Showing posts with label time away. Show all posts
Showing posts with label time away. Show all posts

Tuesday, 16 February 2021

Planning a Short Break in Hampshire - The Test Valley or South Downs National Park?

Image by Engin Akyurt from Pixabay 


I absolutely love going away for the weekend, or any other time to be truthful; a short break is my idea of heaven. I don't even mind who I'm away with - my husband, mum, daughter or a friend. As long as there is great food to eat, new places to explore and a cheeky Baileys in the bar before bed I'm a happy girl.

When I go away for the weekend I like to head somewhere new but to be honest, I don't particularly like travelling too far, so anywhere within about a 150-mile radius works for me. For some reason, I have been conditioned to believe that you either go to the coast or to a big city like London or Bath for your short break, but in recent times I've been questioning this.

I think the last year and the lockdowns particularly, have taught us all there is so much beauty and unexplored places on our doorsteps and as such, I am keen to explore some new places closer to my home, rather than spending lots of time in a car or on a train. Hampshire isn't a county I have explored much before and having lived in Surrey all my childhood/ teen years and now Sussex for the last seven years I'm not sure why, as it is pretty close-by.

I'm trying not to dwell too much on how much we have missed out on in the last year or so, but instead, focusing on the future and the excitement of new trips away. Last April I was chatting to a PR Manager acting on behalf of two areas of Hampshire - The Test Valley and the Hampshire area of the South Downs National Park and we were planning that I'd take a couple of short breaks to try out what these areas have to offer.

Of course, the trips didn't happen, but I am feeling much more positive that short breaks will be back on the agenda later on this year. As such I've been having a virtual search to see which area might suit me best to go and visit. My Mum and I will have our annual London trip this year and therefore this trip will be for my husband and me.

Thursday, 7 December 2017

Completing the One4all Challenge - What will we Do?


Recently I wrote about how the people at One4all Gift Card had challenged me to treat one of my kids to a truly memorable Christmas activity.

After checking out the One4all website I discovered that we had hundreds upon hundreds of options open to us for great things to buy or do. I didn't want to use the money on the card to just buy things that might be used once and then forgotten so I decided that the bulk of the money would be spent on a night away for the two of us. When I had asked Miss E what she wanted for Christmas this year she had said 'time with you mummy' and this seems the perfect way to fulfil that wish.

Hotel Stay over
I discovered that I could book hotels via the Superbreak site using my One4all card, so after a good look round the site, I decided to book the Macdonald Frimley Hall Hotel and Spa in Surrey. My husband and I have stayed at this 4* hotel before and had a wonderful time and it is only about 30 minutes drive from my parents. This is perfect as Miss E had said she'd love her Nanny to be involved in her treat too, so this will be an extra nice surprise for her. The one night stay for the both of us booked via Superbreak is £110.

Images thanks to Macdonald Frimley Hall Hotel