Where do lower to middle class families go on vacation for the summer?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Especially in this area. And I mean middle class not UMC. Not “I make 200k plus but I feel middle class.” Even some of the beaches DCUM sneers at can be pricey. Are people going into debt to afford it?

I have no idea? Maybe they stay home.

We have 3 different residences in 3 different countries so we are always traveling.

Then why post if you are that comfortable. We don't og on vacations. 200K is not MC. You can afford to travel on that if you budget well. Beaches are $$$ in season.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:we went to paris and rome

That is not Mc.

Yes it is, economy is middle class, business is upper middle. Get over yourself, what you are describing is poor.

Real MC cannot afford economy to paris and rome.

[Anonymous]

We drive to my parents’ house in South Carolina (near, but not on the beach), and do fun things there. We do day trips to Ocean City and NYC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think most Gen X and Millennials grew up doing driving trips. A special trip to Disney or somewhere else once or twice. Beach trips. That was the norm even within the MC/UMC. Now I look at my kids’ friends and it’s not unusual (we are in a middle of the pack FCPS school) for kids to go to Europe, Hawaii, Caribbean, etc. I think the expectations have changed.

Disney has gotten so crazy expensive that you can go to Europe for 1/2 the price.

We just did 10 days in London and Paris and in no way was it cheaper than Disney.

You picked 2 of the most expensive cities in Europe and maybe you also chose really expensive hotels. Recently, I went to Paris with my family for a week, vrbo'd an apartment, got a decent price on flights and it was cheaper than Disney. Just returned from 2.5 weeks in another cheaper European country and still spent less than a week at Disney and that includes $ for food, hotels, car rental and airfare.

It costs about 700-1000 a night to stay in a deluxe Disney resort now and then tickets and food are probably another 700 a day for a family of 4.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think most Gen X and Millennials grew up doing driving trips. A special trip to Disney or somewhere else once or twice. Beach trips. That was the norm even within the MC/UMC. Now I look at my kids’ friends and it’s not unusual (we are in a middle of the pack FCPS school) for kids to go to Europe, Hawaii, Caribbean, etc. I think the expectations have changed.

Disney has gotten so crazy expensive that you can go to Europe for 1/2 the price.

We just did 10 days in London and Paris and in no way was it cheaper than Disney.

You picked 2 of the most expensive cities in Europe and maybe you also chose really expensive hotels. Recently, I went to Paris with my family for a week, vrbo'd an apartment, got a decent price on flights and it was cheaper than Disney. Just returned from 2.5 weeks in another cheaper European country and still spent less than a week at Disney and that includes $ for food, hotels, car rental and airfare.

It costs about 700-1000 a night to stay in a deluxe Disney resort now and then tickets and food are probably another 700 a day for a family of 4.

Right, but you don't have to stay at a delux Disney resort- just like you found cheaper accomodation in Paris, you can find it at Disney by staying offsite and not going during the busiest weeks. And you can still bring food in to the parks IIRC. Don't get me wrong, it's still an expensive vacation (and I prefer Europe!), but flights alone to Europe can be prohibitive for MC familes. We never went to Europe as kids, but we could drive to FL and stay with family and do daytrips to Disney (and the beach).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They go visit their families. (Which my ILs are upset about. They wish we spent all our annual leave visiting them instead of vacations.)

Not to get too off track here -- but I do think that a lot of the conflict over family vacations you see on here is a result of income differences. When I was a kid, we camped or stayed with my Grandparents on vacation. My Grandparents had a lake house (a rustic cabin, not fancy at all) and we spent a ton of time there when I was a kid. Now maybe our parents have the same expectation, and instead we're now off to Europe etc.

But that's the answer to your question -- camp or stay with family. The only time I went to the beach as a kid was when we visited family who lived driving distance away (but not really near) the beach. We'd drive over to the beach for the day. When I was poor and new to DC, we'd drive to Rehoboth for the day. Leave early and get back late, tired and sunburned, but we had a great time.

I completely agree. We have a lot of conflict with DH's family over our vacations. We only get one vacation a year, so it's not like we have tons of annual leave. We spend it how we want. We invite grandparents and only my parents ever come with us. His family wants us to camp with them. They grew up camping with their own grandparents or spending their annual leave on staycations with grandparents.... I don't have the leave for that.

Send your kids. My in laws take my kids camping every summer - they go somewhere local in case there's an emergency.

[Anonymous]

We grew up true MC.
We drove everywhere - we NEVER flew anywhere.
We stayed in cheap motels near the beach in small towns and were happy if the motel had a pool in the middle of the parking lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:we went to paris and rome

That is not Mc.

Yes it is, economy is middle class, business is upper middle. Get over yourself, what you are describing is poor.

Real MC cannot afford economy to paris and rome.

+1. Seriously. Is this real?

[Anonymous]

Also grew up real middle class: drove for vacations, usually to other family members houses and would take a quick stop at a tourist site or a half day at the beach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think most Gen X and Millennials grew up doing driving trips. A special trip to Disney or somewhere else once or twice. Beach trips. That was the norm even within the MC/UMC. Now I look at my kids’ friends and it’s not unusual (we are in a middle of the pack FCPS school) for kids to go to Europe, Hawaii, Caribbean, etc. I think the expectations have changed.

Disney has gotten so crazy expensive that you can go to Europe for 1/2 the price.

This.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Especially in this area. And I mean middle class not UMC. Not “I make 200k plus but I feel middle class.” Even some of the beaches DCUM sneers at can be pricey. Are people going into debt to afford it?

I have no idea? Maybe they stay home.

We have 3 different residences in 3 different countries so we are always traveling.

Your lack of interest or empathy is pretty repulsive.

[Anonymous]

Some do staycation with day trips, or short stays at hotels using points and their money wisely.
Others choose to brake their piggy bank to visit Orlando and meet Mickey/Minnie Mouse, while taking their kids to eat fried garbage because “real food is expensive”.

[Anonymous]

I'm an immigrant ( originally from Europe). I hate camping, for me that is not the vacation I like. Our combined HHI is about $200K. We love cruising, so usually do one cruise per year ( pick interior cabin) with Royal Caribbean, Princess, Celebrity ( not Carnival), so the cost for 3 of us is about $3000. We live in Northern Virginia, and honestly, I don't find anything attractive near this area. I truly don't like places like Rehoboth/Dewy/Ocean City/Virginia Beach places ( have been in all of them). Also, places like Hershey park are not cheap- daily pass for tickets/parking was $180, then hotel we stayed in was $200 ( luckily free for us thanks to my credit card points), not counting expensive food/gas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think most Gen X and Millennials grew up doing driving trips. A special trip to Disney or somewhere else once or twice. Beach trips. That was the norm even within the MC/UMC. Now I look at my kids’ friends and it’s not unusual (we are in a middle of the pack FCPS school) for kids to go to Europe, Hawaii, Caribbean, etc. I think the expectations have changed.

Disney has gotten so crazy expensive that you can go to Europe for 1/2 the price.

We just did 10 days in London and Paris and in no way was it cheaper than Disney.

You picked 2 of the most expensive cities in Europe and maybe you also chose really expensive hotels. Recently, I went to Paris with my family for a week, vrbo'd an apartment, got a decent price on flights and it was cheaper than Disney. Just returned from 2.5 weeks in another cheaper European country and still spent less than a week at Disney and that includes $ for food, hotels, car rental and airfare.

It costs about 700-1000 a night to stay in a deluxe Disney resort now and then tickets and food are probably another 700 a day for a family of 4.

You stay at the value hotel and go off season. We got the military discount so hotels were cheaper (off season), tickets were a few hundred and we ate fast food and went off Disney for dinners and some meals as it was cheaper. Flights were free via southwest credit card points or drive. Much cheaper. We spent no where near 700 a day. You are choosing the expensive options.

[Anonymous]

I grew up in NC and the only vacations we took were to Kings Dominion. We had season passes most years. We went to the beach one year (Myrtle Beach) and a few times in my childhood we took a flight to visit family in Illinois or California. That was it.