I can kind of understand why people go to the same place very year, but sometimes it's through fear of trying anything else and then when they do go somewhere new they wished they spread their wings a bit earlier.

I have loads of places I would like to go to and I have fitted a fair few varied destinations in over the years, but this will be my 6th time in Turkey but also my 5th different resort with a week's gulet tagged on. I have also been to the same place in the South of France 5 times but that's because my friend lives/works there and I only have to pay for flight.

I think I would vary more if I could holiday more than once a year.

I don't know really, it's a difficult one. You love somewhere then why not go back again and again, it must be wonderful to feel like somewhere else is your second home.

I don't think I have ever been to the same place on holiday two years in a row. I like to travel long haul and some places I fall in love with some places I just like but after forty years of travelling I can't say that I haven't found something I have enjoyed on every holiday. I have returned to some of my favourite places, Australia, India, Thailand, Malaysia and the USA but always to a different area. I still love travelling even though I am getting older and there are still many more places I would like to visit. So I can't say the idea of travelling to the same place and doing the same things every year would appeal to me.

I think it all depends on why you go on holiday and why you travel - your reasons for holidaying will influence the choices you make.

At this point in my life, my prime reason for going on holiday is to relax, recover from a very stressful working situation and to just generally recharge the batteries. Hence why the stress and worry free week in La Gomera with family members that I don't get to see that much of for the rest of the year (we live 400 miles apart!) is so important to me and them. And when you have an all-consuming passion (in my case Cuban Salsa and music!) holidays are often the only time you get to really indulge in them, hence my annual trip to Cuba - salsa anywhere else just isn't the same! And being able to live with a different local family each time has given me such a wonderful insight into local life which is one of my markers of a good holiday wherever I travel to.

And yes, both La Gomera and Cuba do feel like 'second homes' and that is undoubtedly part of the attraction too. Knowing that I am a welcome return visitor makes a great deal of difference to helping me enjoy a really relaxing holiday. I'm more and more aware that tourists are often merely tolerated in return for the money they spend and as others have hinted, also increasingly aware that we can so easily destroy the places we love as we start to travel to them in increasing numbers. And that's before we get onto the climate change debate which increasingly makes me think twice about the longhaul trips to Cuba and hence why I only aim to go once a year now instead of the twice a year which could so eaily have become the pattern. One longhaul flight a year is my not very effective measure to try and keep my 'carbon footprint' under some sort of control for the time being.

As for the week in the Med with my old college pal, well that probably falls into the same category as the autumn week in La Gomera. She too has a stressful job and we live a long way apart - yes, I can go visit her and she can come and stay with me but you then get into the situation where it's not necessarily a relaxing break for whichever of us is 'hosting'. Going somewhere different together for a week means that we can both relax.

I'm in the lucky position that what most people call 'city breaks', I call 'academic conferences' - the next one is in Seville in September and I'll be able to tag a long weekend onto the end of it. I'm looking forward to it but I do tend to think of such trips as 'work' rather than 'holiday'.

But holidays in the past have included amongst other things 3 weeks travelling round China by train in the very early 80s before it opened up to western tourists, trekking throughout most European mountain regions in my climbing days, skiing and sailing holidays and textile buying trips in west Africa to indulge my other great passion of quilting. But for the moment all that seems to much like hard work and running the risk of me being in need of holiday to recover from them on my return :-)

There are holidays I can't ever imagine me personally wanting to do for the foreseeable future, such as cruising or the big all inclusive tourist resorts but I can see their attraction for others. It's just that at the moment those who like that sort of holiday are looking for something different out of their holidays than I am. Perhaps if I didn't get the opportunity to travel so much for work, a series of 'city breaks' punctuating a holiday in a floating hotel would appeal. And if I had teenage kids looking for an active holiday, a large all-inclusive resort hotel could well be my idea of heaven too!

The knees started to give out some years ago because of a couple of nasty climbing accidents (hence why the trekking holidays have slipped down the agenda in recent years) but for the moment they are still holding up enough for the dancing! Once even that becomes too much for them I'll probably move on from the annual intensive dance holidays - I probably don't have that many years of being able to do a 3 hour daily dance class left in them, much less being able to do 4 hours dancing every night so I'm making the most of it while I can!

In the meantime, each to their own I say and wherever you are off to this year - bon voyage :-)

SM

We have usually gone to different places and have managed to visit all five continents including some obscure places like Romania and Russia.

However................. we finally made it back to Las Vegas a couple of years ago after a 17 year gap and kind of got hooked. We've since been going twice a year for the past 3 years and still speaking of doing it next year again.

Going back to Benidorm in August after a 24 year gap and have already booked to go back again at Xmas. Just hope we like it!

luci

We always used to go somewhere different everytime, every holiday great , then we went to Halkidiki two years ago and have been three times since, the place , the people and our gorgeous hotel, we are not in a rush to go elsewhere.
When we are there we feel like we've been there for a month and not a fortnight. Then you have to come home

We didnt start travelling abroad until our Silver Wedding anniversary in 1987 when we went to Switzerland.
We now go at least 3 times a year but havent gone on long haul holidays.
I keep a list in the computer of dates/places and cost of all holidays.
I find that we have had 46 holidays, 19 different resorts,10 to Benidorm;
8 to Benamadena;6 to Palma Nova;4 to Ibiza, We have been twice to several other resorts and the furthest to Tenerife,Gran Canaria and Malta.
We are Seniors now and when I read of some of the places people visit, I wish we had been a bit more adventurous but don't fancy long flights now.
So we will continue to visit the places we know and like.
Regards Sue

I have been everywhere in the world I wanted to go which is just as well as I am now restricted to Europe due to medical reasons.2 years this month we retuned to Turkey after an abscence of 12 years.I wonderered why I went anywhere else and returned 3 times last year.I am returning again next week.

I have now been to Cattolica italy for the last 3 years, love the place, plus there 3 times with parents when I was a kid.

I like to go somewhere I know, and with in budget, well my hotel 2 weeks H/b just under £400, thats a bargin for me.

Next year going to Lido Ji Leslo, another place I have been as a kid, it nice to relive memories when you were a youngster, try to remember places you went.

Cattolica is a place I would recommend to anyone

In fact the world is so big that it would be wiser to look at it from different sides. So, I definitely vote for a new destination each year.

Speaking of myself, there was a time I was crazy for Eastern Europe - I've spent there many years and want to return there again. But this time I promissed myself to change a route - I've never been to France - only flying above it. Perhaps I will be lucky to land there at last

For some reason 2 seems to be our magic number. We seem to have ended up going to a few countries twice, although to different resorts.We try to go to different places as well especially on city breaks. This will be the 1st time we have ever returned to the same hotel - Riu Tequila Mexico - can't wait.

My mum and her friend have been to Cala Bona, Majorca for nearly 20 years - same 2 weeks every year, last week of May, first week of June.

Started off staying at the Atolon, then the Alicia, then the Bonamar (but that got too expensive) then back to the Alicia. Have just booked for the Alicia again for 24 May 2008!

when my partner was alive we used to take 2 holidays a year and went round most of europe, usually to the med, but sometimes to the canaries.
we would always use the may/june holiday to explore the area and the september one to relax, so that one was usually to somewhere we had been before and knew our way about.
latterly she got worse and worse with panic attacks before flying, and we resigned ourselves to no more foreign trips.
we then discovered coach holidays in costa brava and spent a few happy years staying in the resorts there. we had about 12 holidays spread between malgrat/calella/lloret plus one off weeks to tossa and s/sussanah.
this year, because of work commitments, and my ability to fly again, i have been taking long weekends (usually 5 days at a time) and going to lloret.
i find that having been many times before, that as soon as i am at my accommodation i can start enjoying myself straightaway because i know exactly what i am getting and where i want to go.
i don't need to spend my time wondering what is round the next corner, or if i have missed seeing something i should have, or which beach i want to go to. i do seem to find somethingg new every time i go back though!
i have thought many times of long haul, but as i use my holidays as relaxation, i would rather have 2 or 3 cheapish breaks where i can unwind rather than 1 long haul trip where i know i would spend my time exploring and not relaxing.
so, roll on 25th, as i'm back in lloret for another 6 day "weekend"

In the past I've been to Australia, Bangkok, Singapore, HongKong, New York, Morocco and various places in Europe but I haven't done long-haul for some years. I've just got back from the South of France where I've been staying with a friend for a week and am going to Denmark for a few days in September for the first time to stay with an English friend who has recently moved there. My main holidays however are spent in Tunisia where I've been going twice a year for the past seven years. I know the place well, feel quite confident travelling around by myself and can really relax so it suits me. As you get older you learn your limitations and it's one place the old arthritis doesn't play up.

Just wondering how many people spend their holidays in the same place each year, and how many are constantly on the look out for somewhere new.

Is it not tiresome to go back to the same place each time is or is it better because you can meet returning friends and you know what to expect. Is there a reason that you go back and what would make you change?

Is somewhere new not extra stressful, sometimes having no idea what your going into do you feel you miss out on things because its new to you. Or is doing the research and discovering each place part of the excitement of your holidays? What would make you change and revisit a place time and again?

Any thoughts?

We always go to a different place each time as the world is an awful big place
But if we return to the same country we may choose the same resort but different accomodation.
However I can understand if you have a good group of friends and get on well that you choose the same place.

We have returned to the Canary Islands time after time over the years..we vary from island to island and generally we vary from accomodation to accomodation..except for in GC..we like to stay at the same place. We discovered Gozo and Malta last year and i intend to return many times..but will stay in different places in Malta and probably stick with either Xlendi or Marselforn in Gozo. In Egypt..we return every year but alternate between Taba, Hurghada and Sharm..different accomodation but we don't care..we go for the diving. In addition, we try to find a new destination every year..this year it looks like being Thailand. So, I guess I am well and truly on the fence on this one as we do both..we return to a previous holiday place every year and try to discover a new place every year!

I do both too - every autumn we have a family week on La Gomera in the Canaries, staying in the same small apartment block by the harbour in Valle Gran Rey, I also usually do a dance holiday Cuba each year either on my own or with friends and also try and do somewhere new once a year. La Gomera sorts me out for the chill-out sunshine holiday - I really can't see the point of travelling somewhere new to spend my time sat around a different pool or lying on a different beach each year just for the sake of it. We see old friends amongst the locals each time we go and enjoy catching up on all their news and gossip, know what to expect of the weather and all the good places to eat and know that if we try out a new place and it doens come up to expectations then the old favourites will always make up for it. It has all the cosy familiarity and comfort of digging out that favourite jumper to snuggle up in as winter descends. Similarly, the fortnight in Santiago de Cuba is almost like going home now - the moment I have that first cocktail on the terrace of the Casa Grande or in Artex I know that I'm in for a good time with plenty of dancing and good fun with a great group of people I know from various previous trips and has replaced the walking holidays in the Austrian and Julian alps that I used to go on.

On the whole I'm not a laze around by the pool day in, day out sort of a person - I like to experience new things and get a really good feel for the local culture so I also try and do somewhere new each year where I can indulge the 'culture vulture' side of my personality and get away from the tourist hotels. So that holiday tends to be more city-based or at least somewhere close by. The next such trip is in the planning stages now for later in the year and will probably take the form of a long weekend in Seville with friends followed by a few days in Cordoba, either with or without them depending on how they feel about it. In the past I've toured China, 'done' ancient Crete and Tunisia as well as doing more typical city breaks such as Berlin, Lisbon, Paris etc. This way I think that I get the best of both worlds - new experiences as well as cosy stress-free familiarity.

SM

I usually go to somewhere new every year for my main holiday, it's almost always long haul. I've been to loads of different places though I have made return trips to India, Australia, Thailand, Malaysia and the USA. I don't like lazing on the beach and my trips are pretty active with a mixure of seeing cultural sights and taking in the scenery. As a previous poster said the world is an awfully big place and I am always seeing a program on the TV or reading a book about somewhere new and thinking I would like to go there, so it gets added to the list as I love to see something different.. On occasion I may opt for a last minute week to one of the Canary Islands in November but even then I can't sit still for long and walking and driving around the island, having a look at the scenery and visiting the small villages takes up most of the week.
This year it's New York in March, after many visits to other parts of the USA this will be my first visit to NYC, and next winter I am hoping to visit Laos.

Merged to existing topic

Mark