Private school parent small talk in December: EVERYONE bragging about upcoming ritzy trips

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The preoccupation with expensive, international vacations has always been an UMC thing that feels very trashy.

I feel like it's gotten way worse in recent years. Maybe fueled by viral shows like White Lotus? And certainly social media plays a part.

Very gaudy and tasteless.

It is hard for me to comprehend how many so-called adults are obsessed with social media and status. WTF? Grow up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

We have a place in Vail and we spend the entire winter there. When people ask what we're doing, I say we might travel out of town, but we're not sure. I'm European, so this might be cultural, but for us, anything that might look like bragging is very faux pas. My FIL is American and likes to brag about his homes, vacations, cars, career etc. For him, it's the pride for being successful.
___________

Obviously, your opinion doesn't count here because you are not tied to the school schedule if you spend "all winter" there. You obviously don't have kids in a fancy private school. I do and am tied to the school schedule. BTW I have 2 condos in Vail and spend loads of time there. It's actually a cheap vacation for us. We own our own gear, buy the Vail local Epic pass in April, eat at home, and stay in our own place. We rent the condos when we don't use them. To us, this is not a "ritzy" vacation and nothing I feel I should hide from anyone. When people ask and they know me they usually say "are you skiing?" And I say "yeah, any travel plans?". We ski spring break and MLK weekend too. Only for family emergencies have we deviated from this pattern.

I am here for this Vail cage match! Can we get someone with 3 Vail properties? Or Aspen? Aspen would trump, since it's not right on I-70.

Ha! I like you already. Aspen would trump, as would an actual home rather than condos - theres the whole STR zoning though. I also think Telluride is better too. It's actually my pre-retitement project, which is why it's not really fancy for me. I'm the one post-ski still in my thermals playing chess with the kids in the lounge - occasionally with a glass of wine I brought down from the condo. I'm too cheap to buy it at the bar.

Telluride is not on the level of Vail and Vail is not Aspen. Aspen trumps all! I don't think I would ever be in a social circle of someone with an Aspen home but I've known several at the others.
Vail homes now are 2-3million for a duplex half that is only available to you on certain weeks, who goes for those plans?!

This is the dumbest fight I've ever seen. But, as they say in Colorado, Aspen is for the millionaires, Telluride is for the billionaires. It's like a little private jet, uncrowded haven.

Uncrowded?! That is the dumb, have you been?

[Anonymous]

In terms of cost, a quick look at real estate should leave you with absolutely no question where working wealth and WEALTH wealth resides. Again, that is not to say Aspen is preferable to everyone but one is several hundreds of millions cheaper than the other.

[Anonymous]

i can afford to travel wherever and whenever we want.

Why in a million years would I want to travel at the peak travel weeks? I don't think anyone actually cares if you travel or not. Just be confident in your decisions.

We stay home and our kids love it. Too much work to travel at this time of the year. We just do a really large family trip mid august.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The preoccupation with expensive, international vacations has always been an UMC thing that feels very trashy.

I feel like it's gotten way worse in recent years. Maybe fueled by viral shows like White Lotus? And certainly social media plays a part.

Very gaudy and tasteless.

It is hard for me to comprehend how many so-called adults are obsessed with social media and status. WTF? Grow up.

Boasting and self-absorption has been normalized. Everyone young and old scrolls on their phones all day looking at glamorous celebs, random pretty people, and pseudo friends sharing every detail about their day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Travelled moderately. enough to be disappointed by the world. Farthest I like to travel now is Fenwick Island.

Me too!! Except I want one trip to Antarctica in winter locked in a science compound with a ton of whisky.

The beach at Christmas is my happy place. For your reading pleasure: "Where'd You Go, Bernadette?" (absolutely hilarious on private school parent craziness) and Jonathan Franzen's New Yorker article about his trip to Antarctica on a Lindblad cruise. Merry, merry!

Thank you for these suggestions! Just read the Franzen article tonight and it was delightful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:i can afford to travel wherever and whenever we want.

Why in a million years would I want to travel at the peak travel weeks? I don't think anyone actually cares if you travel or not. Just be confident in your decisions.

We stay home and our kids love it. Too much work to travel at this time of the year. We just do a really large family trip mid august.

These 2 things are in contradiction, which invalidates your post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The preoccupation with expensive, international vacations has always been an UMC thing that feels very trashy.

I feel like it's gotten way worse in recent years. Maybe fueled by viral shows like White Lotus? And certainly social media plays a part.

Very gaudy and tasteless.

It is hard for me to comprehend how many so-called adults are obsessed with social media and status. WTF? Grow up.

So you don’t like traveling internationally? Is it not important for people of all ages to be exposed to different cultures? You don’t think it’s fun to travel?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The preoccupation with expensive, international vacations has always been an UMC thing that feels very trashy.

I feel like it's gotten way worse in recent years. Maybe fueled by viral shows like White Lotus? And certainly social media plays a part.

Very gaudy and tasteless.

It is hard for me to comprehend how many so-called adults are obsessed with social media and status. WTF? Grow up.

Boasting and self-absorption has been normalized. Everyone young and old scrolls on their phones all day looking at glamorous celebs, random pretty people, and pseudo friends sharing every detail about their day.

Uh, no. But this says a lot about you. I have no social media and DGAF what the Joneses are doing. I may ask in passing where they're headed for travel making polite conversation though. I may even ask again as I probably forget the answer 5 min later. It's like asking me what the weather was like 2 weeks ago on Tuesday - I have no idea...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The preoccupation with expensive, international vacations has always been an UMC thing that feels very trashy.

I feel like it's gotten way worse in recent years. Maybe fueled by viral shows like White Lotus? And certainly social media plays a part.

Very gaudy and tasteless.

It is hard for me to comprehend how many so-called adults are obsessed with social media and status. WTF? Grow up.

Boasting and self-absorption has been normalized. Everyone young and old scrolls on their phones all day looking at glamorous celebs, random pretty people, and pseudo friends sharing every detail about their day.

Uh, no. But this says a lot about you. I have no social media and DGAF what the Joneses are doing. I may ask in passing where they're headed for travel making polite conversation though. I may even ask again as I probably forget the answer 5 min later. It's like asking me what the weather was like 2 weeks ago on Tuesday - I have no idea...

Not the PP you are responding to. The PP is correct. Tons of people of all ages who are phone addicts who look at vapid BS all day. If that is not you, that's cool, and it means the PP wasn't talking about you and, therefore, your weirdly self-absorbed response makes no sense.

I suspect from your response, you are not as nonchalant as you protest. Otherwise, why would you make a post that is clearly not meant to refer to you all about you? Self absorption all the way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The preoccupation with expensive, international vacations has always been an UMC thing that feels very trashy.

I feel like it's gotten way worse in recent years. Maybe fueled by viral shows like White Lotus? And certainly social media plays a part.

Very gaudy and tasteless.

It is hard for me to comprehend how many so-called adults are obsessed with social media and status. WTF? Grow up.

So you don’t like traveling internationally? Is it not important for people of all ages to be exposed to different cultures? You don’t think it’s fun to travel?

How do you get from someone saying bragging about your trips is gaudy and tasteless to not liking international travel? Did you respond to the wrong post?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The preoccupation with expensive, international vacations has always been an UMC thing that feels very trashy.

I feel like it's gotten way worse in recent years. Maybe fueled by viral shows like White Lotus? And certainly social media plays a part.

Very gaudy and tasteless.

It is hard for me to comprehend how many so-called adults are obsessed with social media and status. WTF? Grow up.

Boasting and self-absorption has been normalized. Everyone young and old scrolls on their phones all day looking at glamorous celebs, random pretty people, and pseudo friends sharing every detail about their day.

Uh, no. But this says a lot about you. I have no social media and DGAF what the Joneses are doing. I may ask in passing where they're headed for travel making polite conversation though. I may even ask again as I probably forget the answer 5 min later. It's like asking me what the weather was like 2 weeks ago on Tuesday - I have no idea...

Not the PP you are responding to. The PP is correct. Tons of people of all ages who are phone addicts who look at vapid BS all day. If that is not you, that's cool, and it means the PP wasn't talking about you and, therefore, your weirdly self-absorbed response makes no sense.

I suspect from your response, you are not as nonchalant as you protest. Otherwise, why would you make a post that is clearly not meant to refer to you all about you? Self absorption all the way.

Sure, Jan. You pegged it. Hope it made your day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:i can afford to travel wherever and whenever we want.

Why in a million years would I want to travel at the peak travel weeks? I don't think anyone actually cares if you travel or not. Just be confident in your decisions.

We stay home and our kids love it. Too much work to travel at this time of the year. We just do a really large family trip mid august.

+2

[Anonymous]

We’ve always traveled and continue to travel over breaks. It’s our thing. I’d rather spend money on travel and create memories, get focused time with DC and experience other cultures than buy a ton of useless crap.

People know we’ve traveled a lot and I’ve received a lot of requests for recommendations etc. over the years.

I don’t brag about it. If someone asks me what we’re doing for a break I tell them and am invested in their answer no matter what their plans are.

I also don’t post to social media while we’re away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The preoccupation with expensive, international vacations has always been an UMC thing that feels very trashy.

I feel like it's gotten way worse in recent years. Maybe fueled by viral shows like White Lotus? And certainly social media plays a part.

Very gaudy and tasteless.

It is hard for me to comprehend how many so-called adults are obsessed with social media and status. WTF? Grow up.

So you don’t like traveling internationally? Is it not important for people of all ages to be exposed to different cultures? You don’t think it’s fun to travel?

How do you get from someone saying bragging about your trips is gaudy and tasteless to not liking international travel? Did you respond to the wrong post?

In fact, I did! I was responding to the first post in that chain. Whoops!

“ The preoccupation with expensive, international vacations has always been an UMC thing that feels very trashy.”