the beach for a long time…my idea of hell. We used to really stay active but as we are getting a bit older are mixing in a few slow days where we just explore a bit.

We are empty-nesters and have been travelling quite a bit lately, but even before college we travelled a lot. DS has visited 30 countries already…currently overseas doing a summer exchange. He went to Vienna with a buddy recently and walked 62,000 steps one day…our approach has rubbed off on him…

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I love an active vacation. Slow and relaxed I can do at home.

I love exploring new places - walking the streets, looking at the architecture, visiting castles/monuments/mansions, adventure activities (hiking, white water rafting, snorkeling, riding type stuff), trying local cuisine and immersing ourselves in the local culture. Bonus points if the place has awesome cities but wonderful scenery/countryside that is easily accessible (talking about you Scotland).

I prefer to stay in historic boutique hotels with great food. I absolutely don’t want to do anything resembling housework, which includes cooking.

We typically rent a car and do a good amount of exploring on our own but there are certain areas where we rely on public transportation (very location dependent).

We’ve done everything from parking ourselves in a city for two weeks and doing day trips from there, to taking a couple of weeks and moving cities every couple of days. You see more with the later model but can get more immersed with the former.

IMO, there is no right way to vacation!

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I love staying active on vacation, but I don’t plan my days. On our Bermuda honeymoon, H & I explored the island instead of lying on the beach all day. On family vacations, we played in the water, walked trails to discover waterfalls, hiked sand dunes, floated down rivers, explored the local sights. You won’t catch me just reading a book on the beach … first of all, I burn too easily … and second, I’d fall asleep. I enjoy vacations on the Atlantic Ocean, and I love northern Michigan/the UP.

We like visiting large cities, and we especially enjoy sitting at a bar & chatting with folks there. We’ve had great conversations with people from all over the world.

Wherever we go, we walk … A LOT.

I like going out to dinner (or getting it to go) when on vacation. I dislike cooking, so a break from planning dinner is a big part of vacation for me.

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I always say my favorite vacation is one where you bring, your shorts, bathing suit, comfy hoody, a book and money for ice cream. :slight_smile:

We do do a lot of beach vacations. We love the beach and water. We are active on the beach/water not just sitting on a lounge chair though we do that. We can “beach” daily.

Cook a lot and also go out to eat. Food is definitely a major part of exploring the area we are at.

Explore small towns. Hike at parks.

We might set aside one day for a city visit. Walk the town, shop a little, explore a city park.

Overall we spend a lot of time outside.

I’ll add that these are usually family vacations or me with my kids. H is willing to do the one family vacation but that’s about it!

Not into tours. Limited museums. Sightseeing by foot. Not into planning each day out ahead of time. DO like to plan the day out night before or morning of!

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Sleep /eat /walk

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Explore the location, eat some interesting meals, take lots of photos. Sitting on a beach is great for maybe an hour before I (a) burn (b) get bored (c) finish the book.

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I enjoy so many types of vacations - exploring new cities, outdoor adventures, relaxing at the beach are all wonderful to me in different ways.

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When vacationing with D, super active. Cities, theater, musicals, art, museums, “cool” restaurants. Lots of walking and shopping. With H, more beach and pool, relaxation, guided experiences rather than on our own. Typically a few fine dining meals. Both enjoyable.

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Different vacations, different activity levels, but we are definitely active vacation people. If we are at the beach, I’m going to walk along the beach for at least 4 miles each day, and probably more. I am not a good “relaxer.” I will swim around/get wet if a pool is available.
We like to go on guided active vacations, where we do a lot of bicycling, along with hiking and other activities, and our luggage is moved from place to place for us. We usually pick at least one place a year to do this kind of trip. These trips usually involve interacting with other people, so some love them, some hate them.
Whether or not we rent a car is situation dependent. We sometimes go to a Caribbean island, and just walk everywhere. When we are traveling around a country going from place to place, we need a car. We definitely don’t want a main part of our vacation to be driving from place to place, to just see things. We want to experience things, so we like to walk around or bike.

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Apparently, I love to swim with sharks.

I enjoy swimming at dawn & dusk in the ocean; unfortunately, as I have both read & experienced, this is prime shark feeding time.

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Probably easier to say what I am not. I do not enjoy just sitting and enjoying the ambiance. I can sit for a couple of hours a day and that’s it. And actually, I do need about 2 hours in the early afternoon each day for down time to recharge. Just not all day.

I do not like traveling in big groups. Do not make me caravan anywhere with anyone. Hate that!

Cooking is a big fat no. We don’t eat all meals out, but everything in (always breakfast, sometimes lunch) is simple. I am not chopping, cutting (except a frozen pizza) or assembling anything.

I like going to new places and exploring. I am definitely more a mountain person than a beach person, but I can do the beach from time to time. I love to people watch, or just see how regular everyday other people go about their lives. I do like going to museums and attractions, but honestly I prefer doing that with my kids than just H & me.

I love love love being up high - on top of a mountain, climbing stairs to the top of a church steeple or other building. Being on top of St. Peter’s was really cool! I also love thrill rides at amusement parks, though I’m afraid those days might be numbered as my kids are grown and H has vertigo issues.

Oh I am also NOT a water person. I can do it some, but I just don’t enjoy the water. I hate getting wet and then I also hate the feeling of getting out of the water. Blech. You’d never know I swam USA swimming for 10 years, 20 hpw from 8-12th grades!

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I like this thread. I’m taking notes.

We’re transitioning in our vacation style, as we’re launching 2nd/last baby bird/will be empty-nester this Fall.
We used to be a go-go-go vacationing family:

  • hike every canyon in 12 days
  • tour 10 cities in 3 weeks
    trying to fit it all in, see everything
    I’m exhausted just thinking about what we used to do.

But I’m not the lounge at a beach all day gal; I’d be bored after the 1st day.

My new focus of my upcoming vacations now is the hunt for our retirement home/State.
High dewpoint is my kryptonite; I am dying with this awful humidity in MA, so I’m looking for alternatives.
We’re planning an early March ski trip to Colorado:

  • DH will ski with his buddy
  • while I check out Colorado to see if I can retire there.
    CO dewpoint is about HALF of MA.

Appreciate any tips/suggestions from CO folks on best city (actual community) for retirement.

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When I “vacation” it’s literally to get away from my day-to-day life, but these are some things I love to do on vacation…

I love exploring, long drives, long walks through neighborhoods, hopping on a train to see something off the beaten path.

Anything cultural. Museums, live music/dance, theater. For me it’s fun to go to a Broadway show in London, go to a local club and listen to slack key in Hawaii, and in September I’ll be going to a Flamenco show at Barcelona’s Palau de la Música Catalana.

Sunrises - Love getting up early to sip coffee and watch the sunrise. On one cruise with my bff we set the alarm for a 4:30 am full moon set (if you haven’t seen one, it’s one of the most beautiful things!) and a sunrise right up behind it at 5 am, the sunrays breaking over the ocean and into the dark sky were exquisite. The photo is real. Once the sun broke through we went back to sleep. For me, “sleeping in” is for when I’m home with nothing pressing to do.

Unique physical experiences, things I can pretty much assume I can only do at a particular location, cave tubing, whale watching from a kayak or a raft, hiking to a crater lake 10,000 feet up a mountain after being taken there in a helicopter, volunteering with rescued elephants, making dumplings in a family home with the grandma sharing her methods and recipe, snorkeling the 2nd largest barrier reef in the world…you get the point.

I love to cook using locally sourced items, so having access to a kitchen or bbq grill is something I appreciate. I’d rather stay in a small apartment or home than a resort. I do love a nice hot tub at the end of the day.

I love the ocean so being near it, or on it tends to be important to me.

Watercoloring on a balcony wherever I am. Usually postcards depicting things I’ve seen, and then sent to family/friends.

Roatan sunrise2
Roatan sunrise21920×2541 225 KB

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I’m with you 110%. I loathe the heat and humidity. This summer has been awful. Any time the DP goes above 70, and I’m just in a foul mood. I’ve been in a foul mood a lot this last month and it’s only mid July! We won’t break for good until October.

So that’s another strike against beach vacations, but I will concede that the scenery and breeze does help a little.

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My favorite vacations involve physical activity (hiking, biking, etc) great views, wildlife and yummy food. A week camping at the beach is awesome. This January we’re taking 2 weeks to camp at State parks in South Carolina and Florida. Next summer we’re going with the kids to hike in Colorado. For me the thought of going somewhere like Rome or Paris is very unappealing.

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We love to walk and explore so we tend to pick destinations that allow us to do that–which can include big cities or a remote destination with lots of good hiking. I’m a big museum person so we gravitate to cities more often than not but the older I get the more I appreciate a slower paced vacation with hiking and beautiful scenery.

But for us as we have gotten older and have more disposable income, the most enjoyable trips for us are the ones where we travel FOR a hobby/interest and pick the location/dates around that. Over the past few years, we’ve traveled for concerts, sporting events, to see historic houses of a favorite author, special exhibits at a museum, etc. We still do sightseeing while there but also don’t feel a ton of pressure to pack too much in as the experience we’ve traveled for is the main event.

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As I posted on the What’s Your Style of Vacation? thread:

I can’t remember the last vacation we took as DH traveled 100% of the time for the last 17 years of his career. The last thing he wanted to do was get on another plane or stay in another hotel, and I detest travel. So, we’ve made our AZ and ME homes our vacation spots.

However, the few times we have gone away (sans kid, of course), it was to relax totally, zero physical activity. I’m always amazed by the number of people who say they hike, kayak, climb, zipline, parasail, etc. on vacations. Sounds like work to me. But you guys go. I’ll just curl up with my book, take a nap, and share a cocktail with you when you get back, hopefully in one piece. :wink: :cocktail:

Cheers!

ETA: Oh, and ice cream, of course. :ice_cream:

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When I’m truly away on vacation, I like to do a lot of relaxing. I’ll do a 1000 piece puzzle, read some books, maybe walk around some, and eat put a few times.

I’m away from home right now. Big outing today was a walk down the road to get lox, bagel and cream cheese…but when in NY that IS a thing to do!

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