By William Coleman
The New Year is here and it is time to set ourselves some goals and challenges for 2020. As touring folk we can sometimes endulge or get stuck in our ways so why not combine some new year resolutions and holiday making?
Hands up if you may have overdid over the Christmas period…. I am sat here with both hands up in the air. Now that all the cakes, biscuits and selection boxes have been consumed its time to put the cookies down, start prepping the van and get active once more.
I have already set myself a couple or targets for 2020 but I can already feel myself slipping, and I always do when I am in the van and on the road. I do tend to snack a lot when I go away and stopping that is at the top of my resolutions list.
The way I look at it, we all just want to spend more time in the van which means more upkeep and more munching, if you’re me.
So aside from the “new year, new me” health kick what bad habits can we do away with and what good habits can we introduce to our touring lifestyle in 2020?
Find Two New Locations
A lot of the people I speak to across the sites I visit all over the UK are repeat visitors. Families and couples that tend to find an area or specific site and that then becomes their destination of choice for a lot of their future visits. One older couple I met in Battle have been using that site for over 15 years and do not want to go anywhere else.
This year don’t just pick two new sites, pick two entirely different parts of the UK to visit. If you usually go away in the South West why not try Scotland or even pop across the pond and find a nice site in France.
Make 2020 the year of freedom and new experiences. I would always recommend Scotland if you’ve never been caravanning their, or if you want to try something really different take a week off and travel to Italy and spend a few days in the South. You may just find your next favourite destination.
Books Not Phones
It was not that long ago that people used to look up when they walked, read books and find things out for themselves instead of burying their faces in mobiles. It seems that the youth of today are the worst at doing this. And dare I say some parents actually use iPads as a form or parenting, which is something I never had when I was younger and I still knew how to behave in public and in restaurants.
One target I have set myself is to put the phone down when I am away, unless I need some directions or perhaps a cheeky photo of where I am staying. Instead I am opting to read books! Something I used to do a lot before the lure of the phone screen became too much.
Recent studies have shown that too much screen time is actually very bad for your mental and physical health, so reducing your time on the phone or tablet will make you feel better.
Reading is also a very good for mental stimulation and gives your brain a much needed rest while actually strengthening it at the same time. I would also suggest doing thirty minutes of reading before you go to bed and see how much better your nights sleep it. You may be very surprised.
Get Active And Keep Fit
You can be a little bit tricky and tie this one in with finding a new location to visit. Why not pick somewhere new that is surrounded by activities to get the heart racing? Two birds one stone.
There are a lot location all around the UK that have amazing walking trails, swimming lakes and even on site activities like canoeing.
One such location that has a ton of fun and healthy activities to try is Salop Leisure’s Love2Stay site in Shrewsbury. They are very much about keeping you fit and healthy while you’re away.
On site they have kayaking, yoga, fishing, swimming and even a gym! Not to mention massage and beauty treatments.
If you spend your leisure time outside seeing the world you will be a lot more healthier both mentally and physically which are two things we all need.
