Vacations Without Husband

I don't have kids but I have taken trips without my husband and he has gone on trips without me. He doesn't like spas or laying by the pool all day. I don't like truly primitive camping trips without toilets and running water. I wouldn't spend ALL of my vacation time going on trips without him or vice verse, but once a year isn't bad, IMO. We have standard 2 weeks of vacation so we have to ration ours out for personal vacations and holidays.

I have taken the kids on trips without DH. When my Grandma was alive she would treat the family to a stay on the Oregon coast every summer. My kids LOVED going to the beach and spending time with my extended family. DH has limited time off (back then only 2 weeks a year) so it made sense for the kids and I to go and DH could save his time off for other stuff.

Yes, me and the kids do things without dh, he does things with the kids without me and we do things without the kids, including vacations.

Personally I couldn't do it for two reasons. First, we've had exactly one vacation in the last 15 years and second, my husband absolutely hates his job. There's no way I could go and enjoy myself knowing he was stuck at home alone. I realize this is our problem and not the norm though.

I do. I travel alone/with my girlfriends, the kids have traveled alone, and i've taken the kids places.

I was established in my career when we got married and he changed industries about a year ago and i'm the primary income producer in our household. I traveled a lot before we were married and while I love traveling with him and as a family we discussed it prior to getting married and decided that we won't skip opportunities to travel because the other person can't go because of a prior commitment.

He's only done business trips without me, but depending on what is going on in my business I tend to be gone a lot more than he is. I mention my income being primary because I feel like if he were slaving away all day to pay the bills I wouldn't likely travel without him, with income that he earned. All of our money is family money, but I suppose I have less guilt knowing that i'm earning income while i'm vacationing vs sitting my butt on the beach while he's supporting me.


ETA because I feel like my wording makes me kind of sound like a jerk a little.    I suppose what i'm trying to say is I purposely designed my life to allow me and my kids the opportunity to travel because we didn't have the opportunities when they were little.  He chose a career path where he has an active role physically close to home everyday.   We're both happy with our choices but I don't feel like because we were married my plans/goals/promises to the kids should change.    It is something we're both good with and we stay in touch often through video chat, calls, and texts so we include him as much as possible even if he's home working.  

Then I would definitely take the opportunity to go.  

I prefer to take vacations with DH, but he is a bit of a workaholic and considers a 4 day weekend a vacation.

Our compromise is to have him join us at the beginning or end of a vacation for a few days if we can. The kids & I might go for 3 weeks and he'll join us for the last week. He has also flown in and out for a couple of weekends when we are away for a longer trip.

 

We take vacations separately probably once a year. Often one of us will take a kid or two. There are places we like to travel that just aren't hospitable to hauling all of our kids around but that we don't want the older kids to miss--I took my then-12-and-8-year olds to London and left DH with the little kids. He's taking the 10-year-old to DC this summer. I took a solo NYC trip a few years back. Etc.

I wouldn't enjoy taking a vacation w/out my DH. That's just my personal preference though.

If he doesn't care, why should you? I'd say go and enjoy yourself, especially since it isn't costing you very much to go. Then when he has time off in the summer months, plan a family vacation that everyone will enjoy.

DH and I have often taken separate vacations depending on what opportunities came up with friends, etc. He's gone on fishing or hunting trips that I would have less than zero interest in going on, and I've gone on countless road trips all over with my girlfriends that would bore him to tears.

Now that we have a kid, I wouldn't hesitate to take her with me if it was something I knew she would like and if I thought she could handle it. I have also sent her to the lake cabin with DH for several days while I've gone off on my own to scrapbook retreats (usually to work but still, I'm with friends and do have some down time).

Ha ha, my friends at the one retreat I go work at every year have been asking me the last few years when I'm going to start bringing DD with me, and I always say she can come along when she's able to stay up really late for a couple days running and still get up in the morning without being a total crab during the day! We're still a few years away from that though, and quite honestly I spend a good amount of time being the go-to hands-on parent so I need some grown up time away from that role.

ETA: Besides, it's good for DH to exercise his parental muscles from time to time! 

I vacation with my girlfriends every other year. DH & I both go on separate weekends away multiple times a year although his friends are a lot more flaky about it than mine so sometimes his plans fall through. And this year we've started separate weekend trips with the kids, depending on interest and circumstances (so this year DD & I have been to Washington DC and NYC and DH & DS are going to see Real Madrid play soccer.) I only feel badly about it when DH doesn't get equal opportunity to get away because he is always awesome about encouraging me to get away.

If I were able to go on any vacation I would gladly go without my husband.