When did this become the norm?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:People aren't tied to a desk. People don't pay for air or hotel, they use points. It's easier to travel. People prioritize travel. International real estate is more obtainable.

We have a house in Europe. We spend 8 week in the summer there and 2-4 other weeks throughout the year there. We bought outside of town because we couldn't take anymore of the insta tourists.

You are not MC/UMC. Who the hell can take 10 weeks off per year? You are not relatable.

Did I say anything about taking time off from work?

DH works while we are there. He just needs to be near a phone throughout the day. And be able to get on a computer for an hour or so in the evenings.

That is not the reality of remote work for most people.

That is career dependent. DH isn’t “remote”. That’s how his job was even before Covid and remote work was popular.

So then you aren’t actually traveling. You have multiple residences.

We are traveling.
So if someone spends the summer or part of at their beach house they aren’t traveling.

Our house is in southern France we use it as a home base and travel all over Europe from there.

Yeah, so you’re rich, normal everyday Americans don’t own homes in Southern France, just fyi. People like you always have traveled and always have had the best of everything, good for you.

You are making a lot of assumptions. We paid less than $150k for the house. It is worth considerably more now because of work we have done, not contracted anything out. We purchased a modest house here to allow us to do this.
Real estate and daily COL are considerably less many parts of Europe.

Ha ha "my vacation home in France didn't cost $1 million" doesn't mean you aren't rich. If you own a second home, you are rich, almost by definition. Around 5% of American adults own second homes.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/228894/people-living-in-households-that-own-a-second-home-usa/

[Anonymous]

We prioritize travel. DH is military, so we've lived in a series of horrifically bad locations and don't want our children to develop the local mindsets. So, most every school break, we travel. Sometimes we drive, sometimes we fly. I travel for work, so points and miles keep the cost down. I know the classmates of our youngest think it's strange that he travels so much, but I don't care.

We don't do luxe, resorts, or international, though.

[Anonymous]

Really rich people own their own airplanes and fly from Fixed Based Operators instead of commercial airlines. Your examples aren't even of really rich people.

In college, my boyfriend's family had money. They owned an airplane, a sailboat in San Diego, a farmhouse, and a literal mansion in a wealthy Midwestern suburb.

They invited me once to sail on a private sailboat to the Bahamas. I didn't want to go. That was in the 1990s. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to go anywhere if I wasn't having a good time. How stupid was I?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I absolutely hate all of the logistics of traveling and fail to see why others love it so much. The packing and unpacking, finding travel sized containers, how and what to pack on the carry ons, the horrid plane food, the dirty public bathrooms, the electrical adapters, uncomfortable beds, jet lag, other travelers …I just find it all so tedious and annoying as hell.

You’re doing it wrong. And most people as well.

This is code for “just be rich like me and travel will be better!”

[Anonymous]

We are making up lost time / travel that happened because of Covid. Doing as many trips as we can before the kids aren’t able to after college

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We prioritize travel. DH is military, so we've lived in a series of horrifically bad locations and don't want our children to develop the local mindsets. So, most every school break, we travel. Sometimes we drive, sometimes we fly. I travel for work, so points and miles keep the cost down. I know the classmates of our youngest think it's strange that he travels so much, but I don't care.

We don't do luxe, resorts, or international, though.

I’m sure the locals are not sad to see you go…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This was the norm where I grew up. Caribbean for spring break, ski in the winter, beach house or Europe in the summer. I think social media and the internet has made this lifestyle more visible, and especially compounded with the anti-snob snobbery/pressure our generation puts on each other against owning material things (or maybe it’s anti-Boomer backlash), more people follow it and aspire to it since it’s a more socially acceptable way to spend your money.

Honestly this seem like boring travel. If you’re just going to Europe and the Caribbean, you’re not very adventurous.

Cool, did I say those are the only places I’ve ever gone? No, I said it was the norm where I grew up. As in, this circuit was normal and not unusual. To respond to the OP—

“When do you think it become the norm for people to travel so aggressively? I feel like everyone we know travels for every school break and for long periods in the summer (like 2-3 weeks in Europe). These aren’t small driving trips either. The families we know go from very expensive ski vacations (have you ever added up the cost of flights, lodging, lift tickets, gear rentals, etc. for family of 4-5 to ski for a week in CO or UT? It’s nuts) in the winter to luxury beach vacations in the Caribbean for spring break. Or, if they want to “mix it up,” they’ll do Costa Rica for spring break and an African safari for their summer trip.

Get it now? I guarantee I’ve done more interesting travel than you.

Well, that struck quite the nerve.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This was the norm where I grew up. Caribbean for spring break, ski in the winter, beach house or Europe in the summer. I think social media and the internet has made this lifestyle more visible, and especially compounded with the anti-snob snobbery/pressure our generation puts on each other against owning material things (or maybe it’s anti-Boomer backlash), more people follow it and aspire to it since it’s a more socially acceptable way to spend your money.

Honestly this seem like boring travel. If you’re just going to Europe and the Caribbean, you’re not very adventurous.

Yeah, being a random transient so you can be a striver bragging about how many countries you've visited is so superior. Rich hit the same places over and over because they've been everywhere, now they want a seamless high caliber experience, no surprises, they want to be around other rich families they know and sort of trust, and often they end up buying second and third homes at these places.

Nope.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We prioritize travel. DH is military, so we've lived in a series of horrifically bad locations and don't want our children to develop the local mindsets. So, most every school break, we travel. Sometimes we drive, sometimes we fly. I travel for work, so points and miles keep the cost down. I know the classmates of our youngest think it's strange that he travels so much, but I don't care.

We don't do luxe, resorts, or international, though.

I’m sure the locals are not sad to see you go…

Like you'd live here if you had a choice. Give me a break.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a person who grew up in a developing country nothing makes my eyes roll more than wealthy folks blabbing about going off the beaten path and exposing their kids to different cultures like it’s a life lesson. It’s so patronizing. I’ve met people who’ve never left this country who are more open minded than some who have traveled extensively. It’s fine if you enjoy traveling. But don’t use other countries as “experiences/your playground.”

This right here! THANK YOU.

Outright showy materialism got tacky, so now the elite has decided to signal superiority by traveling to show how worldly they are and better than the rubes.

It’s the same gross mindset, only with a bigger carbon footprint, which is weird because these people also tend to be liberal pseudo-environmentalists.

I get it -- but is it generally bad to expose your kids to different cultures? I don't think so. If they said this about Europe would you think it was offensive? Or is it that they don't say it about Europe would say it about a developing country?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a person who grew up in a developing country nothing makes my eyes roll more than wealthy folks blabbing about going off the beaten path and exposing their kids to different cultures like it’s a life lesson. It’s so patronizing. I’ve met people who’ve never left this country who are more open minded than some who have traveled extensively. It’s fine if you enjoy traveling. But don’t use other countries as “experiences/your playground.”

This right here! THANK YOU.

Outright showy materialism got tacky, so now the elite has decided to signal superiority by traveling to show how worldly they are and better than the rubes.

It’s the same gross mindset, only with a bigger carbon footprint, which is weird because these people also tend to be liberal pseudo-environmentalists.

I get it -- but is it generally bad to expose your kids to different cultures? I don't think so. If they said this about Europe would you think it was offensive? Or is it that they don't say it about Europe would say it about a developing country?

It’s gross to feel morally superior because the different cultures you exposed your kids to were overseas, and especially in some exotic locale. Like the PP said, people who don’t travel a lot - even people who *gasp* don’t have a passport - can be open-minded and have friends in many different walks of life. I’m more interest in character and not how many stamps you have in your passport.

[Anonymous]

^ interested

[Anonymous]

I love to travel and we have a lot of money. Goin to a second home at OBX sounds super boring.

We travel to National Parks, Italy, the Islands etc..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love to travel and we have a lot of money. Goin to a second home at OBX sounds super boring.

We travel to National Parks, Italy, the Islands etc..

Maybe I’m fickle but once you’ve seen a National Park or two, you’ve seen them all. Same with going abroad. I have been there done that and now that I had kids, I desperately need a relaxing vacation, not a jam packed international trip. It’s just exhausting, no fun at all. And I have experienced other cultures as my relatives are foreign and live abroad. They aren’t really very interesting or different than us. Many want to live here actually and I don’t blame them. I would much rather pack lightly and stay at a comfortable beach house or actually a lux hotel and just do nothing but sit on a beach or by a pool for a week and be waited on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love to travel and we have a lot of money. Goin to a second home at OBX sounds super boring.

We travel to National Parks, Italy, the Islands etc..

Maybe I’m fickle but once you’ve seen a National Park or two, you’ve seen them all. Same with going abroad. I have been there done that and now that I had kids, I desperately need a relaxing vacation, not a jam packed international trip. It’s just exhausting, no fun at all. And I have experienced other cultures as my relatives are foreign and live abroad. They aren’t really very interesting or different than us. Many want to live here actually and I don’t blame them. I would much rather pack lightly and stay at a comfortable beach house or actually a lux hotel and just do nothing but sit on a beach or by a pool for a week and be waited on.

I agree with most of what you say, save the national parks. Can’t get enough of them…though they have gotten crowded, unfortunately.