I'm crazy about travelling, seeing new places and dissolving myself in different cultures around the world. But being a student, it isn't really feasible to plan out expensive, glamorous holidays such as cruises and resort vacations. Mostly I find myself packing off to a nearby hill station or beach around the place where I'm staying for a weekend. These budget trips have helped me cover a lot of places intimately, though I haven't been able to indulge as much as I would have wanted to. What do you prefer? A luxurious vacation, planned and saved for over a long time or short but frequent budget trips?
I love traveling too but I prefer the short, frequent trips. I get homesick when the trip is too drawn out. different cultures, people, foods and all that are very nice, but after a few days to about a week I start wondering what I would be doing at home. That signals my wanting to go back home time. Unless I'm working in another area or country, I'm usually fine with long term (but then, that's not vacation).
I love short day trips. It gives me the chance to see new places, but I also don't have to take time off from my life to do so. I have a family and a job, so I can't up and leave for long amounts of time, and there's no way that they would want to go on an extended trip. It's just overall easier on my life and my budget to do short trips.
Rare long holidays are best for India as it's such a large country. You can't really see anything in a short trip so you'll just end up making lots of short trips and not seeing much. It's difficult to get around in India so the shorter your trip the more pressed for time you are. Make trips long enough for you to relax and actually see the country.
When it comes to travelling, I prefer the shirt frequent trips as opposed to the long ones, as I think you get to see more, and your more enthusiastic about the time you spend away. I know it's slightly different circumstances but I was away on a business trip for three weeks, that consisted of maybe two meetings a day, and then the rest of the time I had to myself, and after the first week I was finding things to do, but not really enjoying them. When your away for long periods at a time the novelty does wear off and you find yourself visiting places but not really enjoying them as much as if your only there for a short while, in my experience.
I prefer a combination of both! In other words, a long-term, budget trip. There's a terrific book called "Vagabonding" about long-term, low-cost travel. Highly recommended for anyone with a peripatetic heart. To answer your specific question, though, I much prefer short (but frequent) budget trips. One of the best I've taken was a four-day trip to Guatemala. The airfare was incredibly inexpensive (Spirit Air, if you happen to live in a city they service, can be a super cost-effective choice), and accommodations, etc. in Guatemala were between $10 and $15 per night. I took my ex girlfriend for a birthday surprise (she didn't know where we were going till we reached the gate at LAX!), and we had a great time!
I personally like to go for long holidays, mainly because I dont like to be on the move all through my holidays for sightseeing and stuff. I would rather settle down at some resort and just relax for the whole duration with some activities or sigh seeing every two-three days may be. I do like an occasional weekend trip in addition to long holidays.
"A luxurious vacation, planned and saved for over a long time" would be my favorite, except slash out the 'luxurious' part. I don't like anything that is too fancy. A normal hotel would do just fine, the ones that aren't that bad or that good - so basically hotels that are in the 'middle'. Three star hotels is usually what I'd go for, or if I'm feeling kind to myself then four. The reason for this is because by reducing your spending on unnecessarily luxurious hotels you'll get extra money, meaning you'll have more to spend on souvenirs and other things that you might want to buy. I mean sure, you'd be missing out on that five star hotel, but it's not like you're gonna stay there all day. You're there for a vacation. Travel around the city you just traveled in. What's a vacation if you stay in your hotel all day? You're only there to sleep, and as long as there's bed and wifi I'm good.
I agree with you about the luxury hotel to be honest, and as long as it's clean and as a bed, I'm not all that fussy either. We just use the hotel as a base to come back to and sleep in, so we're not too bothered either about the cable TV, gym and spa a lot offer these days. I can watch cable, and go to the gym and spa at home if I wanted to so that's not really what an holiday is about for us.
I would prefer the luxurious vacation, but with the opportunity to get to know the culture. I don't know, I think maybe if I had the money, that I could enjoy more of the things that a country has to offer and in a safer way. It's certainly not my case, but it feels really good to not have to worry about money or have to stick to a budget when you travel. When you go to a new country everything is new, circumstances are different, and sometimes you will run into the unexpected. So the better prepared you are the better.
I'm quite outdoorsy and would choose an eco-adventure vs. a hotel anyday so yeah, I'd choose those budget trips in a heartbeat. I think I might go for cruises and hotel stays when I'm much older anyway and too tired to go out. LOL. So while I'm young I'd like to go out with young people, hike through mountains, bum a ride and sleep outside in a tent. I don't have much money too but you don't really need a lot to have fun and enjoy your life. You just need good friends, a lot of energy and curiosity for life.