Why always vacationing in the same place is a good idea

The first coffee at the wooden table standing next to the turquoise wall; the first morning run along the sea, over to beach tower #12; the first bike ride down the beach promenade past people shuffling about in flip-flops carrying colourful deck chairs. These are the things I was looking forward to during my summer holidays in Italy.

Mind you, for the fourth time.

That’s the number of times my husband and I have taken our kids to the same vacation destination. Sounds terribly uncool, eh? Especially in conversations with others: «Haven’t you been there before?» – «Yes, four times, in fact.» I have to stifle an internal yawn as I say this. How boring we’ve become...

Help, I’m mutating into a small-minded vacation repeater!

Way back when, we were real fond of travelling. We backpacked across South America, surfed the waves off the coast of the Philippines, and chugged down the West Coast of the USA by car. We were always looking for new places, adventures and encounters.

But nowadays, that’s all too strenuous. We’ve morphed into vacation philistines. During the first few years after having children, we still made the effort to cook up as kid-friendly a new travel plan as possible each year.

Or, to put it in the more charming jargon of my friend who works at a travel agency, we’re becoming «repeaters» – people who travel to the same place year after year. These are the (often older) people who’ve been booking room 267 in the same hotel in Mallorca for 20 years. Or staying in the same vacation home in the south of France for 30 years. Or setting up their camper on the exact same spot at the Adriatic Sea for 40 years.

Hey, our four times are still a ways off 40 years. But the fact of the matter is that what made me shudder ten years ago is something I now understand.

6 reasons why we’re sticking to the tried and tested

We’ve now been going for the same thing: a mobile home right at the sea. It’s small and barebone, but comes with the luxury of an AC and private shower. And it offers entertainment for our kids – in the form of other children. Now that’s what I call practical, good and boring! And boredom has decisive advantages:

1. It feels like coming home

You know what to expect, where everything is, and how everything works. There’s no figuring out what you have to do. You can relax the moment you set foot in your vacation home. Family life often gets stressful and tends to peak shortly before the start of the school holidays, so this is worth its weight in gold. You can emotionally exhale right away.

2. Anticipation is half the pleasure

«How can I look forward to something I’m not familiar with at all?» my daughter asked a year ago before her first day of school. She’s absolutely got a point. You can only really look forward to something you already know. Sure, you’ll be curious about a new vacation spot. But you can only imagine it and look forward to it with all your heart if you’ve already been there.

3. The best place for dolce far niente

Nowhere else can you do exactly what you’re really in need of doing: nothing. It’s like with the weather. When the sun comes out, so does the pressure to do things outdoors. Only when it rains can you chill on the sofa with a clear conscience. If you already know your holiday hotspot and surrounding area, you won’t feel the pressure to run around and discover everything. You know exactly which day trips are worthwhile and which ones aren’t. This way, you’re free to sleep in, doze on the beach, read a book, lie around – just be. Where better to do that than on summer vacation? And yes, that really is something you can do alongside your kids once they’re a bit older – provided they feel comfortable in their surroundings.

4. Traditions create memories

It’s not that we do nothing at all. We brunch leisurely every morning on the veranda. Collect shells in the sand for hours. Fly our neon kite in the wind. Build metre-tall castles and metre-deep ice cream stands in the sand. Eat our way through the extensive ice cream menu of the ice cream vendor who chugs along the beach every afternoon on four wheels. Glide across the sea on our SUP equipped with a rubber unicorn on the bow. Play Uno to the point of a family quarrel, only to reconcile through expressive dance at the children’s disco. Or we ride our bikes into town in the evening at sunset. Been there, done that? I beg to differ. Traditions create memories. And we create new traditions each year.

5. No need for nerve-racking planning

For some people, the vacation begins with the planning. They like nothing better than to compare flights, pore over hotel reviews, plan the best routes and organise excursions. I’m not one of them. Any joy I feel when planning a trip evaporates the second I realise there was a better alternative or that the hotel I wanted is fully booked. In other words, after half an hour at the latest. Not to mention I have zero desire to spend early autumn organising next year’s summer vacation in an attempt to find something nice and affordable during high season. Being a vacation repeater spares my nerves.

6. Happy kids, happy parents

The most powerful argument for repeat vacations happens to be the one you’re least likely to advertise: your kids. After all, who likes to admit to centring their lives around their kids? Oh, the kids are dying to go back to the same place with the kids’ disco, activity offer and Nutella waffles? Pffft! We parents have a life too! But let’s be honest: if the kids are happy, so are you. That’s the only way you’ll get any time to yourself. Hey, that means you’re really going back to the same vacation spot for yourself, not for your kids. I call that a win-win.

Will there be a fifth time?

Now, you’d be wrong to assume that our next summer vacation and each one after that is already set in stone. My husband mentioned that he «wouldn’t mind trying something new» next year. The children and I looked at him in amazement and started protesting, but got nowhere. And so, we’ve started planning our summer 2024 holiday.

Admittedly, part of me still hopes he’ll stumble upon this text and be reminded of the advantages of our go-to place. In fact, I’m putting in a reservation for next year. Just to be on the safe side. We can always cancel...