Über Takes Have a take
Life · The vacation question · Take No. 029

Beach or mountains?

Sand, salt and doing nothing, or altitude, trails and doing a great deal. The way you answer this is the way you answer most things.

The case for each side, then the verdict. Then the floor is yours.
The case for

The beach

Sea level · do nothing well

  • 0Plans required. The beach is the only holiday that works with no itinerary at all.
  • WaterHumans calm down near it, by every study that's checked. Blue space is a real effect.
  • EveryoneKids, grandparents, the friend who hates hiking. The beach is the one trip nobody vetoes.
vs
The case for

The mountains

Altitude · do something well

  • 0Crowds, if you walk twenty minutes. Beaches are shared; summits are mostly yours.
  • 4Seasons. The mountains work in snow, in autumn, in summer. The beach has one.
  • EarnedThe view at the top is the only view that costs you something, which is why you remember it.

Cast your take

——
The verdict

It's Mountains. The beach is a rest; the mountains are a trip.

The beach is the right answer for a lot of weeks: you're tired, you've got the kids, you want to lie still and read. It's the most democratic holiday there is, and we're not sneering at it.

But asked which one is better, the mountains win on every axis except effort: they work year-round, they're emptier, the air is better, and you come home with a story instead of a tan. Mountains, with a beach day on the way back.

Disagree? That's what the buttons are for.

Next on the docket

Life · No. 017

Cats or dogs?

DogsCats
Life · No. 018

Toilet paper: over or under?

OverUnder
Life · No. 019

Window or aisle?

AisleWindow