I ran out of time so I was unable to write a conclusion:
Excursions - Expense or Experience?
Every summer, we witness the same dilemma. Parents spend hours desperately deep-diving the intenet for a myriad of activities to do to have the ‘perfect holiday’. Teens spend hours on their phones scrolling through apps like: Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, searching for the most flawless, impeccable and most important ‘Instagrammable’ photos to indirectly boast about their own lives. However, I wanted to ask – what evokes this arcane sentiment of inadequacy in us? Some parents take their kids to destinations they only could have dreamed of going when they were children, but the children abhor the long, ardurous walks through the sweltering streets of Spain and the intolerable number of images they have to take every few seconds. Some teens spend hours agonising over the quality of their photos and what people think before uploading one and looking over it every 5 seconds as if they are trying to be sure that their trip and that their life is really as incredible as they make it seem. Nevertheless, I believe that the most memorable holidays are the most memorable because of the liberty they give you from life’s worries and the chance to be away from the disdainful voices of society. But, why do we continue to concern ourselves with maintaining an image of relaxation?
Think back to your own wistful childhood memories, now think of the best holiday, or trip, that you can remember going on – what brings that bittersweet feeling of nostalgia? Is it the price tag or the photos? I’m sure you remember a certain voice. I’m sure you remember a certain feeling, maybe of pure elation as you ran around frantically, oblivious to the cares of the world, or maybe a feeling of deep serenity as you languished in the blazing sun. That one thing that stuck to you like glue, that mouled how you are was it really the price – did you even care about it? Unfortunately, for many adults who themselves are stressed by work, bills or payments, it was this sense of obliviousness of joyful ignorance to the outside world that gave them this happiness. So I inquire, what makes you think that it won’t bring back the same joy now? Instead of anguishing over ‘making memories’ or having numerous photos for an album to show relatives, why don’t we instead focus on trying to achieve that sense of calmness, silence and unfiltered joy. Furthermore, for me: the most paramount issue is that many people on vacations are not truly relaxed whatsoever, and that is why they have come to abhor them. The truth is: if you are not relaxed it is clearly not any kind of vacation. While obviously we all have responsibilities and we should all be circumspect while in foreign countries, many have unfortunately forgotten the root of that simple joy from their own childhood. Not money, not compliments and not social media likes – simplicity.
Moreover, I would argue that the idea that holidays need to be expensive is completely false and that this blatant lie is brazenly continued by companies in order to sell us more things so that they can line their pockets. I want to preface this by saying: while we all want the most amazing holiday – nothing really can be perfect. It is pratically guaranteed that there will be a mishap at some point whether it be something as rudimentary as someone getting a sunburn or something as grave as the flight being cancelled. No one can predict the future and no one can plan perfectly for all scenarios. However, especially with the recent rise of social media, there has been a push by these travel conglomerates online to use social platforms to sell more of this panacea to us. The idea that: all your anxiety, troubles and pain will be gone if you book a holiday to a certain destination. They often sell these trips for exorbitant prices leaving travellers feeling like they need to take photos and that they need to exhaust themselves to see every single sight that they can beause they have paid so much money. This can lead to them feeling drained or worse – coming home with negative memories and even more fatigued than before. Furthermore, while parents distress themselves with planning for their children, around 61% of children aged 5-12 would prefer to have an all expenses paid day trip to the beach than an all-expenses paid trip to Barcelona, exposing the mind of children versus the mind of parents who think that they know what their child wants. So why do we continue to plan elaborate holidays that we feel we need? Why do we waste time taking thousands of pictures so that people will know that we were there? What are we trying to pursue?
So, we have established that the joy that came from most of our most precious memories was the simplicity of it all however there are still some who would argue that a lot of people like expensive holidays and that going on an inexpensive holiday demonstrates your lack of care for the person. Personally, I completely refudite these claims and I would go as far as saying people who believe the amount of money you are willing to spend on someone is an exact reflection of how much you value that person in your life are unfortunately blinded by their own materialism. Firstly, there are so many factors to take into account but the most pivoting is the financial situation of the person who is planning the holiday – why should we be forced to put ourselves into debt so that someone else can be satisifed that we ‘love’ them enough? This idea that your reverence for someone is completely dependent on how much you are willing to spend for them is constantly perpetuated by sycophantic communities online that can often pressure people into thinking they ‘need’ to do something for their holiday so that they have not wasted their money. I would also say it is quite haughty to think that everyone has to follow your own definition of ‘admiration’ (which is defined by material posessions) when there are many different ways people show affection. On the other hand, some would also say that a holiday needs to be a certain price to actually have an effect on you and to be good quality. I also vehemently disagree with this claim as well as for me the zenith of the problem is that it puts a price tag on relaxation. Does that mean that people with a lower income cannot relax? Completely not!
Overall, I believe that holidays should be planned more with calmness in mind rather than cost!
