We rather hurriedly decided to go on a European vacation only a month before we wanted to go. And that month also contained my son’s graduation, which also required a lot of planning. The result was that the vacation could have gone much smoother, and it was mostly my fault. You see, I am the vacation planner in the family, and up until now, I have been absolutely obsessed with vacations. It was not uncommon for me (while I was working) to buy two travel guides before a trip and read them both, cover to cover, before deciding where to stay and what to do. I took months to plan a vacation and enjoyed it almost as much as the trip itself. I didn’t do that this time and it showed.
It was a lovely vacation- Provence was absolutely gorgeous. Our cottage in the countryside was nestled among the grape vines and lavender fields and came with a beautiful garden where we drank coffee every morning. We adored puttering through pretty villages, and tasting the local olive oils and wines. I didn’t get as much fabulous French food as I wanted because a local holiday meant that most restaurants were booked. England was beautiful too- and we enjoyed both the English countryside and the cities we stayed in. We both love period British novels and enjoyed seeing some of the places we read about. I embarrassed my kids I’m sure- especially when we ended up at King’s Cross station. Being a Harry Potter fan, I really wanted to go and see platform 9 3/4, but my kids moaned and rolled their eyes… Mom, Harry Potter is so OVER. (LOL)
It was a bit stressful though- navigating two countries with the Queen’s Jubilee celebration, a transportation strike, unfamiliar customs, driving on the wrong side of the road, etc. I don’t remember it as being quite as stressful while I was working. That’s probably because many of the trips we went on before were at least partially coordinated by my company’s travel agency- though we often took off for a few days on our own in addition to the company planned part. Perhaps it was just that my job was SO stressful, that even a slightly stressful vacation was lovely in comparison.
Traveling with my kids is getting better and better- the kids went off on their own a bit, and were actually helpful with the technology end. Everything is automated now- especially in England, and there were a few times we couldn’t seem to make the parking app work- or something like that. My tech team (my kids) handled all that for us. They even fixed it when we got to the airport and the airline told us that we couldn’t go because we hadn’t done our Spanish entry paperwork. We hadn’t even thought to check Spanish entry requirement as we weren’t going to Spain. We were changing planes in Madrid though. On Spain’s website, it said you didn’t have to complete it if you weren’t staying (and we weren’t) but the airline said we did, so my son hurriedly completed the form on his phone including a phony hotel address- we couldn’t complete the form without one! My husband and I aren’t tech illiterate, but they text faster, and they seem to master new apps faster than we do.
The boys went to see some things on their own, and went back to the hotel when they weren’t interested in things we wanted to see. They went and got their own dinner the one night they didn’t like what we were having, and one night my oldest (who got the hang of public transport in London pretty quickly) went and picked up dinner for all of us. I was glad to see him navigate the trip well, especially as he just informed us that he wants to go to New York with his friends in August.
At the end of all of my vacations I think about what was good and bad about the trip and what I would do differently if I had to do it again. I am really glad we did this vacation, but it was a bit more stressful than I expected. I am thinking about a less stressful venture for next time, or honestly, doing a bit of travel on my own. Some of the stress came from the difference travel styles between myself and my husband, and some from trying to keep everyone happy. My husband doesn’t enjoy travel as much as I do, and doesn’t want to be gone as long. What that means is we have to cram a bunch of stuff into the short time we’re gone- its tiring and stressful. I have long thought that the solution for that may be me renting a house for a month somewhere and having him join me for a week or so and then him leaving when he’s ready to. But that won’t be possible for a few years, so perhaps next time we’ll just take a cruise- which is more his sort of vacation rather than mine. This vacation was more my sort, so its his turn. He’s been wanting to try a group trip as well. Maybe we will…
My guess is that, as you mentioned, the vacation stress may be thr same as before but you don’t have the high stress work life to compare it to.
Sally and I also have to find the balance between the types if holidays we like, although I think we generally manage to do so. In fact, it took me many years to get the hang of vacations at all, it was probably only in my late thirties that I “got” what they were about🤦♂️
My husband didn’t grow up going on vacation as a child like I did. It took him a while to get used to them too.
Maybe my tastes are changing and I will prefer a different sort of vacation for the future. It seems my tastes and habits have changed quite a bit since I retired. We’ll be staying home for awhile though, and try something new next time.