First, let me say that I love sharing information about travel. Before we go on a trip, talking about it gets me excited. After a trip, it allows me to relive my vacation, and hopefully it inspires someone to take a trip. I’ll talk about travel to anyone who is willing to listen.
That said, over the years I’ve become used to hearing commentary from people both before and after I’ve returned from a trip. Good or bad, everyone has an opinion!
Let me also preface this by saying that I’m sure I’ve stuck my foot in my mouth on a lot of things or said something offensive without meaning to. But, sometimes vacation commentary from well-meaning people can become annoying when you hear the same thing over and over again.
So without further ado, here are some comments I’ve heard over the years:
“Disney again!?!”
I’ve heard this re-phrased so many ways, including like this from my own mother: “You know, there are lot of other places you can go on vacation besides Disney.”
I think what bothers me about this is that the same people who say this also go to the same place every year, just a different place. I know many families that go to the same beach house in Destin or the same resort in Las Vegas every year. It’s tradition! My family’s taste may be different from yours, but that’s ok!
The thing about our Disney trips is that each of them have been different. We change it up every single time. Different resort, different rides (due to ages and height growth), different itineraries on Disney Cruise Line. Don’t worry, if we get bored we’ll try something different. Disney, in its various forms, is just a good fit for my family right now.
Bottom line is, unless you’re paying for my trip, we’re going where we want. And it might be Disney, again.
“So you only went to the touristy places.”
When did it become so out of vogue to visit the touristy places at a destination? Many times, there’s a reason those places are so popular. They are iconic, unique, entertaining and/or convenient.
That said, sometimes the most touristy places are over-rated. Often, alternative off-the-beaten path places are less crowded, less expensive and just as nice (like Don Pedro Island, for example).
I do understand that a destination can be completely different when you leave the tourist area. You can learn more about a country’s language and culture by venturing farther out. However, I don’t want to avoid the tourist areas just to seem hip and cool. When I go to Paris, I’m going to the Eiffel Tower. Period.
One time, I asked on social media for restaurant recommendations in New York City for a special anniversary dinner. For every recommendation by someone, there was a counter-argument by someone else that the restaurant was too touristy. We ended up choosing a restaurant that was deemed too touristy by some, but it was the best Italian food we’ve ever tasted.
“That’s all you have planned?”
Maybe it’s because we have three kids, or maybe we would be the same without kids. My family’s style of traveling on vacation is planning just one major activity per day, and keeping the rest of the day’s schedule open. We may return to our hotel, or add something we hadn’t planned we found along the way. For each trip, we pick our top 3-4 priorities that we absolutely must see. If we see more, it’s a bonus.
To some people, that sounds wasteful and lazy. But for us, it helps us enjoy what we see and avoid exhaustion. My brother’s family, on the other hand, would be very bored with that kind of schedule. But, to each his own!
“If you can afford _____, then you can afford ______.”
Vacationing with the help of miles and points can be very deceiving to the unsuspecting outsider. If we use points to stay at a nice resort, or if miles afford us plane tickets multiple times a year, we appear to be wealthier than we actually are.
For example, while I was participating in a group discussion about holiday gift budgets, I made a comment about the budget we have for our kids’ presents. Someone who knew that I had been on a Disney Cruise said that if I could afford a Disney Cruise, then I should be able to afford an expensive electronic for my kid. Um, no, actually we used airline miles and hotel points to stay before the cruise. And, we worked hard to save by holding garage sales and eating at home instead of going out to eat.
This is a good opportunity to tell people that you don’t have to be wealthy to travel if you collect miles and points!
“What do you mean, you didn’t leave the resort?”
On a trip to Disney World a few years ago, we stayed in a condo at Wyndham Bonnet Creek. This was a long 9-day trip with extended family, and I was 5 months pregnant. During our time there, we spent two days just relaxing at the resort. Those days were some of the most fun days of our trip! Hanging back to relax in the pool and chill out on our balcony re-energized us so that we could survive the rest of our trip.
Last summer, we stayed three nights at Hyatt Regency Lost Pines without leaving the resort at all. We didn’t go driving around Austin, we just stayed put. And during our trip to Hawaii in 2015, we spent an entire day at Disney’s Aulani without leaving except to walk across the street to dinner. Gasp! Even in Hawaii. We had a glorious day. I have no regrets.
I know this is a foreign concept to some people who prefer to be on the go for vacations. It’s not everyone’s travel style, that’s for sure. And it’s not my family’s style for every day or for every trip. But sometimes, enjoying the hotel for a day is just plain awesome. You should try it! Or not.
What comments do you hear from others about your trips? Does anything bother you?
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Author: Nancy
Nancy lives near Dallas, Texas, with her husband and three kids. Her favorite vacations include the beach, cruising and everything Disney.
Imagine not having any kids and going to Disney World, Disney Vero Beach, Disneyland, Disney Cruise, Aulani! Plus owning. Disney Vacation Club! was going every year to DW I would just tell people that I was going to Orlando so I wouldn’t hear that dreaded sarcastic question.
@Boonie I want to travel with you! 🙂 We’ve met so many awesome people without kids on our Disney Cruises.
We’re Disneyland passholders (after a 3 – 4 year break), and my kids have been asking to go to Disneyworld and hubby wants to tack on a Disney Cruise (he obviously doesn’t do the budget). We just can’t afford both in the near future, and there are just too many places on our list that I’d love to visit with the kids (our kids are at a good travel age – pre-teen & early teen). We’re going to some amazing places this year, but to appease their Disney wishes, we’ll renew our passes again this year just so I can keep hubby and the kids happy for another year or 2 🙂
I love to hear about future travel plans because if it’s a place I want to visit, I like to get people’s input about getting around big cities, where to stay and eat, what’s a must see, etc. I have NYC planned for Spring Break 2018 but nothing planned for the Summer or Fall 2018. Has anyone been to London during Thanksgiving week?
@Stephanie–we have a lot of places on our wish list to visit with our kids, too. Glad you will have Disney for another year. 🙂 I haven’t been to London during Thanksgiving week, but I imagine it’s a good week to visit. I had researched visiting Paris during that week and read that crowds are low since it’s just another week in Europe.
The real question is, why would you go anywhere other than Disney! 😉 Great post!
Ha! Well, we just returned from Florida last week and we didn’t do anything Disney-related on that trip for the first time!
We’re annual pass holders, and we STILL go to Disney for vacations. 2 different trips this year alone.There is always something new, and so many different resorts to stay at and restraints to eat at. I don’t know how anyone could be bored.
I’m jealous that you are annual pass holders! I’m trying to talk my husband into retiring in Florida (although we’re still many years away from that). If we do, I want to get annual passes. He really enjoyed the Tampa area on our trip last week, so he’s now re-thinking his anti-Florida mindset (nothing against Florida, he’s just a native Texan loyal to the state).
We tend to be repeat/return travelers as well to a handful of places. I think miles and points family travelers tend to have a few go tos that we have learned how to travel hack, if you will. The reality is we are set up well to save a ton of money on our Mexico and Disney trips and they are very family friendly. And when you plan every last detail with an emphasis on balancing fun and savings, it’s nice to have a few places that you have figured out completely.
The age of our kids plays a role as well.
I’m not a very entitled traveler as our family didn’t really do many vacations growing up. My parents did what they could for family trips, but let’s just say cheapblackgrandparents raised us cheapblackkids to be very easy to please when it comes to trips. We’re slowly transitioning to broadening our set of options as the kids get older and we figure out what we like and don’t like. And we are starting to tire of Disney.
As for our Disney trips (9 since 2013), they are more like Orlando/central Florida trips now. We spend less time at Disney and more time at resorts, beaches, or any of the other family friendly things in the broader central Florida and coastal areas. It’s a very family friendly area.
@CBD tiring of Disney?!?! Say it isn’t so! I get it though. We have backed off the parks in favor of the cruises. The Orlando area has so many great family friendly things to do, I’m afraid my family hasn’t even scratched the surface yet! I suspect as my kids get older our tastes will change as well.
We have heard “Disney again” countless times. We went to Disney 10 years in a row when the kids were little. I hear people all the time saying they do a park a day. Wow ! That would be exhausting and my kids would have been miserable. We love our exploration days or days at the resort. Now, my teens only want to visit Aruba or Europe. My youngest would adore a trip to Disney (she doesn’t remember much as there is an 8 year age gap between kids) so I suspect a mother/daughter trip is on the horizon.
Like you, we sacrifice to travel and use mile/points!
@Michelle–I agree that too many park days in a row is exhausting! Or maybe I’m just too old, LOL! A mother/daughter Disney trip would be such a treat.
Some people either get Disney or they don’t. Oh, well! We have been twice as a family so far, spring 2014 and December 2015. Very different experiences: different seasonal events, kids were different ages, stayed in different resorts, etc. You know how it is. Oh, and resort days mid-trip are my favorite! So fun and relaxing.
My husband isn’t super into Disney, and neither is one of my kids :(. So, we balance it out with other destinations. I’m planning our next Disney trip to be to Disneyland in a year and a half.
Yes to resort days!! They remind me of sea days on a cruise…so relaxing!
I understand about balancing Disney out with other destinations too. We are also doing that to spread out the cost of Disney. 🙂