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Vacation Episode

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"Ethel, how do you say 'We're from Queens' in British?"
James Lipton: In that picture.. Kelly's grandfather invites the entire gang to Hawaii for summer holiday.
Dustin Diamond: Yes! The thing about that—
James Lipton: [interrupting] They expect a marvelous time at the beach, sans Mr. Belding. They arrive.. and discover Mr. Belding is there as well, don't they?
Dustin Diamond: Yes! Yes, he is! [cracking up] They didn't think he was gonna be there, but he is! That's the twist part! [laughs]
— Saturday Night Live sketch "Inside The Actor's Studio - Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style"

In an ongoing series that normally takes place in a few fixed locations, the Vacation Episode is a one-off episode where the characters leave their familiar grounds for a well-deserved rest. The vacation will invariably be set in a faraway and exotic location for maximum impact; given the higher costs of shooting on location, the episode will often be longer than usual, to make best use of the budget. A Special Guest or three might also be included. Expect some jokes at the expense of the city, country or people visited, targeting National Stereotypes, funny foreigners or a Culture Clash between our protagonists and the foreigners. When jokes are made at the expense of the protagonists' own nation or culture it's My Country Tis of Thee That I Sting.

May overlap with other types of episodes depending on the destination; for instance, a Vacation Episode to Hawaii will inevitably also be a Beach Episode. It may also turn out to be a Busman's Holiday. Occurs in lots of anime, often as a Beach Episode.

Also see Christmas Episode, Beach Episode, Road Trip Plot, Hot Springs Episode, Ski-Resort Episode, Camping Episode, Cruise Episode, and the Episodes index. Parent trope to Viva Las Vegas!. Add Horror and it becomes a Deadly Road Trip. While in another country the characters may be there for a mission, a task, a quest or a search. Watch for the Eiffel Tower Effect, where the background just so happens to show off an iconic local landmark.

If it turns out that the episode was just made as a pretext to send the cast and crew on vacation, see Vacation, Dear Boy. Also see the similar Vacation Films.

Examples:

    open/close all folders 

    Anime & Manga 
  • Crayon Shin-chan have a few episodes where the Nohara family goes overseas, which can last for a few arcs.
    • Shin-Chan actually went to Korea twice, once after winning a meet-and-greet contest with the comic artist, Usui Yoshito alongside his friend Masao, and once after Misae won a contest where she can visit the set of her favorite K-drama, "Summer" in Seoul, which the family simply tags along (Hiroshi having never watched the drama where the film is set, while Shin-chan and Himawari is more than interested to go overseas).
    • In the Second Movie, Nohara family visits the fictional Middle-Eastern nation of Buri-buri, and Shin-Chan gets abducted alongside the Prince of Buri-buri (the two of them being Identical Strangers) by agents of an international crime syndicate. As it turns out Shin-Chan and the Prince are actually the human-shaped keys to unlocking a secret vault, but the two boys' abductors had a change of heart after learning they're supposed to eliminate the boys, something they're reluctant to proceed through. Hiroshi and Misae Nohara ends up pulling their best Papa Wolf and Mama Bear impression as they team up with Ruru, the Prince's badass Bedlah Babe bodyguard, on an epic rescue mission which ends with the bad guys being defeated and the Nohara family being treated as important guests by the Buri-buri royalty. Unfortunately, after the Noharas returns to Japan, it turns out the Prince had learnt Shin-Chan's butt-dance, much to the king and queen's chagrin.
    • One of the last volumes have an adventure where the Noharas goes to Spain, only to end up in an impromptu chase in Barcelona after a Satchel Switcheroo have Shin-Chan mistakenly collecting a pouch containing a priceless artifact which supposedly holds "the key to Spain's greatest treasure" while mistaking it for the pouch containing Himawari's diapers. An impromptu chase occurs between the Noharas and the two thugs after the artifact, only for them to find out in the last minute that it's actually a film prop for a non-existent treasure. At least they had fun!
  • A few Doraemon movies, all the time which ends in disaster:
    • Doraemon: Nobita and the Tin Labyrinth have Nobita's father, Nobisuke, making a reservation with the mysterious Hotel Burikin, a resort on an island paradise where guests can "ski and swim at the same time". Nobita and Doraemon gets there first, and later Nobita's friends, Shizuka, Gian and Suneo gets dragged along into the trip, where it turns out the mysterious island is located not on Earth, but a whole different planet called Chamocha.
    • Doraemon: Nobita and the Galaxy Super-express have the gang boarding the titular Super-Express, a train which travels through outer space leading to various vacation worlds, but before they could arrive at their grand destination the train gets hijacked by a hostile Puppeteer Parasite alien race who wants to assimilate all humans on board.
  • In Episode 15 of Futari wa Pretty Cure, the Misumi family (and Honoka) go on a vacation to Hibiki Island (note this was years before Suite Pretty Cure ♪).
  • Love Hina spent most of its time in the Hinata Inn, but had a Beach Episode and a few other trips.
  • Likewise Negima! Magister Negi Magi, both manga and anime.
  • Ouran High School Host Club had the occasional Beach Episode.
  • The K-On! movie is about the band going to England to celebrate their graduation.
  • Pokémon: The Series:
    • Pokémon: The Original Series as two episodes where the gang visit the resort Porta Vista. Notably this is exclusive to the anime. The episode 'Beauty & the Beach' revolved around a beach Beauty Contest. The follow-on 'Tentacool & Tentacruel' subverted this, as it turned into a plot about stopping an infestation of Tentacool from destroying the city. Both episodes were banned in the US, as the first one was too sexual, while the other episode had events that were a bit similar to 9/11.
    • Many of the movies are basically large vacation episodes.
    • Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon begins with Satoshi/Ash and his mother having a vacation in Alola. The events in that first episode would lead Ash to stay in Alola to go to the local Pokémon Trainer School and learn more about the region, their culture and their Pokémon. His mother still went home as planned, though.
  • Yu-Gi-Oh!: Capsule Monsters starts with Yugi and friends winning a trip to India, which gets derailed when their plane crashes and the enter the Capsule Monsters world.
  • Maki got A Day in the Limelight in Kaguya-sama: Love Is War where she heads to India over winter break to seek enlightenment. It also featured the long-awaited introduction of her twin brother Mikado, who had come along with her.
  • Sazae-san has a TV special where the family goes to Hawaii.
  • Mother of the Goddess' Dormitory, in episode 5 and 6, the cast go on vacation to the beach.

    Comic Books 

    Fan Works 
  • The Bolt Chronicles:
    • Penny, her mom, and the three pets go to Paris for a TV-Con autograph signing session and do an extensive amount of sightseeing in "The Paris Trip."
    • Penny and Bolt tour the United States and sightsee voraciously on a book signing jaunt in "The Imaginary Letters."
    • Penny and Bolt find time for sightseeing during their Los Angeles film session trip in "The Cameo."
  • Chapters 1 and 3 of Calvin and Hobbes Get XTREME!.
  • The Empath: The Luckiest Smurf story "Empath's Honeymoon", where Empath and Smurfette spend their vacation as a newlywed couple on a remote island together.
  • The Fifty Shades Series: The plot of "A New Normal" is the family heading off on a holiday (on a yacht) to help recover from the events of the previous fic.
  • Mega Man: Defender of the Human Race has episode 13, about the Lights going on vacation to Hawaii.
  • Naru-Hina Chronicles: Chapters 43-47 focus on Naruto and his True Companions spending their vacation together at some resort town.
  • Nova: Homecoming: The fic is kicked off by Lori taking a vacation to Great Lakes City, though she is considering going there permanently.

    Film — Live-Action 

    Literature 
  • Angela Nicely: “Healthy Holiday!” involves Angela and her mother vacationing at a weight-loss spa due to Mrs. Nicely fearing that she’s gained weight, but they hate it because it forces them to exercise and doesn’t give them enough food.
  • The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series is fond of these.
    • The Last Straw has a small plot of Greg, Rodrick, and Frank going on a camping trip. As they arrive to the campgrounds, it's raining very hard, so they have to stay in a hotel instead.
    • In Dog Days, Greg joins Rowley's family on a trip to the boardwalk over the summer. Ultimately, his behavior (hitting Rowley with a rubber band) gets him sent home early.
    • The Long Haul is uses the vacation as its entire plot. The Heffleys go on a summer road trip, visiting such sites as a county fair and a water park. Nothing goes right for the family, and by the end, they have lost their credit cards and a lot of luggage, have to live with a pet pig, and their car has a busted radiator.
    • Old School has a Halfway Plot Switch where Greg goes on a trip to an old-fashioned farm, taking up the second half of the book. He already has to deal with the gross food, dirty cabins, and a lack of privacy, but worst of all is rumors of a deranged farmer going around the campgrounds at night.
    • The Getaway also doubles as a Christmas Episode, where the Heffleys go to a tropical island called Isla de Corales over December. When they arrive, Greg has continual run-ins with scary animals, Rodrick meets a girlfriend who eventually leaves him after he gets sun poisoning, Manny tries to adopt wild animals, Frank's traveling knowledge gets him into trouble, and Susan is insistent on finding a place for the perfect family photo. By the end, the family has been banned from the resort.
    • The Deep End takes place over the summer as the family goes on an RV trip.
  • Jaine Austen Mysteries:
    • Killer Cruise, which takes place on a cruise ship.
    • "The Dangers of Gingerbread Cookies" sees Jaine visiting her parents in their Florida retirement community for Christmas.
    • Pampered to Death sees Jaine staying at a spa... or, rather, a place advertised as a spa.
    • Death of a Bachelorette sees Jaine going to Paratito island, a South Pacific Island near Tahiti.
  • Murder Wears a Mummer's Mask: Michael Shayne the private detective is usually investigating murders in and around his home town of Miami. In this book however he takes a vacation to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, and gets entangled in yet another murder. His wife Phyllis is irritated at Shayne for getting mixed up in a murder while they're on vacation.
  • The Plant That Ate Dirty Socks: Book 2 sees the family going to Florida for a few weeks. Book 5 has a smaller version where they visit a museum and paleontology dig for a weekend.

    Live-Action TV 
  • In the second-season 2 Broke Girls episode "And the Bear Problem", Caroline, Max and Andy go on a weekend trip to a cabin.
  • The Spanish dramedy Aquí no hay quien viva had one that is at both a beach and a pool.
  • Barnaby Jones had a "Nightmare In Hawaii" in the final season, where J.R. (not that one) was framed for murder. This episode averted California Doubling by being filmed in the 50th state (this being a CBS show, that was to be expected).
  • Blossom kicked off a season with a five-episode storyline (basically a TV movie, which was how it was originally shown) in Paris.
  • In season 3 of Boy Meets World, Topanga wins a trip to Disney World. Cory follows her to make up with her.
  • The Brady Bunch
    • Season 1 had them go on a camping trip as one of the many episodes dealing with a blended family that were common that season and barely got mentioned in later seasons outside of the theme song.
    • The Season 3 premiere was a three-part trip to the Grand Canyon, with gold mining, ghost towns, and Jim Backus as a crazed prospector.
    • Season 4 started with a three-part family trip to Hawaii, where the kids toured the local beaches, got involved with a cursed tiki, and ran into Don Ho and Vincent Price.
    • In the final season, one episode took place almost entirely at King's Island, a Theme Park near Cincinnati, Ohio.
  • The Movies of certain seventies Brit Coms, for instance Are You Being Served? (Spain), Holiday on the Buses (holiday camp) and The Likely Lads (caravanning). More recent examples are Kevin & Perry Go Large (Ibiza) and The Inbetweeners Movie (Crete).
  • El Chavo del ocho series finale is the three-parts episode "Viaje a Acapulco" with the entire Vecindad going on a trip to the Acapulco beaches.
  • Cinderella and the Four Knights: In episode 7, Chairman Kang rewards Ha-won with a vacation. She decides to take the boys, along with Yoon-sung, Hye-ji, and her friend Ja-young to the Kangs' swanky vacation home. Cue poolside shenanigans, horseback riding, and drinking games throughout episode 8.
  • Subverted in a first season episode of Criminal Minds. It starts with the team getting time off and Elle and Morgan going to Jamaica (?). They promptly discover a dead body and the rest of the team is called in.
  • CSI: NY: In the Season 6 finale, "Vacation Getaway," Danny and Lindsay take Lucy on a trip to Long Island. They are shown driving there in a convertible, building a sandcastle on the beach, and visiting a lighthouse. Things go bad when a serial killer who's been stalking Danny shows up and the rest of the team have to swoop in and save the day.
  • The U.S. version of Deal or No Deal did a series of "World Tour" episodes filmed from the sets of foreign versions of the show. It was suspiciously limited to three countries that had modelled their presentation off the U.S. version, including the Philippines, Estonia, and South Africa.
  • Designing Women had a bunch:
    • "Cruising": The girls take a cruise on a ship they're hired to decorate;
    • "Reservations For Eight": A trip with their boyfriends devolves into a battle of the sexes;
    • "Reservations For Twelve, Plus Ursula": A group vacation is jeopardized when the men pay a little too much attention to buxom au pair Ursula;
    • "E.P. Phone Home": The girls visit Graceland;
    • "The Wilderness Experience": Bernice takes the girls on a leadership retreat for women;
    • "Nightmare From Hee Haw": Another group trip finds the boys in a fight with a backwoods family;
    • "Julia and Suzanne's Big Adventure": The Sugarbaker sisters travel to Japan to pick up Suzanne's new car;
    • "La Place sans Souci": Suzanne springs for a trip to a day spa for the girls and Anthony;
    • "Blame It On New Orleans": The girls and Anthony go to New Orleans for a design expo and Mary Jo sleeps with a married man;
    • "L.A. Story": Alison invests in a film and she and the girls visit the production in Los Angeles;
    • "On the Road Again": Mary Jo, Bernice and Julia take a road trip to be more spontaneous and wind up at a truck stop;
    • "Viva Las Vegas": Everybody goes to Vegas and Anthony marries a showgirl;
    • "The Odessey": Traveling to the Clinton inauguration turns into a nightmare.
  • Season three of A Different World sends half of its lead characters to an island in the Caribbean for its two-part episode "Getaway." Not only are there half-dressed guest stars, but things are quickly complicated with an approaching storm and a pair of hunky, murderous druglords.
  • Doctor Who
    • The Classic Series had at least one of these, "City of Death". The plan was to mock up Monte Carlo, but the producer in charge of making best use of budgeting, John Nathan-Turner, calculated they could shoot in Paris for real with a skeleton crew for almost the same cost. As a result, what was to have been a 1920s casino-themed parlor drama became a contemporary Paris romp, with long stretches of Tom Baker and Lalla Ward goofing around on Parisian streets and atop the Eiffel Tower before meeting the resident maniac alien. (Weirdly, they also filmed in-studio scenes back in London featuring the most contrived Parisian stereotypes imaginable — striped shirts, berets and neckerchiefs, haughty artists, etc.) They even had special guest stars: John Cleese and Eleanor Bron as art critics at the Louvre.
    • Nathan-Turner subsequently became the show's head producer, and made a habit of one story each season featuring overseas filming; "Arc of Infinity" went to Amsterdam, "Planet of Fire" to Lanzarote (the location filming being used for both Lanzarote itself and an alien planet), and "The Two Doctors" to Seville. That last one went considerably over-budget due to the location footage having to be remounted due to a scratched film negative (although it later transpired that the scratch was virtually imperceptible and the refilming was not necessary), and a reduction in the show's budget meant the remaining four seasons would have no overseas filming.
    • In NuWho there's "Orphan 55", in which the Doctor receives a transport cube that takes her and her companions to restful Tranquility Spa on an unnamed desert planet. It's actually a Bad Future Earth overrun with vicious mutants.
  • Doom Patrol (2019): In "Vacay Patrol," Cliff, Rita, Jane, and Vic go on vacation to a resort that's seen better days. Unbeknownst to them, the only other vacationers are a pair of aliens planted there decades prior with the mission of eliminating Rita. The mission succeeds, as all four members of the Doom Patrol are killed.
  • Emergency! had "Welcome to Santa Rosa County", where the paramedic duo tried to go on a fishing trip in another California county, but work followed them.
  • Endurance: One of the specials for Hawaii showed the winning team of the that season go on their grand prize trip to the Galápagos Islands.
  • Family Matters had a few, but the biggest one occured in the last couple of seasons when Steve Urkel created a teleportation device that allowed the normally frugal Winslows to travel to France for two episodes.
  • The Facts of Life got two TV movies The Facts of Life Goes to Paris in the Mrs. Garrett era, and The Facts of Life Down Under when it was Beverly Ann.
  • Family Ties has the TV movie Family Ties Vacation where the Keatons went to England.note 
  • After the first few seasons, Friends began a pattern of making every season finale a two-parter vacation episode.
    • Although with the exception of the London episode(s), most of these were filled with California Doubling.
  • Full House had episodes of the family going to Hawaii and Walt Disney World.
  • In season two of The Golden Girls, Dorothy, Rose and Blanche visit an unnamed Banana Republic country, and wind up stranded on what appears to be a Deserted Island.
  • The Getting Together episode "Blue Christmas" doubles as a Christmas Episode, as the characters rent a mountain cabin so Jenny can have a white Christmas.
  • Gossip Girl season four sees Blair and Serena enjoy their summer vacation in Paris (filmed on location).
  • Green Acres: The penultimate episode, "Hawaii Honeymoon", has Lisa and Oliver take a fifth honeymoon in Hawaii. Most of the episode deals with the shenanigans of the hotel owner's daughter. This was a pilot for a spinoff, Pam, that wasn't picked up.
  • Hannah Montana also has one every year.
  • Head of the Class had the class go to Moscow, the first American show to film there.
  • Home Economics: The season three premiere, "Mickey Ears, $19.99" has Connor take the entire family to Disneyland so he can get Tom at "peak happiness" so he can tell him he bought the company publishing his book.
  • Home Improvement had two, one where the Taylor family goes to a lake house, and one where Tim, Jill, Al, Heidi and Wilson go on a rafting trip for Tim's birthday.
  • How about an entire vacation season? Spanish Sketch Comedy Homo Zapping had a summer Spin-Off titled Homo Zapping Tours, in which some of the show's characters (parodies of Spanish TV personalities) traveled the world together.
  • I Love Lucy
    • The show had an entire vacation Story Arc that ate most of the fourth season and leaked into the fifth. It pretty much inflated every aspect of this trope to fit — especially, since it was a trip to Hollywood, the Special Guest part.
    • Also later in the fifth season, the tour through Europe.
  • Inside George Webley: George and Rosemary go for a holiday in Bridlington in "Are You Sure or Only Positive", where George spends his time worrying whether he switched the gas off at home or not.
  • The Gang on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia goes to Ireland for half of Season 15 after Dee gets cast in a film as "Obnoxious American MILF" and the others get blackout drunk brainstorming vacation ideas.
  • The Jeffersons went to Hawaii in a four-part episode arc.
  • Jon & Kate Plus Eight went to Hawaii to renew their wedding vows.
  • The Late Late Show spent a week in Paris, with Craig Ferguson and Kristen Bell visiting popular tourist destinations and eating dinner with Jean Reno.
  • Late Show with David Letterman spent a week in London (which also marked the only time the series saw the light of British terrestrial television - BBC2 aired those episodes). Johnny Carson and Bill Maher also had UK jaunts.
  • The first part of "The Doorway", the Season 6 opener on Mad Men, contains a storyline of Don's trip to Hawaii with Megan. It's a bit of a deconstruction of this trope, as the fakeness of the whole '60s Hawaiian vacation is clear and Don's alienation really comes out there.
  • Malcolm in the Middle
    • One episode dealt with the family visiting a waterpark, and the next episode was about them getting stuck in traffic during the drive home.
    • Another played played with: Malcolm and Reese try to sneak off to Burning Man only to be caught by their parents...who decide it sounds like a delightful family vacation. Reese embraces the spirit of Burning Man, Lois does too yet still acts like its a family fun time, Malcolm gets into it in a sense but can't completely let go, Hal tries to act like its any other vacation but his conservative nature and hatred of the free spirited nature of the festival makes him hole up in the RV (the other people thinking he's making a live art piece about pretentiousness), and Dewey ... is forced to do everything Hal doesn't want to.
  • Married... with Children:
    • There were three episodes (actually, a three-part episode) in England (ironically, the series wasn't running on British TV at the time!note 
    • And the two-parter in picturesque Dumpwater FL.
    • And of course they took an almost obligatory jaunt to Fort Lauderdale.
    • Played with in an episode where Al is making preparations to use his work vacation to go on a world tour. Of course, Al being too poor to afford such a luxury, this entails him just sitting on his cordoned off couch watching racy movies set in different parts of the world. What makes this funny is he actually forces his family to act as though he is away, even having Peg and the kids meet him at the "airport" holding up a name sign while he, somehow, has small souvenir fists to give them. When during the vacation, Bud attempts to interrupt the experience and get his father to admit how stupid this all is, Al very deliberately explains to his "beloved" son how this fantasy is very much a part of the reason Al hasn't run amok on his ungrateful family.
  • The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel: Season 2 sees a three episode arc covering the Weissmans' and Maisels' annual summer vacation to Steiner Mountain Resort in the Catskills (in the 1950s, rich Jewish families would leave the city to Borscht Belt resorts like this in the summer months).
  • Mimpi Metropolitan: Episode 16 has the main characters go to Taman Mini Indonesia Indah.
  • Modern Family does this (roughly) Once a Season: the family have visited Hawaii, a Wyoming ranch, Disneyland, Palm Springs and in the episodes of the same name Las Vegas and Australia. It's usually made a point that vacation episodes of the show are filmed on location, and are often double episodes or season premieres/finales.
  • The Monkees episode "The Monkees in Paris" where the guys walk off the set tired of the same old scripts and go to Paris.
  • Season 3 of My Wife and Kids started with a three-part episode in Hawaii, with stops in New York, Chicago, Denver and other cities before they arrived (two days later).
  • The Partridge Family has "Swiss Family Partridge," in which the family plans to spend a weekend in a mountain cabin; unfortunately for them, it rains for days on end, sinking the bus into the mud and causing some of them to worry that they will die.
  • Bravo always sends The Real Housewives on at least one group trip for drama and hijinx.
  • The Rockford Files ventured to Hawaii for "The Hawaiian Headache" in the sixth (and final) season.
  • Roseanne had an episode where Dan and Roseanne go to Las Vegas, featuring nonstop gambling and a visit with Wayne Newton (and a Wayne Newton impersonator). Not long after, they invited themselves along on a neighbour's RV trip to California (originally Branson, Missouri). Another episode featured a trip to Walt Disney World.
  • Root into Europe: In this comedy series about a British couple visiting various European countries each episode is set in another country, namely France, Spain, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium.
  • Sabrina the Teenage Witch
    • A Season 2 episode has Sabrina and her classmates sent to Disney World by her Quizmaster. This is because the plants she needs for a potion are native to the area, and she spends the episode trying to get the quiz finished so she can enjoy the park.
    • The Season 3 finale takes place at a family reunion in Hawaii.
    • Season 5 has one revolving around spring break, where Sabrina's aunts cast a spell to make it "good clean fun" and turn it into The Theme Park Version of a 60s beach movie.
    • Not to mention the TV movies Sabrina Down Under and Sabrina Goes to Rome.
    • The penultimate episode has Sabrina, Roxie and Morgan going on a cruise to Bermuda for Sabrina's bachelorette party. They end up marooned on a desert island.
  • Saved by the Bell:
    • An entire arc in Season 3 has the gang all getting jobs at the Malibu Beach Club, while Zack has a romance with the club owner's daughter.
    • The series finale has Zack and Kelly married in Las Vegas.
    • An earlier feature-length special has Kelly's grandpa inviting everyone to his hotel in Hawaii for summer vacation.
  • Scrubs: Season 8 two-parter "My Soul on Fire" is set in the Bahamas and doubles as a Beach Episode. The Janitor invites everyone to his wedding and is annoyed when they actually show up as he just wanted the gifts people would send instead of arriving on three days notice.
  • Sesame Street had a series of episodes where the characters went to Puerto Rico to visit Maria's family, and similar arcs where they went to New Mexico to meet Luis's family and Hawaii to meet Buffy's family. Also, there were one-hour specials like Big Bird in China and Big Bird in Japan.
  • Step by Step
    • In one episode Frank wins a trip to Maui and is allowed to bring the family along. The episodes deviate into several different subplots involving the family members trying to enjoy their time in Hawaii.
    • In another, the family goes to Disney World.
  • Steve and the kids win a trip to Universal Studios Orlando on The Steve Harvey Show. Regina tags along because she's always wanted to ride The Hulk rollercoaster, and Cedric uses the trip to give Lovita a honeymoon.
  • The TeenNick shows tend to have one every year.
  • The Transmart: From December 2016 to February 2017, the show eschewed the usual retail store setting and had multiple episode set in various vacation spots outside Jakarta, such as Bali, Bandung, and Yogyakarta.

    Video Games 
  • Persona 5: Your Class Trip involves the party traveling by plane out of Japan and over to Hawaii.
  • TOEM: After completing the main game, the protagonist is invited by their Nana to come relax at the tropical Basto region. However, as the Basto region has its own creatures for the Monster Compendium as well as a Community Card to fill with stamps and several achievements, the region proves to be no different from the others in terms of gameplay.
  • The WarioWare series is typically set in Diamond City, but Move It! is instead about Wario winning a vacation for 20 to Caresaway Island.

    Web Animation 
  • Episode 3 of Llamas with Hats: Carl enjoys himself rather more than Paul does, as Paul's day is ruined by Carl toppling a South American Government and pushing people into a giant fan.
  • Dr. Havoc's Diary: Episode 10, where the Havocs travel to Puerto Vallarta for three days of sun, fun, and relaxation.
  • The Most Popular Girls in School: Season 5 is an entire Vacation Season, where the characters go to France.
  • The Strong Bad Email episode "vacation" had Strong Bad taking a vacation after spending so much time answering emails. The video was updated sporadically over the course of a week, as Strong Bad sent postcards from each of the tourist traps he visited.

    Webcomics 

    Web Videos 
  • Word of God has said that after the first one, the commercial specials are done whenever The Nostalgia Critic is in need of a break from proper reviewing.
  • StacheBros: "Mario & Luigi's Delfino Dilemma" involves Mario and Luigi taking a vacation to Isle Delfino at the same time as Bowser and they try to sneak into his room when they think he kidnapped Peach.
  • Pokémon Talk: Implied by the episode title, "Vacation".

    Western Animation 
  • American Dragon: Jake Long: Jake Long will always have some magical emergency even during what would otherwise be vacation episodes.
    • "The Long Weekend": His Dad took him into a camping trip, where Jake ended up having to save a village of sprites.
    • "Feeding Frenzy": The Longs were visiting relatives in Florida and a gang of magical sharks caused mayhem.
    • "The Hong Kong Longs": The Longs went to Hong Kong for a two-week vacation. It was also the time for all dragons on Earth to meet at Victoria Peak and the Dark Dragon captured Lao Shi to force Jake to slip a mind-controlling potion to control all dragons. This was also the only episode of the series to have no scene in America.
    • A Hawaiian vacation set up a cross over with Lilo & Stitch: The Series where Jake had to deal with a cousin.
  • Animaniacs had a song called "I'm Mad!" where they go on a car trip.
  • Arthur:
    • "Arthur's Family Vacation": Arthur has to come along with his family to an ocean side vacation despite his wishes to spend his summer at camp. While nothing goes right for them at first, he manages to turn the vacation around by doing a bunch of fun stuff on the last day.
    • Played with in "Staycation". Arthur's parents are excited about going on a vacation, but it turns out that Grandma Thora won't be home in time to watch Arthur and D.W., so they are forced to cancel. To help them feel better, Arthur and D.W. give them a "staycation" in the backyard while they do tasks around the house.
    • The special The Rhythm and Roots of Arthur has the family (and Buster) go to Ohio to celebrate Arthur's great grand uncle's birthday.
  • Slinkman in Camp Lazlo wanted to go to Hawaii for his break, but Lumpus, lazy as always, tricked him into thinking Camp Kidney was Hawaii. It took a while, but when Slinkman finally did believe that lie, the bean scouts also caught on the act (thinking of it more of a fun game). The bean scouts played along so well that, when Lumpus decided to tell the truth, he instead ended believing he was in Hawaii.
  • Chowder's "The Vacation" occupies its time with Chowder getting stuck in Mung Daal Catering's bathroom and the others trying to get him out.
  • That episode of Cow and Chicken that spends its entire runtime on a plane... that turns out hasn't even taken off yet.
  • The third TV Movie of Danny Phantom, "Reality Trip", dealt with Danny planning to go on a cross country trip for Summer with Tucker and Sam. While they do get to, they also have to deal with Freakshow's return, their families getting kidnapped, having to hunt down three mystical gems, and Danny's Secret Identity being revealed to whole world.
  • Dastardly & Muttley in Their Flying Machines: "Vacation Trip Trap" had Dick Dastardly's two-week furlough approved, but he can't steer clear of the Vulture Squadron's line of fire when they're left to chase Yankee Doodle Pigeon.
  • One "Thunder Lizards" segment on Eek! The Cat was about Bill and Scooter actually inventing the concept of a vacation.
  • The Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends episode "Foster's Goes To Europe" deconstructs the "packing up and getting to the airport" part of a vacation, much to the dismay of those who were expecting the Foster's gang to go to Europe as, well, it was in the title.
  • Gravity Falls: While the entire series takes place during Dipper and Mabel’s summer vacation, "Roadside Attraction" is the most traditional vacation episode. The twins, Grunkle Stan, Soos, Candy and Grenda go on a road trip through Oregon so Stan can sabotage his fellow tourist traps. Dipper also uses the trip to try to talk to girls and it ends with the gang fighting a spider woman and Soos accidentally left behind at a corn maze.
  • The Ni Hao, Kai-Lan episode, "Ni Hao's Trip to China" is a textbook example. It's a double-length episode where everyone visits Kai-lan's great-aunt in China, tries various new things, and meet a newborn baby panda.
  • Moose and Zee had a song called "Are We There Yet?", about how exciting a vacation can be.
  • Phineas and Ferb is set over the course of summer vacation between school years, but some episodes will see the characters leave Danville, like "Hawaiian Vacation", the England-set "A Hard Day's Knight" and "Elementary My Dear Stacy", and the "Where's Perry" two-parter where they visit Africa.
  • The Real Ghostbusters has two vacation episodes: "Camping Out" when the entire cast goes camping (and find Bigfoot) and "Transcendental Tourist" when Peter, Winston and Slimmer go in a fishing trip (and find out a family of ghosts).
  • The Rugrats did a couple vacation episodes, as well as a vacation movie.
  • The Simpsons
  • Parodied in Smiling FriendsS1E9 "The Smiling Friends go to Brazil." They arrive at the airport in Rio de Janeiro, only to find out that Pim thought someone else was booking the hotel, and since it's currently Carnival, they'll have no hope of booking a hotel in their price range. They just resolve to fly back instead.
  • SpongeBob SquarePants did a whole series of vacation episodes in the 8th season.
    • "A SquarePants Family Vacation": The SquarePants family (and Patrick) go to the Great Barrier Reef, but get lost along the way and end up in a strange forest.
    • "Mooncation" is a Trip to the Moon Plot where SpongeBob and Sandy go to the moon.
    • "Patrick's Staycation" has SpongeBob turn Patrick's house into a hotel for him.
    • "Walking the Plankton" is about SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs going on a cruise, while Plankton and Karen follow them.
    • "Mr. Krabs Takes a Vacation" has Mr. Krabs and SpongeBob take a tour of the Bikini Bottom Mint.
  • Steven Universe:
    • In the episode "Maximum Capacity", Greg and Amethyst get hooked watching old recordings of Li'l Butler. Towards the end of the episode Amethyst pulls out a two-part Hawaii special.
    • Downplayed in "Steven's Dream": Steven and Greg go to Korea, but they're there to investigate Pink Diamond's assassination. They still do some vacationing, but this is limited to a Good-Times Montage. "Steven's Dream" was originally planned to be two episodes, the latter called "Steven Abroad" with a greater focus on Steven and Greg enjoying their stay.
    • "Gemcation" has the Crystal Gems and Greg taking Steven to a rural vacation house to take his mind off narrowly escaping abduction by Homeworld.
  • Time Squad had a later episode where despite being on the job and called to help out Sir Henry Morton Stanley in the heart of Africa, they all ditch him to have a vacation of their own.
  • Tiny Toon Adventures
  • The Tom and Jerry episode "Neapolitan Mouse" features Tom and Jerry on vacation in Naples, Italy.

 
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