February fix

In theory, I should like February. It's my birthday, for a start. And I can categorically state that I prefer it to October or November. You're past the shortest day and you know that you're moving (slowly) towards summer - the days are getting longer, the nights are getting shorter and signs of spring are starting to pop up all around you. Sadly, though, it's not yet getting any warmer - which makes holidaying in February somewhat limited. 

By the time February comes round, I am getting seriously itchy feet for a holiday. Because we don't go away at Christmas, it's usually the longest gap I go between holidays (a whopping four months, I'll have you know!). Unless we go without the kids, we're limited to school holidays, and I can't wait until Easter to go away! But where exactly do you go in February?!

If we had lots of money to spare, it would be a no-brainer - we'd pop over to the Caribbean or somewhere similar for some winter sun. We did that once, back when we actually had money - half-term in Jamaica. It was bloody amazing, the weather was beautiful and we felt very smug. However, it was a long way to go for just a week; by the time we'd got over the jet lag it was nearly time to go home, and we said at the time that we wouldn't go long-haul again for less than ten days. Either way, it's a moot point - we certainly can't afford Jamaica right now!

Another option would be somewhere closer to home but still warmer, like Spain. Unfortunately, it still wouldn't be warm enough to justify the large amount of money it would cost - and it would be a lot of money. It might be out of season but it's still school holidays, and the tour operators price their packages accordingly. Even booking independently isn't cheap, as flight companies have caught on to the school holiday price hike. 

This brings us back to the only affordable option - a break in the UK, or a 'staycation' as someone once dreamed up to make it sound more exotic. Of course, there's nothing exotic about the UK in February. Even if you're lucky enough for it to be dry, it's guaranteed to be cold. This not only limits your options but also puts the price up. For example, camping - our favourite 'cheap' holiday option - is most definitely out. Another thing is that unless you're self-catering, all meals need to be eaten inside somewhere (read cafes or restaurants) - no cheap picnic lunches. Entertainment can be free when the weather's good - think visits to the park, long walks, days on the beach... When it's cold - or, worse, wet - you end up paying for indoor daytime activities. Even a theoretically cheap break in the UK soon starts adding up. 

Money aside, you're still pretty limited to what you can - or would want to - do in February in the UK. 'Outdoor' activities seriously lose their appeal. Even visits like castles or zoos are somewhat dependent on the weather, leaving you left with indoor activities - museums, bowling, swimming, cinema, etc. One might (understandably) question the point of going away at all when most of these things are probably near your doorstep - one swimming pool or bowling alley is much like another, after all. Why would you want to travel and spend money on a hotel or cottage if you're not seeing or doing anything you couldn't see or do at home? It's a fair point. The trouble is, staying at home is not a holiday. Swimming or cinema at home could be done on any old weekend. Staying at home means I'm thinking about the work that I could be doing, looking at the house and thinking about the tidying or decorating I could be doing and, most likely, carrying on with everyday chores like cooking, washing and cleaning. But even 'everyday' activities like swimming become a holiday if they're done somewhere else, where I can't do any work if I try, and where (hopefully) someone else cooks for me. 

Of course, all of that said, I would still prefer to go somewhere where we can see or do at least a few things we couldn't do at home. So where does that leave? Well, there's Butlins - fab swimming pool and lots of indoor shows and activities. Sadly, though, too expensive for our current means. There's Center Parcs - ha! Have you ever looked at Center Parcs prices in school holidays?! *crying with laughter emoji needed here* (Note for those who don't know: Center Parcs is much cheaper in the rest of Europe, particularly during school holidays - although still more than we can afford at the moment, especially when travel is taken into account.) Otherwise, you're looking for places with decent museums or similar. And where do we know with lots of museums that's not too far away? Yup, we're back to London.

I know, I know, I've been there before - both literally and figuratively. Regular readers will know that our short breaks to London haven't always exactly been successful (see Sick of holidays?), and London isn't always the best destination for children, especially when they're feeling tired and whingey. But we have had a successful night in London since the disaster in my previous blog post, so I know it can be done. I'm ready to risk it for the sake of a little 'holiday'. And, as I've mentioned before (London - a budget-break blog), with its wealth of free museums, London is the perfect destination for a relatively cheap 'indoor' break. So in a couple of weeks we'll be 'jetting off' to London for two nights in a Holiday Inn Express. Our one expensive plan is to visit the Tower of London - somewhere, slightly embarrassingly, I've never actually been to. Other than that, we have no specific plans, just lots of ideas, which may or may not come to fruition depending on the weather, the children's behaviour, what we feel like, etc. Unlike a couple of years ago (Holiday limitations), I have no great expectations, and I die a little when reading how excited I was about that particular trip bearing in mind how it turned out. But the kids are a bit older, they've been given strict instructions not to whinge, we won't let Finn stuff himself at dinner and under no circumstances am I sleeping in the same bed as Dylan. It's got to better, right?!