Why beach trip is so popular?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. It is interesting that some pp mention that it could be cultural things, and I happen to be Asian. I think I like to tour and cram things within a trip as sightseeing new things, going to hot tourist places & taking pictures. My kids like pool, and they are not beach fan for a week. I am not sure if it is due to their ages or just personal prederences, they are likely to get bored.

Just like this summer vacation, day 1 explores city & take water taxi, day 2 goes to a kid museum, day 3 goes to amusement park in another state, day 4 goes to a farm & explore around town , day 5 goes a kid museum and head back home. We stay at 3 different hotels that have pool if they want to play in water. It add up and not cheap with all those hotels/tickets/admission/meals, but kids have fun. I am exhausted because I did all planning and make sure everything is alright. Unless I have other family to join me, or else I don't think beach for a week is for me unless it is all inclusive resorts with planned activities or cruises.

That’s sounds f’ing exhausting and not how I’d want to spend a summer vacation. It is cultural in some parts of the US to take a downtime vacation in the summer.

You should do what you and your family enjoy. For a lot of people that's the beach. But even then people do it different ways. I hate the sun and burn quickly - I am not going to lay out on a towel. I love the water and my kids want to swim so we do two hours in the ocean in the morning, hang out inside at the hotel during the sunniest hours, and go back out for another two hours in the pool in the afternoon. We stay at one hotel only and it's right on the water so it's easy. We bring breakfast and lunch food and do oatmeal and sandwiches, and go out for dinner. Do all that four days in a row and we're done, but the kids have a great time. If we want more we can add an amusement park or water park.

Before kids my vacations involved foreign travel or hiking, but the kids really love the beach, and it's easy enough for us to do that now. My 5 year old loved it so much that she remembers every detail from last year when she was 4, and she was really excited to come back and do it all again only better because she's bigger now. I expect when they are older we will do more interesting vacations, but this is reasonably easy (though not cheap) and not too exhausting.

Do you set a timer??

I wear a watch. Have to reapply sunscreen if we don’t go in. But this year in fact yes, I set a timer due to medication one kid is on that makes them sun sensitive.

[Anonymous]

In my experience people either like the beach/ocean or they really don’t. If you’re not a beach person, then a week at the beach is a bad choice.

[Anonymous]

I go to the beach but not around here. I fly to USVi or Sanibel Island, Fl. I can't for the life of me understand people who go to Ocean City, MD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I go to the beach but not around here. I fly to USVi or Sanibel Island, Fl. I can't for the life of me understand people who go to Ocean City, MD.

It's because you're snooty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I go to the beach but not around here. I fly to USVi or Sanibel Island, Fl. I can't for the life of me understand people who go to Ocean City, MD.

It's because you're snooty.

Yes, you can pay the same amount and stay somewhere nicer. But hey I'm snooty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I go to the beach but not around here. I fly to USVi or Sanibel Island, Fl. I can't for the life of me understand people who go to Ocean City, MD.

Well, for us, we have 3 kids under 5 so flying anywhere to go to the beach is an unnecessary hassle. A 3 hour drive we can manage and Ocean City is, actually, fine.

[Anonymous]

It’s seems cultural for this area.
In my home country in Western Europe people also love the beach and will drive 8 hours or fly to get to one, but there you have the added benefit of being in another country when you are at the beach.
Personally I feel more relaxed sightseeing and being in a new country than at the Outer Banks. My kids love a day or two at the beach and then get bored.

[Anonymous]

This is my ILs’ “thing” and unless they paid for it, we wouldn’t go every year, frankly. We would (and have) vacationed with them in other places that either we have paid for or we have shared costs, so it’s not that we wouldn’t vacation with them otherwise. It’s that if they want Beach House Week, they are paying because DH and I can barely stand it by the last few days.

I don’t mind 3 nights at the beach, but the whole damn week is so boring and annoying and just too much. And I’m talking top-dollar accommodations in Fenwick, which doesn’t get crowded at all. Even the nicest East Coast beaches and beach houses suck, though I will say we really lucked out on weather and on bug-free this year.

It’s nice in some ways, but a week is just way too long. And the one day we drove down to the Ocean City boardwalk, it was honestly hell for me. I hate tackiness, crowds, and gross, and that place is all those things to the extreme.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have asked around where my coworkers with kids often take their family vacation, and the answer is often staying at beach for a week. I have wondering what could families do at a beach for a week every year? Isn't it boring? I asked them for ideas where I should take my kids for vacation, and I prefer to fly to a new place (San Diego, Florida or california) for a week or do road trips with multiple stops across states. My kids ( 3 and 8) are younger than my coworker kids (who are ES, MS or HS kids). And it is true that my vacation is not that "relaxing", require more planning and hassles. Is that the reason that beach trip is popular?

I see the appeal of the occasional beach trip, or the occasional road trip like what you’re describing, but both have their ups and downs. Your type of road trip vacation is not relaxing at all. I would want it to end with a few nights somewhere luxurious to make up for all the schlepping. I don’t love a full week at the beach, but I would downright hate multi-state schleps that aren’t relaxing at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I go to the beach but not around here. I fly to USVi or Sanibel Island, Fl. I can't for the life of me understand people who go to Ocean City, MD.

Well, for us, we have 3 kids under 5 so flying anywhere to go to the beach is an unnecessary hassle. A 3 hour drive we can manage and Ocean City is, actually, fine.

NP disagree. We have two under 5 and flying to an all-inclusive in the Caribbean is SO MUCH EASIER than driving 5-8 hours to a rental in Delaware or NC

[Anonymous]

I think it's partially regional, since beaches here are vacation distance away (too far to go for the day but close enough to drive). I grew up in NY and if we wanted to go to the beach we would go for the day. I love it for a day! Going for several days in a row and schlepping chairs and umbrellas and food and getting sand everywhere and cooking and cleaning...that's just not appealing. There nothing relaxing about that to me.

[Anonymous]

I am a mountain person. People have different tastes.

[Anonymous]

A lot of the draw is hanging out with family too. If part of the intent of your vacation is to spend time socializing with people you love, then being in one place without complicated logistics and planning makes that easier. The biggest draw for me of our beach trip is my kids spending time with their cousins and grandparents and creating memories/traditions. Plus, once you pay for the house, costs are minimal.

It’s not my first choice of vacation but we all have a good time.

[Anonymous]

I have a house on the beach and one in the mountains!

[Anonymous]

What if I blew your mind and told you we do a beach week AND a multi-state road trip every summer? We like to relax and chill at the beach, and we also like to go to interesting museums, national parks and points of interest.