How to make a holiday near home feel like a holiday

So how do you make a trip on home turf feel like a real holiday? I’ve been thinking about writing this post for a while because, up until a year or two ago, I’ve tended to subscribe to the idea that a holiday meant going abroad. Jetting off to someplace nice with blue seas, siestas, and menus you had to Google Translate. Course, those places will always appeal and the culture shock you get with far-flung travel is impossible to recreate at home, but that’s not to say a holiday means having to always jet off.

As kids we were extremely lucky to go on adventurous holidays all over. A month stint in Australia and New Zealand, and three weeks camping in Czech Republic are the types of trips that gave me my sense of adventure, but proper UK holidays were never something we did so much. Now, I’m keen for more of a mix. I crave landing in exotic cities and feeling completely out of my depth, but at the same time, I love the idea of slow UK adventures, that don’t involve the stress of making your way through an airport and are undoubtedly heaps better for the planet.

There’s probably lots of us who have a little cog in our brain telling us that a UK holiday doesn't offer quite the same switch off that an overseas trip enables, but I’m here to believe it can. Read on for some ideas and things that I do to really try and help even the most modest of UK adventures give you the holiday *feels*

Switch your phone off (or embrace Airplane Mode)

One of the easiest ways to switch off on hols is by cutting your connection to your usual world. It’s kind of changed now that data roaming is pretty much free everywhere you go, but I used to love that imposed switch off when receiving a text would cost you £7. It does wonders to try and recreate it. If you can, keep your phone in airplane mode on hols, or switch it off completely and leave it in the car. Seriously, the sense of disconnect is totally freeing and that’s what holidays are about, right? 

Get a guide book

I’m a sucker for a guidebook. I wouldn’t get one for short trips but anything where you’re doing proper exploring, or maybe visiting some historical sights and want some context, I always think guidebooks are good. And that goes for the UK. Nothing says holiday to me like scrabbling around in the rucksack for the guidebook to read about something I’ll never remember… If you like long walks, there are loads of great walking books that will guide you round all different parts of the UK which I’d definitely recommend. I love the Ordnance Survey Pathfinder guides. 

Drink the local plonk

One of the best things about going abroad to me is getting stuck into the local food and drink. I love a €2 cava in Barcelona, or a €7 bottle of Vinho Verde to drink on the beaches in Comporta. And don’t get me started on cartons of Don Simon. But that’s something you can do in the UK too — easily. Make an effort on your UK hols to drink the local plonk. Maybe that’s a locally brewed cider, an English wine, or a gin that was distilled just a few miles away. 

Send postcards

An oldie but a goodie. I refuse to let the art of sending postcards die out. And you know what, it’s easier than ever to do so on a UK holiday because you don’t have to traipse around finding a local post office for foreign stamps!

Take holiday photos

I’m tentatively adding this one as I know, obviously, you all take photos already, but what I’m saying is, make the most of a UK holiday by taking proper holiday photos. As soon as we leave the country, we all get this desire to take photos of the smallest, most insignificant things that feel different because we’re ‘on holiday’, right? “Look! A tiny kitten! Snap!” So next time you’re on hols in the UK, don’t forget to snap up the views, the food, the local quirks and what not so you can relive the memories when you’re home. 

Leave your laptop at home

If you wanna make a holiday really feel like a holiday, you should absolutely leave your laptop at home. I’m the worst offender here and do religiously travel with my laptop BUT I’m gonna try to be better. I really do think it’s important. More than ever on UK holidays where it can be a little harder to find that ‘holidayish’ feeling. Whether you’re in Brazil or Bournemouth, an out-of-office on is an out-of-office.

Write a holiday bucket list

Whilst I’m not suggesting you to-do list your holiday, I always think it’s nice to go places with a purpose and feel like you’re really making the most of a place. Before going anywhere, I’ll always jot down a bit of a bucket list or at least some local highlights on my Notes app so I can make sure we’re seeing the very best of a place. Just as important for UK trips — so many hidden coves and what not you’d kick yourself for missing.

Buy souvenirs you actually want

I’m not one for suggesting you ever buy crap but meaningful souvenirs are always lovely to have from holidays. It doesn’t have to be a tacky fridge magnet from Bournemouth Beach (not that there’s anything wrong with those) but think about souvenirs that aren’t just surplus but stuff you actually want — be it a bottle of local gin, artisan homewares from that cute market near the sea or Bakewell tarts from Bakewell…