Children, Everywhere

Bon Voyage,

Andrew

Okay just kidding, well no not really as the kids are off from school, and is it just me or does it seem every kid’s true dream in life is to make everyone else miserable on vacation? Yet this is not what this post is about. The real reason why I hate vacation (not traveling to visit family, but let’s be honest do you really want to do that either) is everything is special.

Why Special is Bad

A year few years ago Matt and I planned on spending Christmas in Paris. It sounded lovely. Can you imagine the Eiffel Tower, the lights, the city for Christmas?

I immediately regretted it. While we used Marriott points to book our hotel to keep that free, the logistics of this trip were just a nightmare. You see, we planned to arrive on December 23 and return home January 2. This means we would be in Paris for Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Years Eve and New Years Day. Who wouldn’t want that? Well, me, as that means we have 4 special days.

Special Menus

Well special means meals are overpriced and not what you want. Because every restaurant in Paris (and everywhere where Christmas is a thing) has special menus! As we know, special menus are usually the a small selection of the blandest typical menu items offered at a restaurant that are dramatically more expensive than any other night. To make it more fun, Matt doesn’t eat seafood which also limited our dining options. I emailed the hotel concierge ahead of our visit to find us restaurants that will cater to Matt’s dietary demands and it took her days to find us four options for the four holidays. Her options were mediocre and overpriced.

Special Parties

However, the concierge had so many parties to suggest for Christmas and New Years. Buffets, loud music, dancing, huge crowds, late evenings and wild fun!…….HELLO… Have you met us? We live in Maine, and this sounds like Hell on Earth for 200 Euros a person. What is wrong with a nice quiet tea party at 9am with a cello.

Special Crowds

Everyone is off during the Christmas holidays around much of the world which means everyone has the same idea to vacation to the same spot as you!

Special Activities

By special, I mean no activities because everything is closed during the holidays…. What would we do during 4 holidays out of 8-9 days away?

Whispers: Christmas is Boring

There, I said it! And you know it is true. Christmas is such a boring day for travel. What are you supposed to do if you are vacationing during Christmas as everything is closed. If I really wanted to be a grinch, I would also say Christmas is boring at home too as once presents are opened…. what exactly is there to do besides sit and stare at each other (see what I did there?). Even in Southern Maine, movies and Chinese restaurants are packed on Christmas Day and it is not because of a massive Jewish population here.

Overall

Ironically the Omicron variant motivated us to cancel that trip to Paris, but you can swap the word Paris with any urban destination. My advice, choose a beach or remote destination that is adults-only if you feel the need to vacation during Christmas.

Humbug,

Andrew

PS It has been a week if you couldn’t tell 😊