What do you think defines a "vacation"?? (Inspired by IGTD's vacation thread)

[SeaSpray]

Hi everyone:

I'm just wondering what each of you think defines a vacation. Is it just being away from home, even if you stay with relatives? Does being in a hotel feel like a vacation to you? Or do you need to get on a plane or ship for it to really feel like a vacation??

Just wondering!

As for me, I think that when we plan a trip and we go away and stay in a hotel, THAT is a vacation.

We take MANY trips to VA and the Jersey shore and most of the time we stay with relatives, so those trips do have elements of a vacation due to going to the beach and sightseeing, but to me, and again this is just my opinion, it's not as big of a vacation as when we're in a hotel.

Hmm...this would make a good poll... Please vote!

 

[Briar Rose 7457]

a weekend getaway counts as a vaction in my book, but a trip to stay with relatives does not.

 

[Steve H.]

If the relatives in question live at a vacation destination (e.g. Florida, Arizona, Cape Cod, etc.), then it's a vacation. If it's a trip back home to see my family, it's not a vacation. Weekends trips are definitely a vacation in my book as well.

 

[caitycaity]

i didn't vote b/c my option isn't in your poll.

even if i am staying in a hotel, if the trip is to visit relatives, i don't consider it a vacation. (i.e. when i visit my inlaws in san francisco, even if we don't stay at their house)

however, if we are travelling someplace with relatives, then it is a vacation (i.e. if we travelled with relatives to wdw), as long as we don't have to share our hotel room with anyone else. LOL

 

[JAP]

Visiting relatives I do not consider a vacation unless we are doing some site seeing and will be spending time away from their home.

I consider a vacation a relaxing trip away from my home to a resort, hotel, condo or beach house.

 

[tiggerlover]

A vacation for me is any time I pack my bags, go away and don't have to cook.

 

[SeaSpray]

Originally posted by tiggerlover
A vacation for me is any time I pack my bags, go away and don't have to cook.

You know, you've got a good point there, Tiggerlover!!

I think I may have to alter my view of what makes up a vacation.

All last week we stayed with my SIL and BIL at their home on a lake in VA. We spent the evenings in their hot tub, the days eating, drinking, watching movies, and relaxing. And I did NO cooking or cleaning all week. Yes....that was indeed a vacation

I also agree with the poster who said that when a relative's home is a general vacation destination, it can be a vacation. In VA, while staying at SIL&BIL's house, we've taken DSs to Luray Caverns, Monticello, Civil War battlefields, etc. While in NJ and staying with relatives at the shore, we went to the beach, boardwalk, etc.

I think the planner in me just really loves researching new places or even new hotels/restaurants at a place we've been to before such as WDW.

 

[grinningghost]

For me, it's got to be a hotel. Somewhere that I don't have to cook, clean, pay bills, answer phones and all the trivial stuff you do at home that you don't even think about when you're in a hotel. I'm dreaming of my August hotel stay in WDW right now.

 

[CamColt]

I picked the hotel option. Thats one reason I would never want to stay at a home away from home resort. While yes, it is a hotel, when I see a kitchen, laundry, separate rooms, etc... I feel like Im in a house. I need that hotel feel.

 

[Briar Rose 7457]

so -- if you take a long weekend at the beach or the mountains, does a weekend getaway qualify as a vacation?

 

[mickeyfan1]

because my idea isn't there. I have to fly to see just about all of my relatives, but I don't consider it a vacation unless, if I go to see relatives, that we go somewhere else requiring a non relative home stay. Unfortunately, I travel for business, so just because it's a hotel, it isn't always a vacation. I've been to WDW 4 times for training and I don't consider that a vacation either, evem tho one time I was in the CR Tower!

 

[SeaSpray]

Originally posted by Briar Rose 7457
so -- if you take a long weekend at the beach or the mountains, does a weekend getaway qualify as a vacation?

We spent a long weekend at a Bed & Breakfast in Vermont last fall. It was 100% a sightseeing vacation; we went to the Ben & Jerry's factory, toured a maple syrup farm, a cider mill, etc. Even though it wasn't a week-long, I do still consider that to be a vacation.

 

[Steve H.]

I've definitely had some very nice, relaxing long weekends -- like to Universal Florida, Miami Beach, to B&B's, etc. They all would qualify as vacations to me.

 

[JohnTBap]

I voted sleeping anywhere besides home.

 

[Kermit]

I voted that I have to stay in a hotel, but really, I can camp (in an RV, not a tent) and still consider it vacation. It's a little more work, but not too bad. DH loves to do the cooking if it's outdoors, and I can even convince him that washing dishes is manly if I set up buckets outside instead of using the sink inside.

I agree with Caity that it's still not a vacation if we stay in a hotel while visiting family. Some of our family lives in locations that are somewhat vacation-y (San Antonio and New Orleans), and that is more fun than visiting family in the boonies of Michigan, but it's still not really vacation.

 

[SonjaB]

What constitutes a vacation?

Not being at work.