Weekends in the Countryside
For most city dwellers, the idea of being able to escape at weekends to a rural or seaside retreat is the stuff that dreams are made of, as all too often practical considerations such as expense and time get in the way. An environment where children can enjoy playing in safe surroundings, and share all the benefits that the outdoors brings in health and physical activity, is one that most families would aspire to.
Caravans: great fun for all the family!
So how to achieve your dream?
- Day trips with the family can either be enormous fun, or a disaster waiting to happen. The tip is to plan them carefully, go somewhere where you know there will be attractions for the children as well as the adults in the family, and not too far afield. Hours spent in the car negate all the benefits of a day in the country.
- Pick an activity that the whole family can share and enjoy together. After Team GB’s success in winning medals, and Chris Hoy and Bradley Wiggins’ triumphs, cycling has suddenly become “cool” for kids. Take advantage of their enthusiasm to go on bike trips with the family. If you don’t want the expense of buying bikes, it’s often possible to hire them, especially if you pick a destination like the Cuckoo Trail in Sussex, or the West London Thames Ride, where there are bike hire facilities nearby. The great advantage of cycle trails is that you can avoid traffic (and even on rural lanes, that can often prove to be a hazard), and if you have a learner amongst you, trails provide a safe environment in which to learn, and soft landings for those inevitable falls! The sense of achievement that comes at the end of the day, and the sharing of sights and surroundings as you cycle through the countryside, adds enormously to the overall well-being of the family. And it can be a great pick-me-up! Sherlock Holmes’ inventor Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (who was a medic before he took up writing) said of cycling - ”When the spirits are low just mount a bicycle and take a spin without thought on anything but the ride you are taking.”
- Consider buying a caravan. Either a mobile caravan, which will allow you to take the family on camping trips into the countryside, or a fixed caravan on a caravan park. The advantage of a fixed site is that you have no worries of where to park the caravan when it’s not in use, nor of having to plan each separate trip. Yet you can choose a park within comfortable travelling distance from your home, which will give you the base that you are seeking to explore from. Many parks are sited close to areas of outstanding natural beauty around the coast or close to National Parks, which offer endless adventure and opportunities to enjoy the outdoors for you and the children. Park Resorts have cheap caravans for sale, and with thirty-nine parks around the UK coast, one is likely to be close enough to your home to provide a glorious bolt-hole for you and the family at weekends.
