A Rainy Week in Dorset - Random Photos
Normally I let you know if I'm going to take time out from writing anything here. Last Friday, before we left for a week in Dorset, I was half way through doing so when I came over all paranoid.
Hang on a moment, I thought. Why announce to the world that my house will be empty for a week when my address, as a domain owner, is all of two clicks away.
Anyway, I'm back now following a wet week on the south coast. Here's yours truly on day one wondering why the hell he chose not to go abroad:
I was so pre-occupied with making sure I'd packed all the holiday essentials, such as sunglasses and trunks, that I completely forgot to pack a waterproof coat. Have I not lived here long enough to know you can't rely on the weather!? The coat I am sporting cost me £2.99 and is made of 100% plastic. It's very waterproof though. Who needs Goretex!
We decided to stay in England as flying with two small children would have been too much. Although, as it turned out, getting too and from the south coast by road took just as long as a flight to Greece would have done.
As a child all my summer holidays were here in the UK and I have fond memories of them. I've always wanted my own children to see as much of this country before jetting off to others.
Another reason to stay here was to save money. How naive. A week in "rip off" Britain cost just as much as a week on a Greek island would have done! You live and learn. Next year we'll be going back to Greece where you almost guaranteed seven days of sun.
A holiday should be a break from the norm. Staying in the UK you just don't get that. You still have to pay to park wherever you go and sit in traffic jams.
Family holidays are about the kids though and Felix loved every minute, come rain or shine (Minnie was oblivious and it's increasingly tricky with Quinn to tell if she's enjoying it).
As Brits you learn to make the most of the weather though. Here are a couple of shots:
Skip to the 
You can subscribe to an individual
I guess the new buzz word is "stay-cation", as opposed to "vacation", where you presumably vacate a good distance from home.
We've been making the most of "stay-cationing" by going to the local zoo, taking drives in the country to find places to picnic, and last weekend heading home to my folks for a weekend with them. The advantage there - parking, room and board were all free, though we brought in dinner as a present for Mum. About $120 for gas and food along the way for three days travel... not bad.
Maybe for your next stay-cation you can house-swap with another domino blogger in the UK. That'll save the wallet some.
Staycation - I like it ;o)
Houseswapping? Hmm, there's a concept I'd have trouble with. I know a lot of people do it, but I just don't think I could relax knowing a stranger was doing whatever like liked in my house...
What's wrong with house swapping? Don't you like your walls blacklight reflective colors (ala the Michael Douglas movie "The Game")? Hmmm... you could always pay someone a lot of money to steal your life from you. Then again, apparently people will do it for free these days.
ooh, hey, I smell a cool idea, "domino Geek houseswapping"... and let's not stop there... we can swap blogs for the week, too!
Looks like Adrian Mole's holiday at Skegness. :-)
We did the same thing this year (stay-cation). Babies and flying is not something I imagine as fun (especially for the baby).
We could house swap next year - but that would be very pointless!
A mutual aquaintence (one of you lot) suggested house swapping to me and I replied he'd be getting the raw end of the deal - holiday in the USA should be more exciting than where I live!
I guess it's the novelty of being someplace different, in a different setting, with different shops to visit, maybe close to something a little more interesting than what you have around home. In a sense, voyeuristic but at the same time you have the mutual assurance that you're taking good care of your, let's hope, friends house as they are yours. Sort of like dating your cousin somewhat - which I think perfectly captures my overall sense of unease with it.
But, to each his own - I know some people will swear how fantastic it is and that they swap often. I'll resist extrapolating further.
Going to my folks was cheap, going to a state park and staying one night in the lodge (with indoor pool, sauna, exercise room, game room, fabulous dining) is about twice the price but still a decent break. Seems that's the most we can afford for a vacation economic times being what they are here... and with that kind of brevity it qualifies as a stay-cation. We tied it in with a day of hiking in the state forest - all around , that was a relaxing two days.
We spent the last week in Holland (similarly wet!), leaving our house in Dorset with beds for 2 adults and 3 children empty. If only I'd known, you could have had a free house for the week :)
Maybe geek house swapping is something with some merit, though I'm not sure what sort of holiday location the average geek lives in, we're certainly inundated in the summer.
(BTW - flying with children sounds awful, but they loved the ferry).