Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We stopped buying souvenirs. Sure, I might buy a purse, clothes, etc. but I’m not buying traditional souvenirs. I do still pick up a Christmas ornament if I come across something unique.

Christmas ornaments are a staple of our travel purchases. They don't have to be especially unique. We like having a little reminder of our various trips as we're putting up the Christmas tree.

+1. It doesn’t need to be an official ornament… keychains and hiking stick medallions work well, too, and are often cheaper.

My wife likes to say that we don't go on vacation, we travel. By which she means that our trips are very active, and we don't often go to places where we just rest.

Mostly I'm happy with this arrangement, but every so often I think it would be nice to go somewhere with pleasant weather and do a lot of sitting, sleeping, eating, and drinking.

I refuse to stay anywhere where I have to cook or clean. I'm not wasting my vacation time on an airbnb in Ocean City just so I can cook and clean.

I also dislike beaches, but that's probably because my kids are little. It takes forever to get them ready for the beach, then they need us to build sand castles with them, or watch them in the waves. I'm burning, feel judged for whatever bathing suit I chose, dirty, and hungry. I would love to just sit under an umbrella and read my book.

Those of you who are hating on “beach” vacations—what beaches are you going to? We’ve done a lot of vacations that incorporate beaches but so many other things. Croatia, Corsica, France, Spain—all have lovely beaches, cafes, museums, places to hike, churches, national parks and monuments….many things to do besides lying on the sand, but also that if you feel like it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will never, ever again go on a “beach vacation” anywhere in the world. I am a working stiff so my time off is limited and spending it like a blob in the sand is a hard boring “no”

So sad and depressing

DP what's sad about that? Our family is similar. I don't want to just sit around doing nothing. I want to go explore and see stuff. Beaches suck if you are fair skinned and get burned instantly (or even if you aren't and worried about skin cancer as you should be). There's more than one way to have fun.

+1 I used to have to go to sandy beach vacations because that's what parents and siblings wanted. It was torture. DH and I used to join the extended family on beach vacations and never once go near the sand. Now that I call the shots, no sandy beaches. But I love a hike along a rocky shore.

Anonymous wrote:At some point, we came up with this rule -- to say that you have "done" a city you need to:
1. Go to the top of something tall and look out and admire the view
2. Go for some sort of ride on a 'novelty vehicle' (can be a horse and carriage, boat ride, Segway, one of those carts where you pedal it while drinking beer, doesn't matter)
3. Eat something ethnic and novel to the region
We also usually try to go swimming.

So no museums of culture then? Got it.

Might as well just title this thread “race to the bottom.”

We have discovered that we don’t enjoy doing any kind of group tour.

Refrigerator magnets are the way to go, souvenir wise.

Anonymous wrote:We stopped buying souvenirs. Sure, I might buy a purse, clothes, etc. but I’m not buying traditional souvenirs. I do still pick up a Christmas ornament if I come across something unique.

Christmas ornaments are a staple of our travel purchases. They don't have to be especially unique. We like having a little reminder of our various trips as we're putting up the Christmas tree.

Any tour or place of interested focused on architecture. I just don’t care.

I'm absolutely sick of most cities. I think I've spent too much time in Asia. Now I just want to wander the country driving around or go to resorts.

We don’t worry about where we eat most of the time. We’d rather hit up a food truck or even museum cafe if it means more time to explore and see the sites. No wasting time traveling to a specific restaurant and having a sit down meal.

The idea of skipping art museums because you already saw some is nuts to me. They all have different art, you know, and many have famous/amazing pieces in them. It would be like saying I saw some trees, mountains, and creeks in Shenandoah, so I can skip the Rocky Mountains and Yosemite.

Anonymous wrote:We don’t really do big churches. I got dragged into them a lot as a child during European trips. No interest now.

That’s me, too. No more churches!

The only thing this thread proves is that people are different. No one travel approach is preferable to another. Our favorite thing is to go into small museums that give insights into how ordinary people lived historically, like the Lower East Side Tenement Museum in NYC or the one similar to that in Sydney. The museum attached to Hyde Park in New York State is a treasure of history of the WWII period. National parks around the world can be breathtaking too. But I can totally understand why someone who lives a very hectic life might like a beach break or a cruise or whatever.