A recent reflective piece from the Telegraph found a writer pondering whether his parents were doing vacations better than he was. It got us thinking that maybe family vacations in the 80s were better than those of today.
In our defense, there were no iPads or devices that would draw all of your kids attention away from relaxing family time. Wifi wasn’t a thing and life was much simpler. Kids loved to catch sun and play on the beach.
In the 80s, there was nothing like taking a family vacation to somewhere warm and sunny where you can enjoy outdoor activities.
“As a child of the early Eighties, I remember the family holiday heyday,” according to Hattie Garlick of the Telegraph.
“It was based on a simple formula: sun, sea, ice cream. Actually, sometimes there was no sun – I’ve shivered on Welsh beaches.”
Welsh beaches or American beaches, there is no way you couldn’t find some kind of fun or adventure. Today, parents are trying to find interesting ways to create a family vacation where their kids can learn something.
Garlick’s vacation for example, involved a “mind-broadening trip to a hippy commune in Somerset.” No, there was no marijuana involved for those wondering.
The thing is, family vacations in the 80s were just simpler and not so in-depth. It’s what made them innocent and slightly spontaneous in a way. You never knew what would happen but you knew it would be fun and by the end of it, you’d had a positive lasting memory.
It’s hard to get that done today, however, we’ll continue to try.
