How To Take A Holiday At Home

Whether it’s lighting the good candles, drinking hot chocolate for breakfast or finally tackling your reading list, here’s how to enjoy a retreat inside the protective shell we call home.

There you were, diligently remaining upbeat on your umpteenth Zoom call, while quietly totting up how many days leave you’d have saved up come January, hoping that by now you’d be – oh, I don’t know, anywhere – but still at home. But no, here we are, back on our laurels, regretting that investment luggage bought in 2019 and hoping against hope that by obeying the rules we are, at the very least, going in to bat for the final lockdown.

Planning Your Down Time

Start by thinking about what sort of things you most enjoy about being on holiday. For me, it’s pretty simple. I love to read (and finish) multiple books; feel the sun on my face, try inspiring new dishes and take plenty of naps. While it would be nice to do all of these from the reclined comfort of a hotel lounger, these restoratives are also all possible in my own home.

Day 1: Welcome The New Year

Packing up cherished decorations with care and setting aside or parting with some of the old to make way for the new, is a great way to begin a fresh chapter. Sweeping up pine needles and burning the last of the fragrant clove candles brings a satisfying sense of closure to the previous year and helps prepare ourselves and our living spaces for new things to come.

For me melting the last of the chocolate coins from my stocking into morning porridge, or a bedtime hot chocolate, is a ritual I relish. I enjoy cooking-up leftover meats into hearty pies and aromatic curries, with the final leftovers going to the cat – who has been staking out the kitchen since the butcher brought the turkey over a fortnight ago.

Day 2: Venture Out-Of-Doors

The disadvantage of our small city garden is that everything is constantly on show and unlike larger gardens, there’s little room to hide things that look sad or dead during winter. The pots of spring bulbs – ‘Purple Flag’ and ‘Snow-star’ tulips – planted back in autumn need no further attention as yet, but there is still plenty of pottering to be done to keep on top smaller jobs, such as sweeping the York stone or dead-heading the last of the hardier geraniums. Even tipping out pools of rainwater from the furniture covers seems to bring a subtle but satisfying connection with my little slice of the outdoors.

Day 3: Make A Meal Of It

Wherever I travel, food always plays an important part of the experience and come January I often find myself drawn to cookery books. Under the guise of checking whether I still need all of them (I do), I pour over their rich pages, hungry for inspiration on which nourishing dishes will see our house through January, and on until spring.

Much like any other holiday, I make a ritual of drinks and dinner. From gathering the very best ingredients from the local greengrocer, to lighting elegant taper candles and putting out the good glasses, I enjoy cooking and preparing food quietly and at my own pace. Whilst I am a capable host I find creating playlists is best left to the experts, so tend to borrow from one of the Soho Houses and pour any who is about a glass of something cold to savour as I set about slicing and stirring.

In our house of late, collecting a take away and some cold beers from a different local restaurant each Friday night has become a happy weekly ritual I really to look forward to.

Day 4: Embark On An Adventure

Making the most of what you have wherever you are is a motto many of us learned to get behind of late. So too, seeing where you live from a new perspective can bring real positivity. For me this was seeing the quiet streets of London’s West End empty of its usual bustling footfall.

Be sure to don a comfortable pair of shoes and wrap up in plenty of layers. Being a morning person I prefer to head out after first light, with a flask of tea and pockets stuffed with granola bars or clementines, with a midwinter audio drama for company (Try Maigret or a Charles Paris mystery on the BBC Sounds app).

…And Look Out For Souvenirs

On my idle city amble, having said hello to the ancient oaks and admired the handsome geese wintering on the Serpentine, I pressed on for the venerable old buildings of Bond Street and Jermyn Street. Whilst some window panes were dark, lots had kindly left their Christmas lights on and I was even able to pick up a bunch of eucalyptus and precious parcel of delicious-smelling cheese on my journey – both of which felt like magical treasures to bear homeward with.

Day 5: Send A Letter

Thank you letters, a telephone call to an elderly aunt, and ordering a birthday gift for a close chum whose special day always catches me off-guard falling just a few days after Christmas. Having selected a small something I knew she’d like, I diligently wrapped it and braved the slow stamping queue outside the post office…fingers crossed it makes it to her on time. Less things to worry about once back to work timetabling, with the added win that others might get a little joy too.

Day 6: An Indulgent Day

A pot of tea and toasted bun, whilst enjoying a chapter of the beautiful Folio Edition Agatha Christie given to me by my Mother, followed by a hot bath complete with fragrant oils. Donning the cashmere socks that Father Christmas knew were a bit of me, and a splash of my new perfume (if not now, when?) I took a stroll to the nearby green to see the lights and get a little air.

En route home I indulged in a small, steaming cup of hot chocolate from the newly-opened coffee shop that’s thrilling the locals. Once back indoors, I lit the fire and the good candles with abandon, before settling into the best chair with a freshly topped-up hot water bottle to finish another book.

Happy idling my dears xx