This year, we’ll be taking a ‘domestic holiday‘ – in other words, our main summer holiday will not involve overseas travel.
Normally, we go on a driving holiday to France, where we take our own car with us. However, my dad has had some periods of ill health over the past 12 months, including two long hospital stays. And whilst he is much better now, we didn’t want to risk booking such a holiday without knowing that he would be able to manage the many hours of driving that this will entail.
Instead, we’re staying in England for our holiday. This isn’t the first time – we also had a holiday in England in 2021, when there were still significant Covid-related travel restrictions. That time, we spent a week on the south coast in Kent and East Sussex, and had a lovely time. This year, we’re going further north instead.
Not a ‘staycation’
In 2021, many people had their holidays in the UK, and some referred to these as a ‘staycation‘ as they were ‘staying’ in their own country. I refuse to use this term in this instance, preferring ‘domestic holiday’, as not everyone can afford to go abroad for their holidays. A ‘staycation’ is when you have a holiday but stay at your own home.
Less need for insurance
Because we’re not travelling so far, we don’t really need travel insurance. Sure, you can buy travel insurance for a domestic holiday, in case you need to cancel non-refundable travel or accommodation. But it’s not needed to cover potential medical issues, as we’ll be able to use the NHS like normal. I also don’t need to purchase extra car breakdown cover.
There are other expenses you can avoid too. You don’t need to pay for mobile phone roaming (or have to buy a roaming eSIM). You don’t need to exchange foreign currency in advance, or worry how much currency you have left during the holiday.
Travel and food
There’s also less travel time; we should be able to get to our accommodation in about three hours of driving. When we go to France, travel usually takes up the first 2-3 days of the holiday, and at least two coming back again. Instead, it’ll just be a couple of afternoons. So although we’re away for fewer nights, the actual length of the holiday is broadly equivalent to previous years.
We can also take our own food with us. Pre-Brexit, we could do this when we went to France, but now there are strict limits of what food you can bring in to the EU, even for personal use. That also means we can save money by stocking up before we go.
Whilst I like travel and want to see more of the world, it’s also quite nice to have a holiday with less admin. Which, seeing as my job involves admin on a day to day basis, it’s nice to have break. And surely that’s what a holiday is all about?
