One of my favourite things about traveling is experiencing new sights. I do enjoy relaxing, but I can lounge around at home; the point of being somewhere else is to see what different locations have to offer. (Side note: I do also understand that sometimes 'forced' relaxation can only occur away from housework and normal routine - that's a topic for another day!)
We did plenty of day trips around our local area when the girls were younger. Anything within a two- or three-hour drive of home could be done without an overnight stay. When the pandemic hit and we were restricted from leaving our local area, we had already been to a lot of the popular tourist sites and these didn't hold a lot of appeal. I didn't want to spend our travel budget repeating experiences we‘d had before.
We live within a couple of hours' drive of the Pacific Coast in Queensland, so we have stayed at locations up and down the coast, which are normally very popular with tourists, both Australia’s domestic travellers and international visitors. Our state's tourism industry took a terrible hit when travel was restricted. During the peak of the lockdown in my area, international and state borders closed and we were not permitted to leave our local neighbourhood (defined as being within a 50 km radius of home). This meant that even relatively 'local' tourists were not able to travel to the coastal areas for a break.
I read articles about businesses that were in severe financial difficulties and began to change my mind about booking a 'local' getaway. As soon as we were allowed to travel to surrounding areas, we decided to book something small. We asked our daughters what sort of holiday they would like (beach or country) and they chose beach, with a special request to stay in two-storey accommodation if possible. Houses with internal stairs are a bit of a novelty for them! We found a family holiday resort within easy driving distance of home and booked a two-storey townhouse. It was a relatively short trip (just two nights), but it felt great to be supporting a travel business and it was wonderful to have something on the calendar.
We made the most of our two-night getaway, even though restaurants weren't open and shops had extreme guest limits which often meant our family had to split up while one or two people entered a store. We ate takeaway food at the beach and played board games, hired pedal karts and went shopping. It was a short trip, but it allowed us to have a couple of days of uninterrupted family time while also supporting the tourism industry in our region.
For an extra element of fun and anticipation, my husband and I each chose a surprise for the family. I chose an experience - we did a glow worm cave tour on our way home. My husband chose a special deal from the girls' favourite family restaurant, which wasn't open for sit-down dining, but offered the same food in takeaway form. Both surprises went down very well and made the trip extra memorable.
We do love getting away from home to explore new regions and see new things, but I must admit, our local getaway was perfect for us. We didn't feel safe straying too far from home due to the ongoing risk of virus in the community, yet we wanted to take a break from the stresses of pandemic life. We also wanted to support the tourism sector and give the girls something to anticipate and plan.
If you are tossing up whether or not to use some of your travel budget on a local trip - I say go for it! Two nights didn't cost us too much financially, especially as there was very low demand for travel at the time, but it was enough to release some of the pressure we were under and we now look back on the trip fondly. Funnily enough, the girls' favourite restaurant closed a few months after we got that last takeaway meal. In the scheme of life, that's not a big deal, but it made us glad that we'd taken those couple of days out of everyday life to stop, enjoy some of the things that are uniquely special to us as a family, and make some family memories.
I know travel is still restricted in many places, so you may be forced to travel locally at the moment. When things open up again, you may be restricted by other factors: timeframes, budget or perhaps health issues. I am so glad that I've been reminded that there is potential to have a wonderful break within a short
distance of home. It's something we now plan to do more often!
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