Green holiday

We are in the height of holiday season and I wish I could do a post about some fantastic holiday adventure, but unfortunately this is not the case - we are not planning any exotic time away this summer! There are several reasons for this, but lets just say that being green, lazy and out of money doesn't leave you many holiday choices. Question one to consider is what would make a holiday green?

Flying anywhere is kind of out of the question, so that quickly narrows down the destinations available. We could I guess make it to certain parts of Europe going through the Euro tunnel, but it would mean spending quite a lot of time travelling first down to London and then across the water, and I don't think the South of Italy or somewhere similar would be feasible to do with two young kids.

From that point of view it would make most sense to stay in Britain. I have nothing against Britain, we live in a generally nice place, but unfortunately the weather isn't always great and a bit of sunshine can be one of the important parts of a holiday.

The other thing is the price. I really want to think that it is cheaper to stay closer to home, but unfortunately that doesn't always seem to be the case. A recent survey I saw claimed that 1 week for a family of 4 in Bulgaria, Turkey or Cyprus is cheaper than 1 week in Brighton. OK fair enough I am sure there are all sorts of variations and the figures calculated included car hire, which I guess you are less likely to need if holidaying in Brighton - but never the less it shows that Britain can be just as expensive as going abroad. (Not to mention that psychologically you know instantly how much you are actually paying because you are not doing half hearted currency calculations). From an environmental point of view that is not very good.

There are of course ways to make it cheaper, camping for example should be cheaper than a stay in a hotel, but for me this is where the lazy aspect comes in - I am just not keen. I like the part of the holiday that means comfy bed and not having to think too much about cooking, but camping holidays with all inclusive buffets are just not easy to come by...


Some people have mentioned to me eco tourism. These are usually holidays where you show a bit of respect for the local environment and its people and it usually doesn't entail an all-inclusive holiday park with excess food/drink, swimming pools, loud music and general disregard for the local area, but is more likely to include hill walking or some interesting natural or cultural aspect. From a personal point of view I would prefer an eco holiday anytime to a package deal to Spain, but there are 2 things that make me uncertain about eco holidays. One is the price, despite the fact that I think you generally get good stuff for your money it can be quite pricey because these holiday operators mostly try to give you a good experience and it can costs a bit to arrange knowledgeable guides to take you up a mountain, especially as they can't take tours of 80+ people at the time, because that would go against the principle of respecting the local environment. I am also slightly in doubt about how green these things are. It might work if you are going on a trip to the Scottish highlands learning about the fauna and flora of the glens, because you hopefully wouldn't fly there and are unlikely to cause major upset to the local culture; but what happens when you fly on an eco holiday to Malaysia or somewhere else exotic. While I definitely think these holidays are better than the conventional hotel and swimming pool stays, I don't know if they really are green? I mean if you fly there you have already used up a lot of your CO2 quota.

Anyway eco holidays are definitely not an option for us this year, so I didn't really need to worry about where they sit on the green scale. But that brought me back to the question of a feasible green option and this was when I realised that if I wanted any kind of break this year I would need to defy my lazy side! Which is how I found myself buying a 1/2 price tent I suddenly spotted in a shop. I actually purchased a tent! After years of coming up with excuses and being perfectly content with a split in the household that meant my husband did the camping thing with the guys and I stayed nice and cosy at home, we are now owners of a tent and I am out of reasons to give my daughter when she yet again asks why we never go camping.Help!

I only have one hope left. Yesterday we attempted to put the tent up, but after 1 1/2 hours of trying to decipher the encryption code used when writing the instructions and matching the information with the actual bits in the bag, we had to give up. It just made no sense!So if I am really lucky this tent just might be 'unpitchable'. On the other hand that would be rather silly and knowing my husband he will get this tent up one way or another and me - I will probably hope for a break in the rain, dream of a hotel room, congratulate myself for taking a greener holiday and then hopefully join the kids in having some fun!