Is vacation a "need" or a "want'?

amother

Fuchsia

Mon, Jan 04 2021, 12:41 pm

Individuals may "need" to be pampered but if they can't afford it, then they need to come up with an alternative.
Not everyone can go to FL during the winter even if they feel a desperate need to. Could be money, could be other factors. That's life.

#BestBubby

Mon, Jan 04 2021, 12:45 pm

Getting a break from stress is a need.

Going on a luxury vacation is a want.

If you don't have $$$ but are in desperate need of a break, send your children away to
grandparents/relatives for a long weekend while you relax, have a bubble bath, SLEEP,
go out to eat or buy take out and just de-stress.

amother

Ecru ↓

Mon, Jan 04 2021, 12:46 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Single mom here with a calm home. Not overwhelming at all bH with regular stresses of a rather peaceful household.

I have not been on vacation for over 10 years. I did go away with the kids maybe twice in the past 10 years.

I'm forever dreaming of vacationing but am on a frugal budget.

For a person in this situation, do you think vacation is a "need" or is it a "want" and should be done as an extra only.

My mom raised me on her own. Sent me to yeshiva with barely reduced tuition. Paid her own rent. And hid from and abusive ex. She barely spoke English. She managed a jewelry store. One day she was held up at gunpoint. She quit that job. Pawned off her jewelry, left me with an aunt and went to Miami for 3 days.

It was a need.

lamplighter ↓

Mon, Jan 04 2021, 12:50 pm

Getting a break is a NEED.
Travel is a WANT.

That being said it's your budget if you can move things around and make it work, it's your perogative.

↑ Ema of 5 ↓

Mon, Jan 04 2021, 1:09 pm

amother [ Natural ] wrote:

Want.
This concept of vacation is a new construct and as a need goes right up with “me time....” do you really think in the Alte Heim they had vacation?
Vacation was when you traveled to the next town to use the Mikva in the freezing cold under the cover of darkness in fear of getting caught.

Why must we compare everything to the alte heim? Is that the only, and only correct, way to do things? Did the world not exist before that? Did the world outside of the European shtetl/and or city/country life not exist?

amother

Magenta ↓

Mon, Jan 04 2021, 2:23 pm

ShishKabob wrote:

Gimme a break! There was Marienbad for the biggies. Why do only biggies need to go and bathe in therapeutic waters and spas?
And it's true, in the Alte heim, many people did not have this need. Like nowadays, we have this need for a washing machine. Don't tell me it's a want, just because in de alte heim no one had it!!

And I changed my mind. Some times, for some people, it is a serious need to go to a warmer climate and to be pampered with hotel style service. Sometimes it's a need not a want. Different people have different needs. The individual gets to decide what their need and what their want is. That is if they are honest with themselves.

It is a want. Why do things have to be a need just because we really want them?

amother

↑ Brown ↓

Mon, Jan 04 2021, 2:34 pm

amother [ Magenta ] wrote:

It is a want. Why do things have to be a need just because we really want them?

Because you don’t get to decide what I NEED. I MEED to get away, I NEED to get out of NY. In general, everyone needs different things, so why is it so bad that someone NEEDS to get away?

amother

↑ Ecru ↓

Mon, Jan 04 2021, 2:37 pm

Ema of 4 wrote:

A lot of people left the alt heim for the streets lined with gold. Because they needed more!

;-)

↑ southernbubby ↓

Mon, Jan 04 2021, 3:26 pm

Maybe vacation is part of the Torah. When the Jews marched to the Beis HaMikdash for the shalosh regalim, it wasn't purely for fun but there was all kinds of pageantry and it was a break from the old routine and they had a complete break every seven years for shmitah. It doesn't seem like people kept their noses to the grindstone.
As far as the alte heim, not everyone was too poor to ever enjoy themselves. One of my great grandmothers went on vacation but got sick as a result and my grandfather grew up as an orphan. They were in America and people took trips by train and I guess that it was that way in the shtetle.

Last edited by southernbubby on Mon, Jan 04 2021, 5:59 pm; edited 1 time in total

amother

Coral ↓

Mon, Jan 04 2021, 3:28 pm

amother [ Hotpink ] wrote:

It’s a want. You can live without it and there are those that do.

You can live without it, but not as long. Stress kills.

amother

↑ Magenta

Mon, Jan 04 2021, 3:31 pm

amother [ Brown ] wrote:

Because you don’t get to decide what I NEED. I MEED to get away, I NEED to get out of NY. In general, everyone needs different things, so why is it so bad that someone NEEDS to get away?

I’m not stopping you or saying it’s bad. But it’s still a want.

amother

Purple

Mon, Jan 04 2021, 3:35 pm

Its a want I grew up having a really nice childhood without going on many vacations...
Our vacation time was spent going to camp, younger going to the zoo, parks, on hikes exploring outdoors within an hour from our home... the big trip was going to my relatives in brooklyn for a week and getting kosher pizza, restaurants and the Jewish shops... I remember those trips as really exciting:)

amother

↑ Ecru

Mon, Jan 04 2021, 3:35 pm

amother [ Magenta ] wrote:

I’m not stopping you or saying it’s bad. But it’s still a want.

But are we living only to survive? Or are we living to thrive?

↑ SixOfWands

Mon, Jan 04 2021, 3:47 pm

amother [ Ecru ] wrote:

But are we living only to survive? Or are we living to thrive?

But you're saying that because you're defining "wants" as bad, and defining them as things that we shouldn't bother with.

There's no reason to do that.

Its OK to WANT to go on vacation. Its OK to WANT to travel. Its OK to save up so that you can do things that you WANT to do.

Doing things you WANT -- from having a cappuccino once in a while to spending 2 weeks in Tibet -- is a good thing. Enjoying life is a good thing. Celebrate your wants.

But they're still not needs.

amother

↑ Brown ↓

Mon, Jan 04 2021, 5:49 pm

amother [ Hotpink ] wrote:

It’s a want. You can live without it and there are those that do.

And there are many who don’t, who either just pretend, or cave under the pressure. BH it’s not a need for you. You don’t get to decide that for others.

amother

↑ Brown ↓

Mon, Jan 04 2021, 5:50 pm

amother [ Magenta ] wrote:

I’m not stopping you or saying it’s bad. But it’s still a want.

NO ITS NOT. For many it is a NEED. Their lives are full of stress and pressures, and if they don’t get a break, they may very well crack, or worse.

amother

Emerald

Mon, Jan 04 2021, 5:58 pm

amother [ Natural ] wrote:

My grandmother definitely vacationed in de Alte Heim

Signed someone who likes to stay home

DREAMING

Mon, Jan 04 2021, 6:02 pm

ShishKabob wrote:

This

↑ southernbubby ↓

Mon, Jan 04 2021, 6:09 pm

I guess that it's dependant on whose money is providing the vacation. Someone who I know, badly needed a vacation. Friends were eager to help so they took care of the kids. A few months later, the couple wanted to take another vacation and the friends agreed to care for the kids but not as eagerly. When the couple wanted to go away a third time, their friends were all too busy to help with the kids.
My point is that family and friends who see a need may be happy to help with time and money if a vacation is not taken too often.