I grew up LMC and am now UMC. This is based on the definition of class based on annual income and household size compared to others in your area. I see there are many other opinions on what class really means though. I’ve lived in DC for about 5 years and found DCUM. I had never heard anyone talk about class before. What is this obsession on DCUM with class? Do you people also talk about it in real life?

Regarding the topic at hand. I went to college mostly with people whose parents would have been UMC or UC foreign students. I learned how to travel from my UMC classmates - hosteling through SE Asia, S America or Europe with a Lonely Planet. We had an absolute blast and l travelled that way until my mid 30s and had kids. At work l made friends with some UC people. They sail and play golf a lot and get there via PJ. I’m not a golfer so can’t judge which courses are for which class, nor do l GAF. They’re not skiers. There is variety in UC, just like every other class.

Anonymous wrote:I am reading an Emily Giffen novel and the narrator says she can tell someone’s social class by hearing where a person has traveled to or where they return year after year. I thought that was interesting. Do you agree?

Idk that I really agree because just having more money to spend doesn’t really change your class background (how you were raised, where you went to school, what you do for a living, etc.).

I vehemently disagree. Have you been on a plane recently - some people were raised animals, will die animals.

Anonymous wrote:Forget the fancy places-how do the UMC/UC get so much time off?

Don’t work at a job where you need to be in the office….

Anonymous wrote:Forget the fancy places-how do the UMC/UC get so much time off?

I have "unlimited leave" and combined with doing some work while travel. Spent a month in Europe this past summer with two weeks off and two weeks working remotely. Then worked remotely from the beach for a week in August. Long weekends with 1-2 days of that working remotely.

As long as work gets done no one really cares.

Forget the fancy places-how do the UMC/UC get so much time off?

Yes and no.

I know nearly a dozen people who have traveled extensively (several dozen countries including off the beaten path places). They prioritized travel when they were young and poor. One guy often slept in bus stations or hostels if he didn’t hook up. He’s an immigrant who eventually became a US citizen and now he works a blue collar job. He’s literally been everywhere.

I also know old east coast money families who have traveled throughout Europe, the Mediterranean, African safari, fabulous islands, etc. Think: first class flights and luxury accommodations.

But it’s really a mix.

Re: where people summer - the most affluent people I know have vacation homes in Cape Cod, Tuscany, and DE beaches. Why DE? Because most people buy vacation homes that are accessible and have a nostalgic connection. Having said that, literally every greek person I know has a vacation home in Greece…although they don’t call it a vacation home. They tend to go “home” for a month at a time each summer. They are mostly blue collar professionals.

Mixed bag.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pp again. I am not going to Punta Cana. I am going to Thailand, Japan, Singapore, Korea, Morocco, Jordan, Egypt, etc. We also make it to some eastern beach once a year, Florida or Caribbean once per year, skiing a few times but I still want to travel to more interesting new places. I have been to most places I want to go. I now bring my children.

I married into an old school $$ family. I used to want to explore like you’ve laid out but btdt.
Have no interest. Maybe a girls trip trip 1x a year, but the rest?!? Pass.

With our kids we do the below:
Yellowstone Club (DH family; Xmas day-New years or so) and 1-2 long weekends
Harbour island (1 week)
Palm Beach (Easter and/or thanksgiving with family)
Nantucket (1 month)

That’s kind of it for anything not a weekend.

Most of my friends don’t like to travel the way I do including DH and my two older kids. I think it is more personality and preference. DH will go on 3-4 vaccinations with us per year and maybe a few ski weekends. The other times I travel with the kids or with my friends.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Couldn’t you tell someone’s social class just by where you met them, what they do, etc etc? I mean, to whom am I giving this test? And what would I do with the results?

Well in the book it’s a college student hearing that her new roommate grew up going to Christmas markets in Europe, skiing out west every spring break, and vacations on Sea Island every summer.

Tipped her off immediately to the roommate being from a high class family.

This could be rich person stuff - do they own the Sea Colony house? Do they fly first class to Europe and stay in the nicest hotels? Do they go to Aspen instead of slumming it at a less lux resort? - or it could be middle class if it is coach and rentals.

Skiing out west doesn’t have to be expensive. It really depends on where you go. And most middle class families can afford to rent a house for a beach vacation for a week or even two.

No no way is a middle class family going to Europe in Dec, skiiing in Colorado in March,

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Couldn’t you tell someone’s social class just by where you met them, what they do, etc etc? I mean, to whom am I giving this test? And what would I do with the results?

Well in the book it’s a college student hearing that her new roommate grew up going to Christmas markets in Europe, skiing out west every spring break, and vacations on Sea Island every summer.

Tipped her off immediately to the roommate being from a high class family.

This could be rich person stuff - do they own the Sea Colony house? Do they fly first class to Europe and stay in the nicest hotels? Do they go to Aspen instead of slumming it at a less lux resort? - or it could be middle class if it is coach and rentals.

Skiing out west doesn’t have to be expensive. It really depends on where you go. And most middle class families can afford to rent a house for a beach vacation for a week or even two.

It’s all of those put together.

A middle class family would probably rent a beach house for a week every year. Or, they might be ski fanatics, so instead they go every year somewhere inexpensive out west. Or they could be a culture-rich family & travel on a budget to different countries every few years.

But no way is a middle class family going to Europe in Dec, skiiing in Colorado in March, and Sea Island in the summer. Every year. Parents vacation time alone would be a dealbreaker. And even “slumming it” in these 3 locations with a family of 4 every year would be a deal breaker for a middle class family.

Anonymous wrote:Pp again. I am not going to Punta Cana. I am going to Thailand, Japan, Singapore, Korea, Morocco, Jordan, Egypt, etc. We also make it to some eastern beach once a year, Florida or Caribbean once per year, skiing a few times but I still want to travel to more interesting new places. I have been to most places I want to go. I now bring my children.

I married into an old school $$ family. I used to want to explore like you’ve laid out but btdt.
Have no interest. Maybe a girls trip trip 1x a year, but the rest?!? Pass.

With our kids we do the below:
Yellowstone Club (DH family; Xmas day-New years or so) and 1-2 long weekends
Harbour island (1 week)
Palm Beach (Easter and/or thanksgiving with family)
Nantucket (1 month)

That’s kind of it for anything not a weekend.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Couldn’t you tell someone’s social class just by where you met them, what they do, etc etc? I mean, to whom am I giving this test? And what would I do with the results?

Well in the book it’s a college student hearing that her new roommate grew up going to Christmas markets in Europe, skiing out west every spring break, and vacations on Sea Island every summer.

Tipped her off immediately to the roommate being from a high class family.

This could be rich person stuff - do they own the Sea Colony house? Do they fly first class to Europe and stay in the nicest hotels? Do they go to Aspen instead of slumming it at a less lux resort? - or it could be middle class if it is coach and rentals.

Skiing out west doesn’t have to be expensive. It really depends on where you go. And most middle class families can afford to rent a house for a beach vacation for a week or even two.

middle class families can't afford the time off for multiple long vacations a year.

2 is normal though or I should say, common.

I doubt people are going to a Christmas market every single year.

2 long vacations a year for a family who isn't UMC or rich is rare, unless maybe they are to visit family.

The middle class cannot afford 2 week vacations abroad. That’s UMC. The LMC often cannot even afford to take time off bc it might be unpaid or come out of the same PTO as sick leave. DCUM lives in la la land.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Couldn’t you tell someone’s social class just by where you met them, what they do, etc etc? I mean, to whom am I giving this test? And what would I do with the results?

Well in the book it’s a college student hearing that her new roommate grew up going to Christmas markets in Europe, skiing out west every spring break, and vacations on Sea Island every summer.

Tipped her off immediately to the roommate being from a high class family.

This could be rich person stuff - do they own the Sea Colony house? Do they fly first class to Europe and stay in the nicest hotels? Do they go to Aspen instead of slumming it at a less lux resort? - or it could be middle class if it is coach and rentals.

Skiing out west doesn’t have to be expensive. It really depends on where you go. And most middle class families can afford to rent a house for a beach vacation for a week or even two.

middle class families can't afford the time off for multiple long vacations a year.

2 is normal though or I should say, common.

I doubt people are going to a Christmas market every single year.

2 long vacations a year for a family who isn't UMC or rich is rare, unless maybe they are to visit family.

Pp again. I am not going to Punta Cana. I am going to Thailand, Japan, Singapore, Korea, Morocco, Jordan, Egypt, etc. We also make it to some eastern beach once a year, Florida or Caribbean once per year, skiing a few times but I still want to travel to more interesting new places. I have been to most places I want to go. I now bring my children.

Anonymous wrote:Going to a new place every year (or multiple new places) screams UMC, upwardly mobile, sorta striver-y to me. Truly middle class don't have the time or money to do that, but the true wealthy people I know don't seem to take to that style of travel at all. They seem to have their handful of places they like to go to over and over again. I.e., the typical rotation would be their beach house somewhere on the East Coast for summer, a skiing location out west or in Europe in the winter, somewhere in the Caribbean in winter/spring. Maaybe another somewhat obscure place in Europe that they really like, maybe a new destination every once in a great while, but mostly it's all about repetition. But I think PP nailed it when they said they won't go to places where thye have to interact extensively with people outside of their social class. Which is kind of funny because to me that's just like a gussied up version of the middle class family from the Midwest who spends a week within the walls of an all inclusive resort in Punta Cana (no judgment).

Asian American here. I like to travel internationally and domestically and do not always like to go to the same places in the US. We have many friends and colleagues who own beach houses who invite us. We have considered buying one but I don’t want to go to the same beach over and over again. While my kids liked the beach when they were younger, they don’t love it anymore.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Couldn’t you tell someone’s social class just by where you met them, what they do, etc etc? I mean, to whom am I giving this test? And what would I do with the results?

Well in the book it’s a college student hearing that her new roommate grew up going to Christmas markets in Europe, skiing out west every spring break, and vacations on Sea Island every summer.

Tipped her off immediately to the roommate being from a high class family.

Ha, love the one you’re with? That was the first book I thought of. EG is my favorite author