In Reply to: Bali holidays getting expensive ? posted by gersman on Friday, 10. October 2008 at 17:36 Bali Time:
baby boomers can remember - when as kids our parents had absolutely no money to spare & interstate or overseas holidays weren't even dreamt of! That was something people on TV did - sorry mistake made - TV wasn't yet invented in Australia till mid 1950's.
Let's be honest - more than likely over 99% of us here are living a lifestyle these days that our parents or grandparents never would have dreamt of - let alone us or they thinking we ever would.
As kids most of us considered ourselves lucky if our Dad's had enough petrol money to fill the car up or even to have a car or telephone.We couldn't wait till the end of the year when school finished & Mum & Dad would pack the car up with the tent & other camping gear (or if you were lucky the caravan)with whatever else was needed & we'd head off to the coast for a 2 week summer holiday that cost peanuts.Who ever went away for a long weekend ? Easter egg hunts were finding a couple of cheap easter eggs hidden under the peach tree in the backyard or by the dog kennel while Dad cooked the Sunday BBQ & Mum tossed the tomato,lettuce,cucumber salad in the kitchen.Girls considered themselves lucky to get a new dress or pair of shoes & boys thought it was great to get a book of Boys Annual for their birthdays & that was all you got !
If you were away lucky enough to be away camping at Christmas time -Dad & the kids would go fishing on the jetty so you had free fish to eat & our Mum's were more than capable of making a pound of mince or sausages with a few spuds or other vegetables feed a tribe of kids that you had made friends with.The next night everyone would eat with the family in the tent next to you & the Dad's would all share their home brew while the Mum's drank their cups of tea & the kids drank home made lemon or orange cordial & played on the beach in front of the tents.I have no doubt many forumites could recall stories of hardship being told to them from their parents & grandparents.
For many of us here on the forum our parents lived through the great depression of the late 1920's & 1930's & then our Fathers & Uncle's fought in WW11.Many of our parents married after the war & started off with nothing & back then Mum's were expected to stay at home to raise the kids so 2 income families were not the normal thing.
Let's be honest,our generation,the generation of many of the people here on the forum - the baby bommers has had it damn easy & we have really been spoilt in so many ways.
Things may be changing dramatically in the world at the moment & many of us in the future will be affected but things would have to get very very bad before we had to go through what many of parents & grandparents did.
I think a lot of us here have a hell of a lot to be grateful for & owe the previous generations of our families a great deal.I doubt very much if our children will have it as easy as we have had !