With money tight and employment outlooks unsure it is probably a good idea to keep your mind open about holidays in 2010. You could start by deciding not to bother at all and just take the odd day here and there when the weather looks set fair. A good way to decide where to go is to calculate how far you can go on a tankful of fuel, divide by 2, get a roadmap and a pair of compasses, set the compasses to the maximum outward journey you can do in one day and draw a circle from your home. Let's say your car can comfortably do a round trip of 300 miles; that would mean you set your compasses to 150 miles according to the scale of your map (you will probably need to use the whole country map at the front of your road atlas for this) and draw a circle. Don't forget that 150 miles is about 3 hours by motorway allowing for non-motorway driving at either end and comfort stops. Anything within that circle is reachable in a day. If you prepare the evening before, set off at 07:00 you can be anywhere by 10:00 and home by 19:00 if you leave at 16:00.
If you want a longer break than a day why not consider camping. I am serious! Tents are cheap, don't leak any more and don't let draughts in. You don't have to cook or eat in a tent. a couple of years ago my wife and I borrowed a tent and went to the beautiful North Yorkshire coast. We went to bed when we got back from the pub, after having had our evening meal and a couple of pints, woke up when we woke (quite early actually), brewed a cup of tea on a portable gas stove and ate bacon butties from the village bakers. We spent out days walking the coast and visiting the local beauty spots, had shop-bought sandwiches for lunch and headed back to the pub in the evening. What did we need? Tent (5 man = 2 man), gas stove for brew and a kettle (a few quid in any outdoor store), a couple of folding chairs (you already have them in the shed), two zip-together sleeping bags (unless you don't like each other and like being cold), a hot water bottle if it's before the end of May, a jogging suit to sleep in and a pair of wellies. a torch is useful if you make trips to the loo in the night as are the usual waterproofs for walking. Get up when you wake up, go to sleep when you can't read, who cares what the time is! You are on holiday. You won't get cold or wet with just a little discipline about taking off wet boots and coats in the entrance and not the sleeping compartment.
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More to follow.......
