MODERN FAMILY
ON A day out during our recent staycation, we drove past the first house we lived in after moving to Wales as fresh-faced students nearly a quarter of a century ago.
It was a bit of an accident, as I hadn’t listened properly to the direction expert with the map on our way back from a fun-filled beach day out in Gower.
Not wanting to admit my mistake, I obstinately drove on, because by my reckoning we were “going in the right general direction”, so imagine my relief when everything started to become vaguely familiar.
The direction expert confirmed where we were when he let out a yell as he spotted a proper landmark – our old favourite Chinese takeaway.
We were transported back in time as the name and facade had not changed and we briefly rethought our dinner plans before realising that we couldn’t keep it warm on the drive home.
Driving further down memory lane, and we were a bit disppointed to see that our go-to Indian restaurant is now a coffee shop, and the pub looked a lot less spit and sawdust and more sophisticated than when we were regulars.
Feelings of nostalgia made us take a diversion past the house at the bottom of Constitution Hill, which held many happy memories from those first few exciting days in a country I knew very little about, but instantly loved.
More than two decades on, Wales is still very much our home.
And who would have thought that after four months at home, having a holiday – at home – would be so nice?
Having a staycation would not have been our first choice, but after ruling out going further afield and being too late to book anywhere that wouldn’t cost a small fortune, we were left with little option.
And we weren’t disappointed. Taking the time to make the most of what is on our doorstep has made us appreciate once again what a beautiful country we live in and how we can still find new places of wonder after all these years.
Not only did we revisit some of our favourite places that we have not had the time to visit for years, we discovered brand- new places that took our breath away.
We even managed to encourage the children to lift their heads from their phones and take in the awe-inspiring majesty of Wales and the countryside we are surrounded by.
There might not be endless sunshine and warm sunny days, you might need your brolly and a raincoat one minute and the next sees you reaching for the sun cream.
But we’ve got such beauty on our doorsteps and we should never take that for granted.