While others were in Norwegian fjords or on African safaris, I ventured ten minutes walk away from home for my staycation. Back at Chez Tidalscribe Cyberson Two and DIL Two were ripping out the bathroom. Not as scary as it sounds as Interiors are their business and this was their 49th bathroom.
My holiday home was a seaside let, a top floor flat with a balcony – not alas that yellow house of character with the turrets. A search revealed plenty of Air B&Bs near my house, including next door ( a converted garage ), but I thought I should enjoy a cliff top experience. I wanted a cliff top house when we moved to Bournemouth, but few were available, let alone in our price range.
I know other female bloggers go solo round the world on motorbikes or yachts so it is not very adventurous to go home for Cyberson’s home cooked meals and to collect anything you have forgotten… and to water my plants… and the garden as the heat wave had continued unabated.
What made it different from home? I was nearer my beach hut and the open top bus stopped almost outside. I could have my breakfast on the balcony and watch the world go by. At any moment, however early, there was always a dog walker on the cliff or a jogger on the pavement or a cyclist on the road. There was also traffic on the coast road, it was much noisier than my quiet little road.
There are clifftop views such as lighthouses looking over wild waves crashing on rocks and houses with back gardens on the edge of cliffs. There are still houses right on the edge in Southbourne, but lots more have long since crumbled down with the sandy cliffs, leaving only the roses and shrubs that once grew in their garden clinging to the cliffside.
However, I still had a view and at night there was the black sea straight ahead and to the west the lights of Bournemouth and Swanage and early in the morning sunrise from the bathroom window.
Inside it was clean and tidy with everything you could want if you were actually living and cooking there. The décor was white, literally, from the paint work to the bedding and towels. The only items not white were the artificial lawn on the balcony and the impossible to lift dark blue pottery mugs the size of hefty jugs. Lucky I could pop home and get my bone china tea mug. The bed was very comfortable, the sofa not so. I managed to work the television and get the WiFi so overall a good experience and I still miss the patter of tiny feet – the slip slap of the early morning joggers before the traffic got busy.
Have you been on a Staycation or had any holiday let experiences, good or bad?
Sounds like a lovely staycation! The Fixin’ Leaks and Leeks Team loves staycations. It’s fun to be a tourist in your own city. Cheers!
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It seems most of us do like staycations.
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Nope. I had friends who swore by Air BnB but I always preferred a hotel. But then again, I haven’t been away for a few years.
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Air B&B can be chancy as I have heard from people who turn up and they haven’t been cleaned.
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We’re having a new kitchen installed at the moment, so the fridge-freezer is in the dining room for now, along with cutlery, crockery, kettle and microwave. It’s all a bit cramped – it feels a lot like camping. But we’re still in the same house. Does that count?
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We did exactly that when my son and daughter-in-law were living with me and doing the kitchen. My son had bought two Belfast sinks off a chap who claimed they came from Birmingham New Street Station when it was updated in the sixties. He fitted one outside by the kitchen door with hot and cold running water, which was where I washed the dishes when we were ‘camping’. Yes it does count as a staycation and especially when you visit your new kitchen.
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I’m perfectly happy with a Staycation.
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Hello Liz, yes having worked at Heathrow airport I never envied the passengers and was always glad to get home each day.
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Hi Janet, we had staycations during Covid. Now we get out and about. This long weekend (in South Africa) we are in the Kruger national Park. I think your staycation sounds lovely.
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You will certainly see more wild life than me Robbie. I only saw a fox trotting up the road one night
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🦊I’ve never seen a real live fox.
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Ha ha, wild life pint to me! Foxes regularly trot down my road, sit on the gate post and pop up and down neighbours’ driveway, daytime as well.
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That’s lovely. I always liked the idea of foxes after I read Fantastic Mr Fox 🦊. We have black baked jackals which look similar but with different coloring.
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I suppose it’s a way of trying out a different perspective without having to move.
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Certainly less stressful than moving.
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We all need a little variety in our life. We like to stay at bed and breakfasts in our area for a weekend getaway.
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Staycations certainly seem to be a popular thing and it’s good to appreciate your own area and support local business.
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Lovely views, Janet! And you certainly had the weather for a staycation!
We had a staycation in the Durley Chine hotel in Bournemouth when we came back from a 2 week holiday during which our bathroom was supposed to be done.
When we arrived back, after about 24 hours travelling back from Venezuela, with a child kicking my seat for the whole flight – so no sleep – the bathroom wasn’t finished and there wasn’t a single room in our 1 bed flat that was habitable! So we booked into a hotel.
It was really fun to be ‘on holiday’ in our home town. We were in a different area and really enjoyed being able to walk into the town centre.
A holiday at home gives you a different perspective!
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Yes we had a holiday at Premiere Inn opposite the Pavilion back in 2019 when our son was doing work on our house. On the first night we had a really nice meal in the restaurant and then there was a big lightening storm we could watch from the balcony.
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That sounds really fun!
Unfortunately, I had lost my voice when we stayed at Durley Chine! I think Mark might have enjoyed the peace and quiet. It was odd at mealtimes, though. I couldn’t speak at all!!!!
Luckily, Mark is a lovely chatterbox when he needs to be. 🙂
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We are having our bathroom ripped out and converted into a walk-in shower room (with shower seat) in September. We have booked 10 days in one of our regular cabins in Sutton-on-Sea Lincolnshire, close to the beach, but with no direct sea view. Like your one, it has comfortable beds, but uncomfortable furniture. But as we have been going to the same place every year for a long time now, we are used to it. The delight for me is that it has a covered porch, and I can sit outside and watch the happenings in all weathers. (It is in the beer garden of a large hotel). Best wishes, Pete.
https://bacchus-log-cabins.lincolnshirehotel.co.uk/en/
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Good idea Pete, but I wonder if there is a shop that sells uncomfortable furniture for holiday places!
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I suppose it has to be hard-wearing, and also ‘wipe-clean’, Janet. 😉
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This is a wonderful staycation experience, Janet. We’ve been deploying the staycation strategy for some years now. Lots of different directions to go in around here. The shore, Pennsylvania Amish country, the big city. We are blessed to have a lot of variety locally, and why not take full advantage of it? I could get used to that breakfast-on-the-balcony seating arrangement. Love the view of the ocean from that vantage point.
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Hello Bruce it sounds like you have the right idea.
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I always joke that our second home is the house next door while our friends own homes in other states or in the mountains. There are many advantages to owning the house next door, but getting out of town isn’t one of them. I guess when one lives in paradise, as you and I do, there’s little reason to escape. Feel free to come visit!
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yes i like the idea of having a house next door. i could put my visitors in there!
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I enjoyed your staycation – I think they are a great idea. A very stress-free way of “travelling”. One of the most enjoyable experiences I have had was to catch our brand new MetroNet train to Perth (Australia, not Scotland) airport – a journey of approx 15 minutes, and explore the airport with my “writing buddy”. How relaxing not to have to watch the clock, or work out the automated check in machines, or worry about a departure gate! We sat and had a cup of coffee and watched the world go by, then went home. By the way – the new airport train station is magnificent!
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What an excellent idea, sounds like an outing i would enjoy.
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Pretty views. I bet the sound of the ocean was relaxing too. We got away to our son’s house for a few days. It is a bit of a drive away but the change of scenery was very therapeutic. And nice to see our son and family.
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Hello Deborah, yes all my family are long distances away, and all have different scenery! I just visited my daughter on the east coast.
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It sounds perfect to me, Janet! (smile)
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What a fun staycastion – and convenient for anything you needed at home, lol. Sometimes, it doesn’t matter how far, it’s just nice to be somewhere else. It puts us in another headspace. 😋
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Yes Debby, I might try a staycation again sometime.
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That sounds the perfect way to avoid the upheaval at home!
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