I have to admit, I rarely celebrate holidays let alone travel on holidays. Most holidays seem a bit overrated. Other than my birthday which just passed. I’m sure this comment will make a lot of people unhappy. But I’m just telling it like it is for me.
I do realize that holidays with long weekends might be the only time some people can travel. So go for it. And hopefully you’ll make plans way ahead of time to get reservations where needed.
Number one, I hate the traffic over holidays. Everyone in such a rush to get there and pack in as much as possible over their allotted time.
Number two, public transportation is crowded and often booked way ahead. I made that mistake once in Mexico trying to bus around during Christmas time.
Number three, finding a place to stay is a nightmare and I don’t usually make reservations. However in 2010 while traveling in South Africa I struggled to even make a reservation near Simon’s Town during Easter break. One of the reasons I cut this year’s trip short even though it meant not celebrating my birthday overseas.
Number four, restaurants are packed and waiting lines are long and time consuming. I’ve actually given up waiting and picked up food at a nearby grocery store instead.
Number five, it’s crowded once you get there. Don’t get me wrong, I like people. But I don’t like to elbow my way to overlooks or take photos that include the heads of many strangers.
Having said this, I wish you all a happy Easter holiday. And please, don’t eat too many chocolate bunnies.
Would you rather stay home or travel over holidays?
Yeah, I don’t blame you. It’s a pain in the butt unless you go somewhere where nobody else wants to go. We’ve found that Fall and Spring breaks are good time for urban vacations because everybody is heading to the slopes or the beach, so the cities are halfway deserted.
I’d rather stay home.
I would rather stay home on holidays too. My main reason is that so many people see the holidays as an excuse to drink, then they get in their cars to travel home. I’d rather be safely sitting on my sofa than be on the road with a drunk driver.
Yet another good reason. I lost family many years ago to a drunk driver on a holiday.
We stay off the road during holidays also! Let the young ‘un’s travel on their “off” days! We are lucky enough to be “off” all days! I haven’t welcomed you home yet! WELCOME BACK! Your trip blogs were wonderful! Sometimes I can respond to a blog and sometimes I can’t! Depends on my cranky old laptop!
Thanks, it’s nice to be home. Where I’ll happily stay during the holiday. Sorry to hear about your cranky old laptop.
I love this post, especially about holidays being overrated, except for your birthday, ha, ha.
I’d rather stay home, too, on a holiday, or at least leave way before one. And return days after, too.
I consider my birthday a holiday, but one I will travel on just not this year with Easter so close.
Gee! I agree with you Gypsy. You said it well with words and pictures.
See you soon at the North Rim.
See you there before the next holiday. 🙂
Belated Happy Birthday. Your reasons are much the same as ours, but I will also add that being childless we prefer not to be on holiday when the kids are, and the costs are also sky high over a holiday period. Have a good Easter, love the chocolate bunny picture 🙂 Diane
More good reasons not to travel on holidays.
Couldn’t agree with you more on every point.
I’m actually surprised by how many people Do agree.
I even avoid shopping on the weekends to avoid the crowds!
I remember how hard it was to get reservations when I was working and how much I finagled to maximize my time off around holidays – I don’t want to take up scarce space when I have so many more options now.
Totally agree about both.
Me too. I hated forced holidays when I worked too. I’d always rather take the time some other time when the entire country wasn’t on holiday with me. Now I just make sure I’m in the middle of a stay with reservations and hunker down until the poor souls have to to back to work.
I always work on holidays so I’m not tempted to go somewhere. Plus I get extra pay. 🙂
I enjoy being with family and/or friends to celebrate holidays. Makes them special.
Me too, glad they live next door. 😉
We are empty nesters, so our kids come to us! 8*)
I also only shop on weekdays! I was so happy when our local Walmart was open 24 hours!! That was when I shopped at 2am! I miss that! I live in rural New Hampshire and we joked that Walmart was the theme park of the sticks! We called it Wally World. Now we have to stay home when we are bored silly late at night! 8*)
Happy Birthday Gaelyn! I hope this is your best year yet!! 8*)
And does the link work? This last one was only 4 bucks… 8*)
I used to shop at Wallys in the wee hours but I boycotted them in November. Don’t miss it a bit.
Thanks for the birthday wish. Every year gets better.
I believe the link works.
It may also have something to do with how many holidays we are actually working, and then we have time off when other people with more “regular” hours are “at the office”.
With no family close by, and since I became a guide (working during other peoples holidays) the regular public holidays go by virtually unnoticed.
I have occasionally had queries regarding safaris over Easter / South African school holidays and I always try to encourage people to book at another time, for all the reasons you mentioned above 🙂
Happy Birthday!!
I’d rather get paid for the holidays and play other days.
Kelly & I are the same. We live in a popular summer area in Bayfield & all the city folks come pouring in on the week-end & especially long week-ends. We never go anywhere & completely stay out of Bayfield & off the highways in the area.. Luckily we live off the beaten path & never see any of that……unless we leave our quiet forest,
It’s nice to have a quiet place to hide on weekends and holidays. Not much happening up on the hill here and I like it that way. You should stop by before you head north.
Oh I am totally with you on this one. In fact I kinda dread the holidays in the RV since we usually have to plan months in advance and still have to deal with all the crowds. We managed to get away this week, but aren’t always so lucky.
Nina
Even boondocking can get crowded on holidays. Glad you found a place to settle in.
I broke my own rule about no travel on holidays. Interstate 17 out of Phoenix the Friday before Easter made me feel like a lemming about to go over the cliff. Pressured drivers in 75 mph zones? Not my idea of Easter!
Happy Birthday, Gaelyn. Now I’m doubly sorry that I didn’t make the short drive up to Yarnell to see you!
You’re either brave or crazy to drive especially city areas on a holiday. But you are always welcome on top of the hill. I’ll be home all weekend. Bring puppies. 🙂
I had to smile because this has SO been my philosophy, even though circumstances have meant in past years I couldn’t do as I wanted (when my kids were in school for instance – when they were very young we used to take them out of school for vacations on the assumption they could make work up! But when they were older and studies were more serious it was different). When my nest emptied but I still had to work I always volunteered to work holidays partly so the folk with kids could have those days, and partly because I’d much rather have the extra money or the holiday time on a quieter day! This weekend, other than going to watch a procession Friday night which interested me, I’ve told everyone I’m holed up, working, regardless of how much the sun may shine!
I haven’t gone further than my neighbors since Wed.
I don’t like to travel on holidays because I would like to stay alive. Too much traffic and when I was a kid my friend Judy was killed in a car wreck on a holiday so I said then I would never travel on a holiday. Immature I suppose but I still don’t go anywhere.
Sorry we missed you in March but i think you were still in SA
I too lost family in a holiday wreck so totally understand.
I was in SA most of March. Next time we’ll make a meet. 🙂
This is the first holiday my husband and I are not traveling to two different states to see family…and I hate to admit it, but I am kinda liking it. I too hate traffic and the constant running around to cram everyone in.
Happy Easter!
http://findingfernweh.blogspot.com/
As you know I hate the crowds too to say nothing about the noise and traffic over the holidays. I rather stay home and get some peace and quiet. 🙂
Home being the Park where all the idiots visit. 😉
I’m with you on all of your stared points… well, almost. I’m not mad about too many people, but I think that’s what you mean.
I worked most of the weekend… double time is good. At least the taxman leaves me a small bit…
Off to work I must go… 😉
Yup, just too many people.
Okay. I have to admit that I read this post in the car on the way to the Grand Canyon during Easter Weekend and started laughing. I agree with you 100 percent, BUT I had this theory about rimming the South portion……everyone is worshipping their gods and eating ham so why go to the Grand Canyon when you can eat food and watch bad TV? I figured the Japanese tourists and Europeans would be there and……
My bet paid off in the morning. It was a beautiful and quiet morning at the park. And then all hell broke loose! Tourists everywhere!!!! Luckily we brought our camelpacks and hiked where most tourists dare not tread…..too much walking:) A no go on the Condors. I so want to see them this year!
The South Rim is always packed with tourists, but there are plenty of off the beaten track places to hide from them. Glad you found that. The Condors are sometimes elusive. You stand a better chance of seeing them on the SR than the North Rim.
Oh absolutely stay home! We even try not to go places on weekends. That’s not to put down the people who do travel at those times, because as you say it probably is the only time they can do so. So we leave it to them and we do our exploring on non-holiday weekdays.
The only reason I go out weekends is for yard sales. 🙂