We shook off our January blues a few weeks back and went glamping at Nature’s Spectacular in Chew Valley camping. A definite home education perk is travel during the week and in term time and you better believe we are hoping to take advantage of that this year!
My toxic trait is thinking I could live the nomadic van life whilst simultaneously not being able to drive and being a maximalist.
As non drivers people are often surprised that we manage to take breaks in the country but honestly it just takes a little extra planning (and a little more walking). It was pretty easy to get to Nature Spectacular from Bristol a short bus and a 25 minute walk on the other side.
The kids are pretty good walkers! One of the tricker things is packing everything into two rucksacks but we are kinda pro’s at light packing too at this point.
Life has felt a little heavy for a while now. I know it has for everyone. The endless weight of this time in our lives and the uncertainty of what to come. I’m the kind of person who is usually fairy positive, a cup half full for the most part. Lately I’ve found it harder to grasp hold of those things.
If there is anything I’ve learnt from this time its that we should appreciate all the little moments when we can. I feel like my kids have grown so much over these past two years and this chance to spend these moments without distraction is golden.
Going slow is pretty much my word of the year. I find that slowing down always serves us as a family. Going down the home education route has really helped with this. In a world where childhood is so rushed, over-scheduled and over-pressured.
It’s a reminder of what is important in our lives. My kid’s childhood will fly by in a flash and I want to enjoy it as much as I can.
Being around my children more these past couple of years I’ve started noticing their natural rhythms now. During lockdown we had no choice but to slow down.
Whilst the limitations of all that time away from our love ones was hard, there were many things from this period in time that changed our lives for the better. A better perspective on what was important to us as a family was definitely one of them.
A couple of days in the middle of a field was what we needed to breath a little deeper. Enjoy the sunset. Cook veggie sausages on the fire and play a lot of UNO!
Thank you to Nature’s Spectacular in Chew Valley for inviting us to stay in their Green Van. You can find their site here.
You can find more UK travel posts here :
A Trip to Hereford’s hideous history
Our South Yorkshire story
A Trip to Norfolk