The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Travel
The rise of the autumn ‘studycation’
A third of us took up a new hobby in the pandemic – and canny hotels know it, says Anna Hart
Every September, without fail, I go back to school. I either book a fabulous week away mastering some new sport or skill, or embark on a short course close to home. The impulse is the same: I want to learn something new. Years spent in the school system have conditioned me to associate rustcoloured leaves with industriousness, education, self-improvement… and exciting new sports equipment or stationery from Woolworths to sweeten the deal. The dopamine hit that accompanies new knowledge helps me handle the end of summer. A short course or weekend workshop shifts my focus on to my new and improved future self, and stops me mourning the holidays.
When I lived in London, I took autumn courses in dressmaking, burlesque dancing, first aid, Spanish and paddleboarding. I’ve taken myself on “studycations” to Mauritius for a kitesurfing course, Portugal for surfing lessons, Lanzarote for breathwork meditation, and South Tyrol to learn crosscountry skiing. Perhaps it is Protestant guilt, but I feel better returning from a holiday with a new skill rather than a fridge magnet. Reframing a week drinking wine in Tuscany as an “educational experience” helps me justify any holiday I take – and increases the budget, too. I could definitely teach weekend workshops on how to justify holiday spending to yourself.
This September, going back to school feels different. I’ve been joined by an influx of fellow students. Around a third of Brits took up a new hobby during lockdown, with bread baking, knitting, gardening and yoga among the most popular. I barely scraped on to the waiting list for an upholstery course at Margate Design Collective (margate designcollective.co.uk), and jewellerymaking workshops and pottery classes are being rapidly booked up.
So it’s no surprise that Britain’s most forward-thinking hotels are offering programmes of workshops, weekend courses and destination events, catering to our “hobsessions”… or offering new ones. Heckfield Place (heckfield place.com) in Hampshire has launched a roster of masterclasses in mushroom foraging, preserve pickling and watercolour painting. Meanwhile, at the more affordable end of the spectrum, Birch (birchcommunity.com) offers classes in pottery, sourdough baking, pasta making and tie-dyeing. Gleneagles (gleneagles.com) has always served as a plummy academy for posh outdoor pursuits, but it now runs wildlife photography courses, tree-climbing sessions and off-road driver training. Tiny Homes Holidays (tinyhomesholidays.com) on
the Isle of Wight offers a “studycation” programme of weekend courses in macramé, bookbinding and beehive building. All the potential pastimes you need for another winter lockdown!
I know there are holidaymakers who shudder at the thought of turning their relaxing break into a school camp. For years, I felt like the lone weirdo, obsessively booking holidays that would teach me something. But I adore being an amateur everything, with a lengthy list of things I can do very badly. My earliest holiday memories are of activityfuelled family trips to Share Discovery Village (sharevillage.org) near Enniskillen,
or Club Med holidays (clubmed. co.uk) in Turkey or France. I developed a lifelong lust for banana-boating at the Share Centre, and flying trapeze skills at Club Med – though I rarely find myself in somersaulting situations. On reflection, juggling would have been better.
But I firmly believe trips based around activities and learning shouldn’t be just for families. I don’t have kids, but plenty of my friends and family do – and we generally fancy the same sorts of destinations and holidays.
One thing I love about this new trend for hotel-based activities and coursebased holidays is that they are inclusive, appealing to travellers of all ages, from all backgrounds, united by curiosity, eccentricity and enthusiasm. I always make friends on a course, because there is no more bonding experience than being rubbish at something. These friends range from the 80-year-old Californian fiction writer I met at a creative writing retreat to the two British police officers I met scuba diving in Indonesia.
This year, I am toying with the idea of surfing lessons in Sligo, and a kundalini yoga course in Ibiza, and until then, my footstool and I are destined for the upholstery studio around the corner. Summer may be over, but for my class of dedicated hobbyists, the holidays are just beginning.