Getting Out and Seeing Your Own Country

Whether it’s jumping on the train to Brighton or having a party weekend in Manchester, there is a huge variety of things you can do within England, and without having to deal with an airport or making reservations far in advance.

There are lots of reasons to explore your home country.

1. You’ll reduce your carbon footprint.

Of course it’s tempting to just hop budget airline flights and marvel at how far you can go on a 1p fare, but it’s not great for the planet.

2. You’ll get ideas for where you can take overseas visitors.

It’s embarrassing how little I know when overseas visitors ask me questions about travel within England. However, I’m at least confident in talking about the places I’m actually been too. How many of this list of 25 have you visited?

3. It’s easier to travel with extended family.

It’s easier to book a big family trip when you’re not needing to consider airline tickets. Your family members can just drive themselves or catch the train or bus from wherever is closest to them. If you have extended family who are located in different areas across the country, then you could always choose a destination to spend the weekend thats convenient for both of you. This means no one has to play host and makes planning a gathering less stressful.

4. Your money will stay in England.

When you spend money with local businesses, those businesses then pay taxes, which are used to improve roads, hospitals, and schools. So, it’s win-win for everybody. If you’re wanting to keep your money as local as possible then try searching out non-chain and “Mum and Dad” operations.

As well as trying to go local with your hotels, try to go local with your dining choices.

VisitEngland has a quite interesting article about the local economic impact of tourism.

5. It’s a fun way to learn history.

Since many of England’s attractions are of a historical nature, visiting them forces you to have a bit of a history lesson. I always find that this brain workout makes me come away feeling really good. It’s much more enjoyable to learning about history from travel than from books (although doing a bit of advance reading before visiting can enhance an experience).

Learning about history through travel is great for children and adults. If you’re a parent, then showing an interest in learning history is a great way to model to your children the benefits and importance of being a lifelong learner.

6. It’s a great way to try more spontaneous travel.

Just jumping in your car or rental car and heading off for the weekend is a great way to encourage yourself to be more spontaneous in your travel. It’s also a good way to spend more time actually travelling and less time researching travel whilst sitting at your desk at work (yes, we all do it).

Keep in mind anywhere you have friends you’ve haven’t seen in awhile who might be keen to see you. I don’t mean for the purpose of a free place to stay, I just mean to catch up. I often enjoy catchups with friends even more than I expect to.