Half of Koreans have at least once thought about taking an alternative trip to avoid the “holiday stress” that comes with family holidays such as “Chuseok,” a survey by Expedia has revealed.

According to the survey “holiday stress,” such as nagging family members, cooking for an enormous crowd and driving long hours back to remote hometowns, makes for restless few days.

The online travel agency targeted more than 1,000 Korean men and women between ages 20 and 50 on Aug. 19 and found that 50 percent of the total respondents said they have experienced “planning an alternative trip because of holiday stress.”

Reasons for why they dislike the annual family-oriented holiday time vary according to age.

Those in their 20s said the main reason they wanted to avoid the family reunion was because of the nagging they had to endure about job hunting and settling down.

Those in their 30s said the laborious cooking bothered them the most, while those in their 40s said traffic congestion was the worst.

Other popular reasons were the “financial burden” and “having to entertain the nephew.” 

Every year, Koreans nationwide flock to their hometowns for the mid-autumn holiday, “Chuseok.” Men often drive the family long hours through traffic while women take up the cooking and cleaning.

Older family members are expected to offer money to younger children for good fortune.

Expedia’s survey showed that not many of the respondents had gone through with their alternative travel plans.

Only 22 percent of the respondents actually went on an alternative trip, with the majority opting to travel domestically.

The rest said they withdrew the plan because they had to show at the family gathering, or because they had failed to reserve the tickets or that they did not have money or time to spare.

By Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)