Out of control vacation expectations - (new to) Bethesda teens

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK you think an week long vacation that is NOT international is a BIG deal? That's weird.

NP - I know it's shocking but some of us grew up in families where we may have vacationed together 2 times in the 18 years at home and 1 of those was like a driving vacation to the outer banks. So yeah to us -- when you are making $$ and can take a flying vacation EVERY SINGLE YEAR no matter what, that is a BIG deal. Sorry we didn't all grow up like you.

Wrong.
I did grow up having only one family vacation to Croatia when I was 4. It was to visit relatives. We never even stayed in a hotel as a family, ever. No camping.

Now that we make a good income, we travel 3 times a year internationally. When you are making good money, it’s no longer a big deal to travel a lot.
I don’t understand your logic.

[Anonymous]

OP, I remember it was a big deal to compare tans coming back from Winter Break and greater status depending on the destination - - Caribbean better than Florida. I didn't ski so I didn't think getting a tan while skiing was much of anything to covet. And Op although it was a big deal for like a week, I don't remember it having any lasting impact on us socially - - for that year in high school or our relationships with each other beyond high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Is this just the friends they're hanging out with? Or is this kind of common all over Bethesda?

Bethesda here. It's common but it's not by any means everyone. NWDC is similar. +1 to frequent flyer miles as a factor. Also +1 that it it's not each time, every time.

[Anonymous]

^ Went to a Bethesda area school

[Anonymous]

Some people on this board are very "scheduled". You will see comments like "It's President's Day, what can I do with 3 year old Larlo?" Or "It's a rainy Saturday, what can I do with the kids?" IDK if these adults really have no idea what to do with their kids or they are looking for new ideas. Apparently, staying home and engaging their children is beyond them. I agree with a pp who said that DCUMers seem desperate to leave town at every break. It is really not like this in other places.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK you think an week long vacation that is NOT international is a BIG deal? That's weird.

NP - I know it's shocking but some of us grew up in families where we may have vacationed together 2 times in the 18 years at home and 1 of those was like a driving vacation to the outer banks. So yeah to us -- when you are making $$ and can take a flying vacation EVERY SINGLE YEAR no matter what, that is a BIG deal. Sorry we didn't all grow up like you.

Wrong.
I did grow up having only one family vacation to Croatia when I was 4. It was to visit relatives. We never even stayed in a hotel as a family, ever. No camping.

Now that we make a good income, we travel 3 times a year internationally. When you are making good money, it’s no longer a big deal to travel a lot.
I don’t understand your logic.

Clearly having money has nothing to do with intellect or the ability to reason.

Most people in the U.S. and in the world are not rich. Most people don't travel more than once a year, if they travel that much. Most people don't grow up taking lots of expensive vacations as children and don't take expensive vacations as adults.

If that is not the case for you, enjoy your travel! But it's not the case for most people. This area is unusual for it's concentration of rich people that travel a lot.

[Anonymous]

To the OP: it's a pain to live around rich people who skew your kids' expectations, but all you can do is tell your kids the way it is. Rich people can do more. We can't. It is what it is. They might as well learn to deal with reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK you think an week long vacation that is NOT international is a BIG deal? That's weird.

NP - I know it's shocking but some of us grew up in families where we may have vacationed together 2 times in the 18 years at home and 1 of those was like a driving vacation to the outer banks. So yeah to us -- when you are making $$ and can take a flying vacation EVERY SINGLE YEAR no matter what, that is a BIG deal. Sorry we didn't all grow up like you.

Wrong.
I did grow up having only one family vacation to Croatia when I was 4. It was to visit relatives. We never even stayed in a hotel as a family, ever. No camping.

Now that we make a good income, we travel 3 times a year internationally. When you are making good money, it’s no longer a big deal to travel a lot.
I don’t understand your logic.

PEOPLE DON'T HAVE THE MONEY TO TRAVEL. If they had the money, they would travel (or not, depending on their preference).
Do you understand?

It's gross that morons like you live well while so many deserving people scrape by.

[Anonymous]

Just tell your kids that you have different priorities & tough shit. Not getting everything you want builds character.

[Anonymous]

OP, it's DC / Bethesda. Most people most other places don't travel this much, unless it is driving vacation nearby.

We just bought at 500k house in the DC metro (not very much for here) and work for the federal government. We are going to vacation in Ocean City or Virginia Beach, if we are lucky and can save any money. Most of our neighbors don't travel that much unless they bought their houses 20+ years ago and can afford it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some people on this board are very "scheduled". You will see comments like "It's President's Day, what can I do with 3 year old Larlo?" Or "It's a rainy Saturday, what can I do with the kids?" IDK if these adults really have no idea what to do with their kids or they are looking for new ideas. Apparently, staying home and engaging their children is beyond them. I agree with a pp who said that DCUMers seem desperate to leave town at every break. It is really not like this in other places.

Went to a farmer's market on President's Day weekend; was pretty nice outside and one the vendors asked us where everyone was. Said, they must have gotten out of town for the long weekend, and she was surprised "people really travel for President's Day weekend?" Told her, yep, I am desperate to leave DC any time I can too... we usually can't afford to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live in central Georgia now, but we still do this kind of thing, too.

First, our families don't live near us, so some of those trips include visiting grandparents, cousins, etc..

Second, a ski trip that's a day's drive away isn't a big deal. If you've decided against private school, a $500 weekend (hotel, lift tix) 3x a year isn't much. I assume by now they own their ski gear ...

Also, DC is on a coast, so ditto about a weekend/week at the beach, or a trip to NYC or Boston.

Things are close by, and really not that expensive. Now, there will be people who do Hawaii/Aspen/Paris/Bahamas, some of them with their own boats and vacation homes. But that is not the norm, even in Bethesda.

Also, take all of this with a grain of salt. Your kids know a lot of other kids. While it may seem like they are all doing this, some are doing it each time, not every time.

500 for lift tickets and hotel for a family of 4??? How?

And don’t forget flights to Vail! $500 wouldn’t cover even one person’s expenses for a weekend!

[Anonymous]

We love to travel! We usually ski 1-2 x a year and Caribbean or Mexico 1x, CA 1x, Europe 1x , Wyoming 1x a year intermixed with some nyc trips.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just tell your kids that you have different priorities & tough shit. Not getting everything you want builds character.

Also (I'm the Pp), some families have insane frequent flier miles to burn. That is the case with us. I am very frugal. From the outside, it probably looks like taking my large family to a posh hotel is $$$, but it's free for us. I do think the competing over coolest vacay thing is just another form of keeping up w joneses. You should do what is prudent and comfortable for YOU!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

This place is unique because most people around are from someplace else, add in the state department, world bank, IMF and the likes and as a result, you have a culture that is very outwardly looking

This is a very big part of it. I grew up in Bethesda but was born overseas and all my extended family still lived there. So if we went to visit grandma 2 times a year in X country but were also people who liked to travel, we had to take advantage of every little school break to be able to do both things.

Plus, people at the international organizations often have more vacation time than at American companies, and they get home leave to go back to their country on the institution's dime once a year or biennially.