Vacations: love them, hate them and why?

Love ‘em. Get to go to new places, see new things, talk to different people and eat exotic foods.

My memories of vacations are full of family stress. My parents are super controlling type As. I was lucky to get to travel abroad a lot with my family when I was young—not many vacations per se but lots of family and work trips-but it was stressful and sometimes traumatic.

A PhD program means in theory you could be working every waking hour and never get all your work done. A vacation sure sounds nice, but it would just stress me out thinking about how I should be working. The closest I get is occasionally watching a movie. At this point, I am unlikely to be able to go on a vacation for years, if ever. I’m not really counting on ever having any middle class extras like that. If the gods are with me, I will be doing a good amount of traveling abroad for work, and will get to enjoy myself at night and on weekends, but I’ll still be hustling in archives and libraries all day, eating 1–2 meals a day because funding is paltry for the humanities, etc.

I am a homemaker, so I never get a vacation. No matter where we go, I still have to take care of the clothes, food, and all the same things I take care of every day of the year.

I do prefer doing it all in a hotel by the ocean.

Love and hate. It would be perfect if the weather always cooperated, cost was cheaper, and my bags would pack itself with the perfect assortment of clothing I needed and my bags could check themselves in and out. Also, I wish I could walk straight in for my flight and not have to be scanned or checked or told that my skin cream can’t go through. Oh, and I wish a driver would come with my rental car so I never have to worry about finding parking. And I would have a perfect list of places to eat. I don’t mind being adventurous but when I’m hungry after a long day of adventure, I usually want a perfect meal at the end of the day. Not a large bill and crappy tasting food.

If I could get all that then it would be a stress free vacation.

We don’t get them often as my family was in a monetary tight spot for much of my growing up years. I do love them when they happen, though. But as a homebody I am usually quite ready to leave by the time they end, and we don’t even take long ones.

To me they sound stressful (odd I know). But all that packing, flying etc., exhausting. I’d more times that not just not go.

What @bookish1 said. Although when I go to conferences, I try to take some time to enjoy the place I’m in.

I love them! I love to explore new places and get away from my life for a while. I find them incredibly relaxing because they are all about me and what I want to do. I don’t have children, but I don’t take my husband on vacation with me – we tried it once and I found he is too uptight – about money, everything being perfect, etc.

If I can drive, I love them. I hate flying. For many years we spent a week in northern Wisconsin in a cabin on a lake. Those were my favorite vacations. We haven’t been able to do that for four years now. We are hoping we can continue the tradition starting next year.

Our house is my favorite place in the world to be, and I find most travel stressful which feeds my anxiety. Mostly, I prefer to stay home. A weekend at a nearby hotel or at the beach is about the most I can comfortably tolerate. It’s kind of a moot point these days, because we can’t afford to take any sort of vacation at all. Back when I used to go on week-long vacations regularly, I always had to take an extra day off work so I could recover from the vacation!

I can take ‘em or leave ‘em. I’ve always thought it’s not so much where you go as who you go with, and I don’t know that many people I’d care to go anywhere with for a long period of time. I like being a homepachy.

I love them. Lately I want to travel more. Although, there definitely can be stress involved before and during a vacation. The planning, the packing, worry about your house, the weather not cooperating, all can be stressful.

We are very laid-back, so before we take a trip, we consider what places are must-see and what are OK to skip if we don’t get around to it.

We prefer to explore at our own pace—especially since my foot problems slow me down. I also try to schedule it so I’ll have a day at home to unwind after we get back.

I find vacations that are packed with a full itinerary are stressful. I absolutely would not want to travel with people I do not like being around, and very often there are relatives who fall into that category.

I love vacations. I enjoy visiting new places and meeting new people. We take mini breaks throughout the year and usually a longer holiday once ever year or two. I love being at home but I get itchy feet if we don’t go away for a long period of time.

I should add after reading @bookish’s comment, I haven’t had a ‘vacation’ with no work for years. The work I do means I am always reading, studying, dealing with people, even when on a break.

I fucking love vacations. My schedule is so packed, but one week a year I get to go to the beach, and spend the whole time sitting around, reading and sipping wine. Ahhhhh.

I don’t vacation with relatives.

I have had wonderful vacations. Now it is really not physically possible, but I don’t mind. I’ve traveled so much more than I ever expected to and we have wonderful memories.

Love them.

Prevents the brain from deteriorating. Human brains need novelty.