Over Christmas we visited my fiancée’s mother. when we exchanged gifts I was happy and surprised to open a gift which was $250 gift card for an airline. Awesome!! I love to travel. All though, I juggle a corporate leadership job full time and I own a trucking company so time off is a challenge. Shortly after my fiancee and I opened our gift cards his mother announced that it comes with a catch. We have to use the gift card for a family trip to ……..Missouri. Im sure there’s are some gems here and I’m always open to new destinations, but I have to admit MO is not at the top of my list for places to visit. His mother selected MO to visit because her best friend lives there. I thanked her for the gift and begrudgingly told myself that I’ll just politely suck it up and at least I will spend some quality time with family and the destination doesn’t matter. Fast forward to a lunch with his mother- she announced we’re no longer going to MO and she would like to use the cards to travel to Florida for his sisters graduation- and we will be going to Disney World. This would be my personal hell. I am – 35 year op corporate woman with no children. I have zero interest in going to Disney land. It will be wildly expensive and I have already traveled to Florida for his sisters previous graduation and had an AWFUL time. My fiancée didn’t plan anything, he expected me to stay in a motel room with him and his dad which made me uncomfortable. I ended up sleeping on a cot in his moms hotel room….He didn’t have any money and so I footed a lot of the expenses. I was roped into going to Universal studios. It was 90 degrees and we waited in line for hours, managing to only go in 4 rides in a 9-10 hour period. my fiancées sister is a “Disney adult”. I don’t share this nostalgia even remotely. my fiancée was acting like a child when we were there, quoting spongebob and acting hyperactive. I felt really isolated and just wanted the trip to end. I do not want to repeat this experience. Would I be an asshole to reject the gift and decline to attend the trip because I do not want to go to Disney World?
NTA.
A gift with strings isn’t a gift at all, especially one that would then require you to spend even MORE money.
But also, uh, your fiance is throwing up some real red flags here:
>**My fiancée didn’t plan anything, he expected me to stay in a motel room with him and his dad which made me uncomfortable.** I ended up sleeping on a cot in his moms hotel room….**He didn’t have any money and so I footed a lot of the expenses.** I was roped into going to Universal studios. It was 90 degrees and we waited in line for hours, managing to only go in 4 rides in a 9-10 hour period. my fiancées sister is a “Disney adult”. I don’t share this nostalgia even remotely. **my fiancée was acting like a child when we were there, quoting spongebob and acting hyperactive.**
I feel like there are WAY bigger issues at play here other than your MIL and her “gifts”…