where did you used to holiday when you were little?

smash wrote: »

"Ever seen a grown man naked?"

It's a shame that kids these days wont get to experience the stuff that us lot did!

True enough. *old guy voice* kids these days(™) have so much at the fingertips and part of me envies them for that, but another larger part feels bad that so many are curtailed by more current fears and lifestyles. I was watching a programme on the BBC recently where they got this London family and redid their house and clothes and lifestyle into the decades of the 20th century. What I and the kids in the family noticed was that in the 70's and 80's the kids had or seemed to have so much more freedom and were outside and getting into mischief far more. At one point the voiceover dude mentioned a stat that claimed in the UK something mad like 80% of ten year old kids had never been to a park without their parents or other adults in tow. OK that was the UK and no doubt as is usual we're way behind that curve here in Ireland but it did sadden me.

One memory that has been conjured up by this thread concerns a holiday in Florida and a touristy helicopter tour of the Keys. I got chatting with the pilot fella before and during the lunch that was in the middle of the tour and was more into the helicopter, a Huey(hell yes!:)), than the sightseeing. The way back was by coach, but the pilot asked if I wanted to go back with him and my folks were ok with that. :eek: I sat up front and he let me hold the cyclic and "fly" the helicopter. Oh yes. I flew a Huey. Me -> :cool: He was on the controls of course, but he let me make small corrections. What freaked me out was how both sensitive it was and how much of a delay between input and reaction there appeared to be(and how delicate a craft they are. Much less substantial than a family car). He was a really lovely guy, going through all the techy stuff and spinning me tall tales that had my eyes out on stalks. When we were back on terra firma I was still flying from it all. It was only much later on and even down to today when one comment he made hit me; "I used to have a son about your age".

KERSPLAT! wrote:

Those were the days! Is it just me or did it seem like we had scorching hot summers back then (Mid nineties)!?

The mid nineties were pretty warm alright K, I went fishing in the Connacht lakes back then and a couple of times in summer the edges of the loughs had receded. So it's not just you. Though old farts like me have you beat. The 1970's had some of the highest summer temps ever recorded in these islands. 1976 was mad. I remember being dragged up to Blessington reservoir just outside Dublin, because the water levels had dropped so much that some holy well in a submerged village had risen up from artificial deep. I can vividly recall a long snaking line of people marching towards the object of their devotion in an otherwise empty and sandy landscape set against the green trees of the more usual waterline. I've since wondered why they queued.

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

Air travel was not feasible for the majority of family's in the 80,s

That would be the truth of it alright. As I said I traveled a lot for someone of my age back then compared to my peers and my peers like me were suburban "middle class" private school types. Not close to wealthy, but not struggling either. My folks just had a thing about travel, so focused and saved up for it. EG they never bought brand new cars for a start(many of my peers parents did) and even back then the savings on a three year old used car over new were enough to pay for a couple of foreign holidays. My mam also worked when back then many, if not most of my peers mams didn't, so that added to the pot.

If anything I'd say slightly more seemed to travel abroad in the 70's. There was a little more money about. Package holidays to Lourdes for the first week and Spain for the second were a thing for a time. Coming back carrying plastic sombrero'd donkeys and our Lady of Lourdes shaped water bottles.