We Are Staycationing

We’ve looked at all of the options for our 2014 holiday and have decided that as we are surrounded by beautiful countryside and amazing coastlines here in the UK which we haven’t yet explored that home territories it is. We are very much an outdoorsy family in that we can’t wait to don our hiking boots, pack a picnic and get up onto our North Yorkshire Moors or hit the Forestry Commission trails. The joy of having boys is that they love to be outside, climbing, rolling mud and generally just adventuring. As it turns out there are a great number of places around the UK we can go to and enjoy these activities without ever having to get onto a plane.

My two just love exploring the great outdoors, regardless of what the UK weather throws at us!
My two just love exploring the great outdoors, regardless of what the UK weather throws at us!

Looking at the Owners Direct website there are a vast number of accommodations available in the UK (and abroad if we decided to take the plunge next year) and already I’ve narrowed it down to at least seven possible sites 🙂

Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely agree that camping should be the authentic adventurers sleeping place of choice (and we have some camping weekends in the diary already) but for our main holiday I’ll be looking forward to hot showers and soft beds at the end of a busy day so having a pretty cottage waiting for us with all the mod cons appeals to me!

Roy fancies Wales. South Wales especially and trekking as well as horse riding with Kieran. Now horse riding is not an option for me (the last time I went horse riding was on our honeymoon eleven years ago and I ended up in hospital with an allergic reaction to something horsey – it wasn’t pretty, or particularly romantic!) so Taylor and I would either find somewhere else to visit (and looking at the areas around the cottages we are looking at there would be plenty) or we’d use the time to just chill out while the big boys did their stuff.

Wales sounds fabulous and is definitely on our hit list however I’ve been looking at family holidays in and around Cornwall. We have spectacular beaches up here in North Yorkshire with Whitby, Robin Hood’s Bay, Staithes and Flamborough Head (a favourite) to name a few however I have it on good authority that Cornwall’s seaside towns offer the very best ice cream, homemade “proper” Cornish pasties and of course slightly warmer beaches!

 

With blue UK skies like these to enjoy you can see why we’ve chosen to holiday at home this year!)
With blue UK skies like these to enjoy you can see why we’ve chosen to holiday at home this year!)

There are so many family friendly holiday options available and I have my eye on the 5* luxury self-catering barn conversion with views over the Kensey Valley at the moment. The barn looks amazing and self-catering doesn’t bother me in the slightest. I love to cook, even on holiday so having a break from it and choosing full-board somewhere doesn’t really appeal. With this option we can pack picnics for when our and cook whenever we are back / hungry and of course it isn’t a hardship to prepare food in a stunningly gorgeous kitchen.

There will be many coins tossed and a few thumb wars played out while we decided where exactly we are going (Cornwall!) however wherever we go I’m happy with the idea of another staycation and exploring a new area with my adventurers sounds perfect to me.

What have you got planned this summer?

The Great Family Road Trip

Anyone who has been anywhere near my social media accounts recently will have spotted the link to my piece for the Tesco Magazine which was all about what to do and where to go in Yorkshire and the North East (if you missed it here it is).

For those of you who are outside of my local area and who perhaps don’t fancy the North East for a trip this year there is a fabulous campaign which has been led by Tesco Mag called the Great Family Road Trip and it focusses on the whole of the UK.

The idea behind this fabulous campaign is to provide a one-stop place for UK families to search for recommended fun activities, places to say, eat and visit and more. It couldn’t be easier to access as all you need to do is visit the website here which looks like this…

GreatFamilyRoadTrip

and enter your location or the place that you are thinking about visiting to find the information you need.

The site really is packed with everything you could need and want for a fabulous UK staycation this summer so find entries from myself and other writers about their favourite places, let the kids enjoy the Kids’ Corner (with printables for keeping little ones quiet on the road), find holiday and trip information and much more. There is even a place where you are able to submit your own favourite places on the interactive map for other parents to find.

Tesco have done a wonderful job of saving people time and money this year and encouraging us to enjoy the wonderful undiscovered places on our own big island.

So, where are you planning on visiting this summer?