My 7 Year Old Called It the Best Holiday Ever – And We Slept Beside Sheep, Not Screens
As a seven year old the best holidays can mean many things to you and this include theme parks, ice cream and a beach with spades and buckets. With my daughter it was different as it meant a small campervan, a winding road through the UK countryside and a field where sheep outnumbered humans ten to one.
Basically we did not have any plan for anything special and it was meant to be a simple and low cost break from our regular report. No packed resorts and no airport queues as it was meant for just us, the open road and the van — a trip that even made us wonder about where to buy a motorhome for future adventures. However sometimes the simplest trips turn out to be the ones that leave a long lasting mark on our memory and in our heart.
Seeing the Road Through a Child’s Eyes
Immediately after we set off I could notice my daughter pressing her nose to the glass like the whole world had been waiting for her to see it. It was as if every hedge became a castle wall and every winding lane became a secret passage. She pointed our lambs in the fiend, clouds shaped like dragons and wildflowers growing between stone walls. My daughter was basically amazed by almost everything she saw.
Our first night was in the Lake District parked on the edge of a meadow where the nearest neighbor was a curios ewe and her lamb. We cooked dinner on a small stove and sat outside wrapped in blankets and counted the stars as they appeared one by one. No television and no wi-fi as it was just quieter laughter, the smell of grass and the occasional bleat from the field.
The Magic of Simple Moments
One of the most notable things during this period was that mornings were much slower and easy. A cup of tea for me and hot chocolate for her, and we could hear the sound of rain tapping the campervan roof. We had planned our day loosely, with one highlight being a walk along one of the best trails with waterfalls, followed by a picnic by a lake and a stop at a tiny village bakery we spotted on our way.
Soon I realized that we were talking more without the conventional distractions and we talked more about stories in her favorite books, what she wanted to be when she grew up and which sheep in the field looked the cheekiest. These conversations felt like treasures because I don’t normally get to have them due to our daily rush.
The Joy of Being Self Contained
The advantage of travelling in a campervan was that it meant that we could go anywhere we wanted and when we wanted. We stayed in placed we loved and drove until sun broke through whenever the weather turned. This gave us much freedom that you won’t get with hotel bound holidays and it basically made every stop feel like it was our own discovery.
If you are wondering where to buy a motorhome there are many companies like RV Supercenter as they offer a range of options for families that are looking to embrace this kind of travel whether it’s for long adventures or for short breaks.
Lessons We Didn’t Expect
When we returned home my daughter had already learned how to read a basic map, roast marshmallows without setting theme on fire and how to identify birds. However the biggest change was in me as I was reminded how little it takes to make a holiday to be meaningful. It is not always about the number of attractions you tick off or the distance you cover as you travel. It’s about the shared jokes in the rain, the sight of your child falling asleep to the sound of owls and the realization that sometimes the best place to be is somewhere that feels far from everything yet close that ever to each other.
