Recent research completed by a UK based online travel agency has shown that around 25% of people in Britain choose not to ask their family members or friends about their holidays because of holiday envy. Indeed, this jealousy goes so far that 1 in 7 people in Britain hide people from their Facebook timeline so that they don’t have to see their holiday snaps.
A UK based online travel agency has recently completed a study that showed that around a quarter of Britons do not ask their family members of friends about how a holiday was when the returned and this is motivated entirely by the fact that they are jealous at the fact that they were away. Additionally, 36% revealed that they did not ask people about their trip, because they felt this would encourage them to brag about it.
The research was conducted by Sunshine.co.uk who are currently studying the various holiday experiences of people in Britain. For this element of the study, some 2,652 people were surveyed who were all over the age of 18 and we came from all over the country. The questions covered their own holidays, as well as those of their loved ones. The goal was to understand holiday envy better and to see how this affected the way people experienced their own holidays and those of others.
One question that was asked was “Have you ever avoided asking a friend or relative about their holiday once they’d returned home because you were envious of their trip?”. 24%, or almost a quarter, of respondents answered yes to this question. They were then asked whether they ever didn’t speak about a holiday to deter their friends and family members from bragging about it, and even more people (36%) answered yes to this question.
The survey then tried to ascertain what type of “holiday bragging” was seen as the most annoying. The five top answers were:
- Talking about how good the weather was – 77%
- Showing off their golden tan – 58%
- Being forced to watch photographs – 45%
- Making their holiday experience sound greater than what it is – 39%
- Bragging about feelings of relaxation – 26%
The survey also showed that 14% had hidden someone of their timeline on Facebook so that they didn’t have to be confronted by the holiday pictures. Additionally, 65% of all respondents stated that “tan envy” was very common, particularly when someone they know comes back from a holiday.
The survey then went on to ask whether people bragged about their own holidays to family and friends when they return. 87% of all respondents admitted to doing just that. Delivering deeper into this, it was found that 58% made their holiday sound even better than it actually was, particularly when discussing their trip with the friends and members of their family.
“Holiday envy is clearly a very real phenomenon, judging by the results of our survey”, says Chris Clarkson, Managing Director of Sunshine. “It’s sometimes a kick in the teeth when someone is bragging about a holiday they’ve been on and you haven’t left the country for as long as you can remember.”
“However, those who have been fortunate enough to experience a great holiday should remember how brilliant it feels and how much you want to relive the trip once you return home by talking to every man, woman and dog about it”, adds Chris Clarkson. “Just sit and listen to how fantastic their holiday was, because soon it might be you wanting to brag in the same way.”