My Usual, Please

When a colleague asked me about my holiday plans and I told her that I would do the same "C&C" (Carinthia and Croatia) routine as the previous 3 years, staying at the same places in both countries, she was surprised and mildly shocked, telling me that she would never do that herself, always seeking out new things to discover. While I do like to do that myself and objectively speaking have seen a lot of the world already with quite a few things left on my list of places I would love to visit, I also really enjoy the comfort of familiar routines in my summer holiday in particular. After all, I have been to Nice more than 10 times and I hope to be able to go there again soon. Although my mother also claims that she'd much rather explore new places rather than revisit familiar ones I do think that my pleasure in the latter originated with family holidays as a child: not only did we travel to (the South of) France several years in a row, we also spent the semester break at the same village in Salzburg province most of my high school years. My maternal grandparents were pretty adventurous for their generation, but also never tired of revisiting Jesolo, Abano or Opatija when they were retired. My mum and I actually have a summer tradition of spending a weekend in Salzburg during festival season, which si my birthday treat for her. Even though both festival tickets and in particular hotel rates come at a hefty premium during those weeks, I don't mind at all as it is something we both look forward to.
My theory is that going to places where you have been before somehow elevates the "relaxation factor" as it allows your brain to switch to autopilot mode and minimise the energy required for thinking and making conscious decisions from year two on. You already know that Pizzeria X is better than Pizzeria Y and the same goes for the local ice-cream parlours and supermarkets, etc. You may find it boring, but I can really recommend a good dose of "same same" at least every now and then.