I’ve always enjoyed a camping trip by the coast and the first few holidays I took with my boyfriend were all just a short drive from home, but it was my first ever road trip through Cornwall in the summer of 2019 that really got me hooked on staycations. Driving to the furthest edges of the country with our tent in the back of the car, we scaled cliffs to swim in the turquoise sea, counted seals and dolphins as we wandered along winding paths, and exclaimed ‘I can’t believe this is England!’ at least three times a day.
Previously, I packed in as many trips abroad per year as I could afford. Mainly long weekends in European cities where I ate, shopped and drank my way through their streets. But as I tired of city life and craved more rural landscapes, the places I dreamed of visiting also changed. Once we relocated to the countryside in 2018, whirlwind city breaks lost their appeal. I craved long road trips through wilder landscapes - and I suddenly realised there were so many parts of the UK that I had yet to explore.
That year, I also visited Sweden, Copenhagen, Finland and Sorrento - but Cornwall was the trip that stood out for me. The good weather, beautiful landscapes and crystal clear water helped, but I relished the ease of packing up whatever we wanted to take in the car (including our dog, Evie) and just driving at our own pace. If we wanted to break up the journey, we could stop for a break whenever we wanted - or even include overnight stays in other destinations along our journey. The ease of a staycation, combined with the slower pace of everything from the literal travelling to how we spent our time had me hooked.
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