Well, that's done. I've booked a week in June at the Caravan and Motorhome Club's site at Ashridge Farm, at Ashwell, north-east of Baldock in Hertfordshire.
I agree, it doesn't sound much of a holiday destination, although a glance at the map will reveal that I'll be pitched well out of town in rolling countryside. I'm there primarily to explore quiet parts of Eastern England that the beach-seeking tourist doesn't much visit. But there's plenty nearby to reward a week's pottering about in the car. Cambridge is an easy drive away to the north-east. The pretty countryside of northern Essex and southern Suffolk, and attractive towns and villages like Saffron Walden, Thaxted and Finchingfield, are only slightly further to the east. I can get to country houses like Audley End and Ickworth House. I can explore the Stour valley, right down into Constable Country if I want a proper day out. And if I really want to, I can reach the east coast anywhere between Burnham-on-Crouch and Harwich.
It would be handier if the Club had a site near Colchester, but I suppose they have judged that there is still insufficient demand. There are of course farm sites all over the place, and long ago in 2006 I stayed twice at one not far from Thaxted. It was delightful, but now that I'm older I want proper sites with staff to assist me if anything goes wrong.
A week will be quite long enough on this occasion. I'm saving up my main spending for my Scottish holiday in September. Hertfordshire is relatively close to Sussex, and the fuel cost will be very manageable. And if I can't see all the places I want, then I can easily return. The clincher is that ever since they introduced online charging for the Dartford Crossing, getting into Eastern England from Sussex has become much easier. For years I shuddered at the thought of the toll queues stretching back for miles. It's not like that now.
All my 2022 caravanning is now firmly booked. Caravanning (including of course campervans and motorhomes) is getting so popular nowadays that you do need to book well in advance, at least for the Club sites. It's the effect of Covid on holidaying habits, and rediscovering the staycation. It's still possible to book a night or two at very short notice, but getting a pitch for a week or more at short notice has become very tricky unless it's early or late in the season and not part of a bank holiday weekend. So nowadays I nail most of my bookings in January, and will stick to plan. In fact I hang the rest of my year on my caravan holiday bookings.
Where's my free spirit, you might ask. Ah, I might keep rigidly to my holiday booking dates, but when away I feel free to do things on a whim. I'm on my own, and can suit myself, shuffling daily destinations around according to the state of the weather and the impulse of the moment. I'm not the kind of tourist who says 'it's 2.30pm on Thursday 12th, we ought to be at X, because that's what it says on the schedule I worked out'. Apart from meetups with friends, I don't do schedules. What I want every day is a good drive, plenty of things to photograph, and nice lunches. Simple pleasures.
