Old style holidays

Austin_Allegro · 15 February 2005 at 11:35AM

In the freezing cold winter days it's nice to think about and plan some frugal old style holidays. What are your ideas? Here are some of mine.

Visit friends. A few years ago the friend I usually go on holiday with had no money, so I went and stayed with him in his house in Warwick. Every day we went out in his car on trips to places of interest like the Cotswolds etc, then returned home for meals/pub etc. I paid half of his petrol and shopping costs for the week.

Visit relations. My grandmother used to live on the Essex coast and we used to spend two weeks a year in the summer there. My father didn't even need to take the time off work - he just commuted to his job in London each day on the train. So this cost the family nothing really.

Camping/caravanning etc. Dirt cheap as long as you don't mind the basic facilities. Children seem to like this kind of thing. You do really need a car for this though.

Holidays at Home. Just like in the war! - spend the free time going out every day to places of interest etc.

elona · 15 February 2005 at 11:40AM

We live near York so have been doing this for years without consciously planning it.

I also leave it till the last minute and make up my own package short holiday using any offers on travel then book my own hotel.

tiff · 15 February 2005 at 11:44AM

Camping!

Last year I so did not want to go camping, I like my home comforts and sleeping on a dodgy air bed in a tent was not my idea of fun. My friend and her family persuaded us to go August bank hol to Branscombe in Devon and we had a lovely time. What I learned is that when you do go camping you dont necessarily need to be far away from home. We spent a lot of time on the site iteself, therefore no dodgy amusements/souvenirs etc to tempt the kids. We also went walking. A family we met lived half an hour away from the site. They came down during the day to set up while the kids were at school and then went back to pick them up later.

We were on a small farm site. The kids were able to wander off to look at the animals (always within eyesite) and met lots of other children which was lovely. Camping can give them a bit of freedom that they dont get at home.

Site fees vary wildly depending on facilities etc, but some sites can be as cheap as £5 assuming you dont join a club.

We have collected our gear during the winter and plan to go on several trips from May onwards

culpepper · 15 February 2005 at 11:46AM

weve done the camping thing.
You can find some great camp sites with showers,laundry rooms TV etc.The last one we went to had a small theme park which was included in the cost and meant we could swim every day.
Last year we stayed home and went to tourist attractions for some of the days.We also took our bikes to off road cycle paths and had picnic lunches.

Lillibet_2 · 15 February 2005 at 12:00PM

When I was growing up my parents used to alternate each year between a "proper" holiday (until I was 11 this was a caravan in Hayling Island) and a week or 2 weeks worth of day trips from home. We lived in south London, a day trip to the beach was do-able, trips to London parks & museams by bus were always on the agenda (how many London children now have never been to the Tower of London or to see the changing of the guards I wonder?), castles & stately homes (the maze at Hampton Court was a favourite, the grounds were free & the maze was 50p per person) kite flying on heaths & walks in the country also featured. Mum usually packed up a cool box of sandwiches & chicken drumsticks & bought ice creams as a treat. I think I enjoyed the day trips far more than the later holidays of my teenage years in blazing heat in the Med!
Although my husband & I love to travel (we met climbing a volcano in the Andes & have visited 6 continents, most more than twice, in the last 5 years) we are not planning on introducing our expected bundle of joy to foregin travel for some years. Not only do we not wish to travel with a young child, we think the delights of the UK & our own heritage & culture should be enjoyed & established before going further afield! The plan for the next few years is to visit as many notable churches & nature reserves in the UK, over day trips, weekeeds & longer trips inculding stop overs at distant relatives & friends. We know that for fun & experience Scotland is comparable to Canada, Wales is comparable to New Zealand, Devon can be as beautiful as the Med, it's just a case of being open minded!

Austin_Allegro · 15 February 2005 at 12:08PM

Lilibet - I agree wholeheartedly. Children under about ten should not be taken abroad on holiday because they need to be introduced to the culture and geography of their native country at an early age. They can't appreciate 'abroad' unless they've seen something of their own country.

Lillibet_2 · 15 February 2005 at 12:50PM

Thanks Austin, we were thinking about 10 years old & starting with europe & gradually moving further afield, not 2 weeks on an anonymous sunny beach as the norm every year from the off!

Lucie_2 · 15 February 2005 at 2:03PM

IIRC my first trip abroad was age 11. Before that we used to go to an assortment of caravans in Bridlington & Scotland, and I remember one trip to Newquay in Cornwall. Plus there were usually 2 trips a year (summer & xmas) to my Grandma's in London, when we did the touristy things.
As a teenager I was lucky that my Dad worked abroad & our summer holidays were spent wherever he was working.....Sicily, Singapore, Bahrain to name a few.

Holidays in Britain are great, but sadly package hols & budget airlines quite often mean it is cheaper to go abroad. We wanted to go to Woolacombe for a week last summer, but ended up going to the South of France because it was cheaper!

MATH · 15 February 2005 at 3:34PM

After years of doing the two weeks in the sun, all-inclusive package thing we're fed up of saving all year for two weeks holiday and being charged through the nose cos we've got the audacity to have three kids and not the 'normal' 2.5

All my family holidays were cheepos on the East Coast with Mum, Gran & Gramp and even though they cost very little and we took a flask and a picnic basket everywhere (I did'nt realise you could 'eat out' until I was grown up!) we all had a great time.:)

I've always dreamed of living there or havinf a second home by the sea. this time last year (when I joined MSE) we had an overdraft, a loan, and spent every penny we earned. Our debts were not large by some peoples standards and out lifestyle not lavish, but it is hard raising a family on one wage. My dream of a second home by the sea seemed a long way off.:(

One year on and the overdraft is paid off, the load just about to go and thanks to an interest free loan from a family member were off at Easter to but a second home by the coast. Whey hey.

Thanks to Martin and all the MSE'rs posting tips (especially Ol'Stylers) for help me sort my finances and realsing a dream. - Now where did I put that tartan flask? hehehehehe

Lillibet_2 · 15 February 2005 at 3:56PM

Math

In order to pay back the interest free loan you could rent the holiday home (at a reasonabel rate of course!) to tarten flask owning MSEers.

Just a thought?

Ticklemouse · 15 February 2005 at 4:08PM

MATH wrote:

we took a flask and a picnic basket everywhere (I did'nt realise you could 'eat out' until I was grown up!)

LOL - neither did I

Orange tupperware boxes and tartan car/picnic rugs too.

Frisbees, bats and balls, burying dad in the sand and my dad was great at building sandcastle boats and the like

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