How many vacations do you go on in a year?

[mommyoffive]

How many vacations do you go on in a year?

[Laura Corin]

One major vacation and perhaps a long weekend.

[Amira]

What do you count as a vacation?

[creekland]

That's a loaded question.  What counts as a vacation?  Overnight trips?  Visiting family?  No work?

 

We try to go somewhere at least once per month, but some of those trips are visiting family which may or may not fall under the "fun vacation" category.  Most do.  Some don't.

 

For longer vacations (1 week+) we take about 3 per year I think.  This year we've already taken two.  One was three weeks, the other one week.

 

Overnight trips are tougher to count or predict because we can travel pretty spontaneously.

 

Hubby works on our longer trips (usually) helping to keep our income more or less steady.

[mommyoffive]

What do you count as a vacation?

I think you have to decide it for yourself.

 

Is visiting family a vacation to you or is it not?  For me no.  But to others it may be.

Edited June 20, 2016 by mommyoffive

[happi duck]

We try to go away at least one week a year. If we're ambitious maybe a second week at another time. (One week away at a time is the most I can handle.)

[Tess in the Burbs]

every year is different.  We try to do one big trip.  Last year it was a week in a cabin at Glacier National Park.  This year it was flying back east to spend 10 days with family(although as all agree that wasn't a vacation in a relaxing sense).  In the past we have done a week at Disney or the beach.  

 

Since we used more time for the family trip this year and DH is looking for a new job, we only have 1 long weekend planned this summer to camp. I want to plan a fall trip, but I have been holding off about this job change thing.  If I thought he would stay, we would plan a week long fall camping or cabin trip to another national park.  

 

Last year we did several 5 day camping trips in the summer.  It's always different, but we are always planning something.  We have great memories from these trips.  We all enjoy them and get a lot from vacationing.  Although as the planner, I could use another week to recover ;)

[cjzimmer1]

We do a fair amount of traveling but 99% of it is for competitions my kids are in, so I wouldn't count it as vacation.  We take 1 week to go to church camp but that isn't really a vacation either and DH often works in the afternoons between services.  So in reality we don't take any vacations but neither are we home 100% of the time. 

[ScoutTN]

For us a vacation means a trip out of town. We may get 1 one-week trip a year or two long weekends. Some years none. Just depends on finances.

[Jan in SC]

It really depends on the year.  We have always gone away for a week or so with everyone, and then also for a few long weekends. Sometimes we end up in cities for other activities that turn into mini vacations for the ones there.  We also try to go away for birthdays for our kids.  Sometimes we all go, but sometimes only one of us goes with the birthday child. (I hate to fly, so I send my dh if I can avoid flying. Sometimes I'm forced to fly. Yuck.)

[mohsmom23]

None, I guess.  We haven't been on a vacation in about 7 years.  Every year we do spend a week to visit my family that lives 750 miles away.  We'd really love to go on a "real" vacation, but we always feel like we need to go see my family if we have the time to actually get away.  

[Bluegoat]

We try and get away for about a week in the summer, as a family.  We may also do some weekend camping trips, or occasionally go to a friend's cottage or something similar.

 

Most years my dh goes on a wilderness canoe trip, so I guess that is a vacation for him, if not me.

[Bluegoat]

None, I guess.  We haven't been on a vacation in about 7 years.  Every year we do spend a week to visit my family that lives 750 miles away.  We'd really love to go on a "real" vacation, but we always feel like we need to go see my family if we have the time to actually get away.  

 

I was talking to a friend of mine about this yesterday.  It can be a bit of a drag, not that you might want to do something else every year, but it becomes hard to do it at all.

 

THough, she told me about a fellow she knew who was always moaning about having to take vacations to his wife's family instead of going wherever.  The wife's family had a big flat in Paris and a house on the coast of Normandy.

[QueenCat]

It all depends on what you call a vacation........

 

I enjoy visiting family but do not consider visiting them a vacation. I visit parts of my side of the family at least once a month but they are an easy drive (3.5 hours each way) so we only need to stay one night when we go. Dh goes sometimes, other times not, if I go mid-week. We visit his side once per year as it requires flying or two days of driving each way. Usually flying as we don't typically have more than 5-7 days for the total trip. Dh sometimes flies out for a weekend to see his parents by himself (maybe once every other year). Again, I enjoy visiting family but I work just as much when visiting family, mostly with helping the older people in the family with chores and shopping, etc, so def not a vacation.

 

We tend to do a long weekend somewhere 3-4 times a year. Usually 3 nights. I'd call them weekend getaways but I guess they're mini-vacations. Usually to a beach or mountain area for some unwinding. Two of those are usually without any kids. Definitely good for our marriage! 1-2 with the one child left at home.

 

Most years, we do one full week's true vacation. Usually to either a big city, the beach, or Disney. If it's a driving trip, we're likely gone 9 days as we've incorporated visiting friends along the way (if driving). The kid still at home goes with us. Sometimes the other kid can join us for at least part of it.

 

Every few years, dh and I take a longer trip, somewhere further than we can go for a weekend getaway.

 

We traveled less when the kids were younger & we had less money but our family came to see us more then. Now, none of our parents, on either side, really can anymore so it's a priority to go to them.

 

 

[Spryte]

We try to go see my mom 3 - 4 times a year. She lives on a beautiful farm, and it's like a vacation.

 

We go on one bigger, destination type vacation once a year, for a few weeks.

 

We do several smaller vacations throughout the year. Overnights and extended weekends to major cities for sightseeing. That's, ummm, a homeschool expense. :)

 

We camp a few times a year.

 

And 20 years ago we got sucked into a timeshare. It's long since paid for, and we just reap the benefits now. We get a lot of mileage out of it. Worth it.

[Pawz4me]

It varies for us, too.  I'd say we average anywhere from ten to twenty nights a year away from home. Our family all lives locally, so none of our away-from-home time is spent visiting them.

[BarbecueMom]

We went to Florida for a week last year. Apart from a few weekends to visit my dad (4 hour drive) and our 4-day honeymoon (11 years ago), I've never been on another vacation. I dislike travel, for many reasons. If we hadn't needed a break last year from our then-living arrangement (parent staying with us), we would have stayed home.

[Zinnia]

Several.

 

My inlaws live in a vacation destination, and sometimes, we go down there as a "vacation."  We make plans to go to the beach for the majority of every day, we might plan some outings at night, we eat out, that sort of thing.  Sometimes we go down there to visit them specifically.  We went for Easter, and we didn't go to the beach at all.  Just stayed there and visited with them (and my sister-in-law, who was also visiting) the entire time.  So same place, same people, but just different trips are different.

 

We try to get to the beach for a couple of days and to the mountains for a couple of days each year, because we love them both, and it's so relaxing.

 

Last fall, dh and I each took one child to Washington, DC, on an overnight Megabus trip (drive up Friday night, sight-see all day Saturday, drive home Saturday night).  Those were great vacations.  Exhausting, short, but crazy fun.  I am taking two of my children up at the end of August again.  

 

 

[FaithManor]

One major vacation, and several three day weekend excursions. We have a week coming up in upstate NY with dd and her family. There will be a working vacation quickly following - Student Launch Initiative training at Huntsville - but will also have some Saturday through Sunday kayak excursions to the lake, and three days at a ski lodge durkng Thanksgiving break for the college boys.

 

We use dh's federal holidays off to make three day weekends for skiing in winter, kayaking in summer.

[SproutMamaK]

I suppose that depends on if you consider camping a vacation. Usually we'll spend a night at Great Wolf Lodge or some other waterpark or amusement-style park at some point during the year. Then we'll go camping on long weekends during the same (this summer we get two long weekends camping). The first week of September when all the other kids go back to school, we stay at the campground and have the beach to ourselves, but my husband usually goes home during the week; he drops us off one weekend, goes home, picks us up the next weekend. So it's me taking care of all 5 kidso n my own for a week, living without electricity and trying to stop them from accidentally killing themselves... so basically it's a vacation for the kids but definitely not for me, lol. Come to think of it, everything I just listed is actually MORE work for me than just staying at home, so... if vacation = relaxing, I never get a vacation. ;)

[pinkmint]

What is this "vacation" thing you speak of? 

 

 

[Arcadia]

That depends on how many business trips hubby has as we tag along for a vacation. Flying home to parents and in-laws set us back about $6k for airfares so we have only went back once.

 

We have relatives in Australia that our kids haven't meet so that would be a costly trip in the future but not a vacation.

[Ewe Mama]

Umm, about once every ten years.

[JustEm]

We've never done anything other than long weekend trips. I count those as vacations so usually 2 a year. I can't wait until we're able to afford to go away for a week or 2 at a time

[lllll]

nm

Edited November 30, 2016 by cathey

[SparklyUnicorn]

We don't go on vacation every year. 

[momof4inco]

We haven't taken a vacation in over 12 years. At first it was because of having small kids (4 in 4.5 years). For the past several years it's been financial reasons.

 

I'm not much of a traveler. I can't sleep in hotels - I end up in the lobby at 2am reading a book so that I don't wake the kids up. This happens every time we stay in a hotel near the hospital for surgeries, I can't imagine it would be different on a vacation. We have a Great Wolf Lodge opening nearby soon, and another water park hotel opening in the next couple of years. We'll probably enjoy a night at those every so often. 

 

 

[SparklyUnicorn]

What is this "vacation" thing you speak of? 

 

Sing it.  Vacations are crazy expensive. 

[alisoncooks]

We go on vacation with my parents 1x a year, usually for about a week.  Beach or mountains or amusement park.  Something fun.

We do several weekend trips to visit them throughout the year.

We travel over Thanksgiving and Christmas (stay with family or in a motel, just to be near family during holidays).

We go to the Great Wolf Lodge in the spring to celebrate the girls' birthdays.

 

Of those...I only consider the first and the last "vacation."

[mommyoffive]

We try to go see my mom 3 - 4 times a year. She lives on a beautiful farm, and it's like a vacation.

 

We go on one bigger, destination type vacation once a year, for a few weeks.

 

We do several smaller vacations throughout the year. Overnights and extended weekends to major cities for sightseeing. That's, ummm, a homeschool expense. :)

 

We camp a few times a year.

 

And 20 years ago we got sucked into a timeshare. It's long since paid for, and we just reap the benefits now. We get a lot of mileage out of it. Worth it.

 

Traveling is a big home school expense for me too!  :)

[mommyoffive]

I suppose that depends on if you consider camping a vacation. Usually we'll spend a night at Great Wolf Lodge or some other waterpark or amusement-style park at some point during the year. Then we'll go camping on long weekends during the same (this summer we get two long weekends camping). The first week of September when all the other kids go back to school, we stay at the campground and have the beach to ourselves, but my husband usually goes home during the week; he drops us off one weekend, goes home, picks us up the next weekend. So it's me taking care of all 5 kidso n my own for a week, living without electricity and trying to stop them from accidentally killing themselves... so basically it's a vacation for the kids but definitely not for me, lol. Come to think of it, everything I just listed is actually MORE work for me than just staying at home, so... if vacation = relaxing, I never get a vacation. ;)

 

I know right?  I don't think i have ever been on a vacation then.  They are a lot more work than staying home.

 

Amazing that you camp with all 5 kids on your own.  Wow!!!  Nice job mom.

[Entropymama]

The last few years DH and I have been able to spend 2-3 nights once a year somewhere nice because of a work trip for him. So I guess it's a vacation for me, just not for him.  :lol:

 

18 months ago we went to Disneyland for our 15th anniversary. That was definitely a vacation, but because of finances we stayed with a friend, so maybe not what you'd expect for an anniversary trip. (They're great, we loved it.)

 

This summer and last we spent a week with a family we're friends with at their cabin. Again, free and with other people, but I'd call it a vacation. 

 

We also took our kids to Wisconsin Dells for two days last summer. 

 

As far as 'destination' vacations - like flying the family to Hawaii or something - never. 

[Spryte]

Traveling is a big home school expense for me too! :)

Yes! It's such a good excuse!

[rocassie]

Every couple of years we go on a trip somewhere for fun. So far we have driven, but otherwise it includes accommodations, attractions, and more eating out than normal. That is what I consider a vacation.  

 

However, we visit family (about a 2-3 hour drive) 6-7 times a year but that's over a weekend.  We also visit my BFF at her family cottage 4-5 times from Memorial Day through mid Sept.  Again, usually on a weekend with the exception of my BFF's birthday in July then we usually take a four day weekend.  If weather is cooperative, then we will do one or two camping trips to a local state park during the summer months.  The camping and cottage I view as vacationy since it's getting away from home and is about relaxing (or experiencing something different than how it is at home), but definitely not the visiting family.

 

This year my DH's company got bought out, and he now has double the amount of vacation time he had before.  Due to finances, we still won't take a big trip every year, but we may get to do more camping around the state.

Edited June 20, 2016 by cbreeding

[4arrows]

That depends on if you count family visits as vacations.  We try to visit family once or twice a year.  Actual, real vacations where we go away somewhere to relax occur  once every 5-9 years.

[SparklyUnicorn]

Although my idea of a good time and time off to relax is not having to go anywhere.  Traveling can be tiring. 

 

It is to me anyway.

 

 

[Hilltopmom]

None typically.

 

We do a bunch of weekend historical re enactments, but those are really work.

 

We do camp at a local beach with our homeschool group 1x summer for a couple days, plus homeschool family camp nearby one week, but I take the kids, DH works, not really a " family vacation"

 

My parents, OTOH, usually take my teens for a vacation each year- Gettysburg, Ottawa, DC, Europe... Sigh.

Edited June 20, 2016 by Hilltopmom

[Wabi Sabi]

Dh and I both get 6 weeks of PTO each year from work, and for the most part, we use it. We're definitely budget travelers though, often traveling to visit friends or family with whom we can stay, or we camp. Occasionally we'll do a cheap Hotwire or Priceline hotel. 

 

For 2016, not sure which ones would be considered vacations, per se:

3 days in Chicago in April 
2 nights at a campground 10 minutes from our house in June
visiting friends one state over for the long July 4th weekend (no real expenses other than gas)
10 day camping trip planned for August 
2 week camping trip planned for October 
will visit my sister 1000 miles away for Thanksgiving (gas and a night at a hotel each way will be our only significant expenses again)

Edited June 20, 2016 by Wabi Sabi

[creekland]

Although my idea of a good time and time off to relax is not having to go anywhere.  Traveling can be tiring. 

 

It is to me anyway.

 

It is always interesting seeing how different humans can be.  

 

We'd live on the road 24/7 if we could afford it.  Traveling is that much fun.  I've always been that way.  All three of my boys are too.  They've loved traveling from their toddler years and could be ready to go on a trip in a matter of minutes.  They never cried on airplanes nor fought in the van.  No whining either from camping to hotels. They loved helping out.  Our traveling years left us tons of terrific memories.  Middle son was just sharing a scrapbook from one of our month long road trips with his GF earlier today.  He's (we're) introducing her to some travel now.  Fortunately, she loves it.

 

Even after years of traveling, my bucket list is full of places I still want to see.

 

I wonder why we're all wired the way we are.  It must be genetic.

[Guest]

We generally have a week-long family vacation in the summer, such as to the beach, and one in winter, such as snow skiing. None such as this for 2016; belt-tightening prevents it.

 

We do go away to the beach cottage shared by my ILs several times a year and just returned from there. This is vacation-like, but rarely more than two nights at a time.

[SemiSweet]

We go one big real vacation per year and several weekends or long weekends. We also go visit family 1-3 times a year. We probably leave our house for at least one night every month, but 2-4 nights is more common. I love traveling and dream of doing it full time one day.

[theelfqueen]

The last several years we've done one big one, one that's just me and DH, and usually some tag-along weekends or days on business trips. And one or two camping trips.

 

[SamanthaCarter]

We don't usually. Maybe every other year we do something vacation-y, but not something a lot of people would consider a real vacation. 

[rdj2027]

None, we move :lol: .  Hubby is on active duty and we move every two years on average.  We have never been on a vacation.

[TravelingChris]

It really depends.  We always go on vacations but some years they are longer vacations and some years they are several shorter vacations.   We haven't been on a long one this year but went on several shorter than one week vacations.  Dh and I love to go on vacations as do the kids but we are now mostly empty nesters.  All our vacations this year were just the two of us, except for a weekend where we went with our son who was camping while we were in the state park lodge.

[Tap]

A few days every few years.  Seriously.  

 

We used to have access to a friends cabin that I could drive to, but he sold it, so that is out.  I can't afford to pay for a hotel, so I just stay home on my vacations from work.  I use the time to hang around the house and do projects here.

 

I have a back injury and can't drive in a car, ride on a boat, or fly for very long. Otherwise, I will hurt too bad to do anything, once I get somewhere on vacation.  My extended family is more stressful, that my IRL so I avoid them if I want to relax. 

Dh goes away every few months.  Either on his friend's 40ft sail boat (at least a week per year plus some weekends), or he drives 12hrs to California and stays with friends.  If it wasn't for his friends generosity, he wouldn't be able to go either.

[dirty ethel rackham]

I consider vacations traveling for leisure for longer than a weekend.  I don't consider traveling to an event for a family member (like a graduation or a wedding) a vacation, unless we also had time to do something else.  In years past, we would go on a vacation every other year, usually to a state or national park or some outdoorsy thing, but not necessarily camping.)  These days, we don't really do family vacations since our kids became college age.  Everyone was too busy and college expenses eat into the budget.  However, Dh and I are going away for a few days for our 25th wedding anniversary in August. 

[SparklyUnicorn]

It is always interesting seeing how different humans can be.  

 

We'd live on the road 24/7 if we could afford it.  Traveling is that much fun.  I've always been that way.  All three of my boys are too.  They've loved traveling from their toddler years and could be ready to go on a trip in a matter of minutes.  They never cried on airplanes nor fought in the van.  No whining either from camping to hotels. They loved helping out.  Our traveling years left us tons of terrific memories.  Middle son was just sharing a scrapbook from one of our month long road trips with his GF earlier today.  He's (we're) introducing her to some travel now.  Fortunately, she loves it.

 

Even after years of traveling, my bucket list is full of places I still want to see.

 

I wonder why we're all wired the way we are.  It must be genetic.

 

Yeah thankfully I married a person who feels the way I do about it.

 

That said, we have done a lot of traveling prior to having kids.  TONS.  So maybe we got a lot of it out of our system.  When the kids were little it was very hard to travel with them.  They just didn't travel well. 

 

We are going on vacation this year to Germany.  Now that the kids aren't little little it should be better.   Before it was like 10x more work with having them with us.  I don't get the allure of that. 

[Donna]

Depends what you consider a vacation. I travel regularly with my kids for their music gigs/competitions, probably gone long weekends every other week and week long trips every 2-3 months. We take a family vacation where everyone goes about once or twice a year but these usually involve a visit to family, holiday, or something music related.

[Arcadia]

I wonder why we're all wired the way we are. It must be genetic.

There is some elements of nurture too. My kids are so used to road trips that they go along for the ride as long as daddy is the "ATM". It has become a conditioned response.

 

We put them in their double stroller as toddlers when we want to stroll somewhere. So they don't mind when we put them in cars, planes, boats because we want to go tour somewhere.