How to Have a Successful Holiday at Home
Updated: Oct 21, 2020
Bring the holiday to you
Did you have a holiday booked that’s been turned to dust thanks to the global pandemic?
Or maybe you booked a few days off work before all this happened, not expecting to be stuck at home for the foreseeable future.
Not to worry. Now you can bring the holiday to you.
You may well be wondering how you can have a successful holiday at home, but it can easily be done with a little creativity.
Read on for suggestions on things you can do during your holiday at home.
Virtual tours
Thanks to technology and the power of the internet, you can head to a museum during your holiday at home. You and your kids might even learn something.
Many institutions around the world are offering virtual museum tours. Where will you be heading on your virtual holiday?
How about London and a walk through world history with a virtual tour of the British Museum?
Or maybe art is more your thing. Check out the tour of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Guggenheim.
If you dream of going to Paris and exploring the City of Love’s cultural scene, the Louvre is offering virtual tours.
You can even head to the Vatican and revel in a 360º virtual tour of the Sistine Chapel. It’s hugely impressive, even through a computer screen.
Once you’ve had enough of museums, make sure you “visit” the Keukenhof, known as the Garden of Europe, in Lisse and see its colourful, carefully tended flowers.
If you’re a family that’s usually into more active tourism, you’ll love a vertigo-inducing climb up El Capitán in Yosemite National Park from your sofa. I swear this makes me feel giddy just moving the camera around on the computer.
You can even explore a lot of Pompeii using just Google Maps in street view.
Zoo live streams
Kids love a trip to the zoo, so why not bring the zoo to them with a live stream? The pick of the bunch is San Diego Zoo, which has a whole host of live cams in addition to recorded footage for its animals.
Holiday drinks
After a busy morning of virtual museum tours, you’ll be in need of a drink. And the best part of a holiday bar at home is you get to decide the alcohol content in each drink!
The easiest thing to do would be to open a bottle of wine from the destination of your choosing.
Or if beer is your thing, there are any number of foreign beer brands you can find in your local supermarket.
If it’s cocktails you like, how about a Brazilian caipirinha (with cachaça, lime and sugar)? Or a flavoursome Kir Royale (dry white wine and crème de cassis) from the fanciful French?
Kids can enjoy alcohol-free versions, or you could all prepare a fruit punch together.
For a refreshing alcoholic drink that requires a little more prep time, try a suave Spanish sangria.
Cocktail umbrellas and Hawaiian shirts optional.
Paddling/ball pool
A swimming pool in your garden. Talk about living the dream.
I can see you, eyeing up your kid’s paddling pool. As soon as the sun comes out, get it blown up, into the garden and filled with water.
Dip your feet in, (try to block out the sounds of your neighbours), and imagine you’re somewhere else.
Your kids will have a great time splashing around and soaking you.
If the weather isn’t that great during your holiday at home, you can always take the paddling pool inside and fill it up with plastic balls and let your kids imagine they’re at a soft play centre.
See the previous point on holiday drinks for advice on how to get through it.
Something exotic for lunch or dinner
To have a really different holiday at home, you should try a new recipe, especially if it’s inspired by another country’s cuisine. You can even get your kids involved with helping you (if the idea of a child-created, food-based mess doesn’t stress you out).
If you’re looking for some easy Mediterranean recipes, check out this website. A Spanish omelette (an omelette filled with onion and fried potatoes) is always sure to be a winner with kids and it’s really simple to make.
The BBC Good Food website is a treasure trove of information, so make sure you explore its many recipes. Head to China on your holiday at home with some chicken wings, sweet and sour dishes, and much more.
It’s hard to get more flavour in one dish than a curry, so how about inviting India into your home with a colourful curry for dinner.
For a proper holiday experience, set the table (outside if it’s warm enough!) with candles, hang up some fairy lights, and put on some ambient music. Bon appétit!
Concerts on YouTube
You can find many full-length concerts on YouTube. So if you’re missing out on any music festivals or events this year, you can still watch your favourite acts in concert.
Lady Gaga, Elton John, Queen at Live Aid in 1985, Taylor Swift, Glastonbury, Graspop, Download… You can watch whoever and whatever music style you feel like so turn the volume up.
My personal recommendations are The Killers live at Glastonbury in 2019 and AC/DC live at the River Plate in 2009. They both give me goosebumps every time.
Camping at home
If you’ve got a tent, you might even be able to set it up in your garden, weather permitting, and enjoy an outdoor sleeping experience.
Alternately, you can build your own “tent” indoors by draping bed sheets and blankets over furniture. Your kids will love making their own den and they can even sleep in it.
So there you have a few ideas about how to have a wonderful holiday at home. Which destinations will you be bringing to your house?
Do you have any other suggestions or activities to do while on holiday at home? Let me know in the comments and don’t forget to subscribe to my blog to receive updates about future posts.
Happy holidays!