Holidays 2024

[C8RKH]

Same time as this year. I'm sure you can work it out from that.

[Flaming June]

On 07/01/2024 at 09:59, eeyoreish said:

Does nobody (apart from @Escape) go on holiday in the UK any more? Oh well... If you do happen to fancy a few days on the South Coast near to Goodwood etc give us a thought 🙂🐴. We're car/Lotus friendly, obviously!

http://airbnb.com/h/the-stables-chidham

http://airbnb.com/h/the-hayloft-chidham

Courtesy of Neil's post earlier on, and with a need to take a few days off work before the end of March, but not wanting to fly away anywhere really, we stayed at the Hayloft for 5 nights last week.  Here's what I wrote in the review and while we didn't take a Lotus, nor see Neil's Esprit safely tucked away from the wind and rain, I can vouch for its Lotus friendliness and close proximity to pretty much anything and everything you could want from a holiday home.  And Goodwood isn't that far away so I wish we could have been able to defer for a couple of weeks so as to accommodate the Members' Meeting.  Maybe next year...

Joanne and Neill have created a beautiful home from home and a holiday haven with lovely views of fields heading down the water estuary.  It’s peacefulness is most certainly part of the charm but it is also close to shops, pubs and other amenities in neighbouring towns.  Not only that, but the South Downs, Goodwood and the historic places of Chichester and Arundel are but a short drive away.  So much thought and care have gone into the design of the Hayloft and the fixtures and furnishings are second to none.  We chose the Hayloft over a fly-away break as we didn’t want the hassle of an overseas trip preferring instead to maximise the time available for R&R.  Even the daily March rain didn’t dent that for us.   Thank you and we hope to see you again soon.

[eeyoreish]

Thanks for your lovely comments Mark. It makes all our hard work worthwhile when guests really appreciate the effort we've put into creating 'The Hayloft' and 'The Stables'.

Hopefully we'll get to welcome some more fellow Lotus owners in the coming year 🤞

[drdoom]

New Zealand, simply enchanting! Spent 4 weeks, drove over 4500KM mid-February to mid-March and was in love with the country from day 1. In conversation from time to time the Kiwis would share the thought that NZ was anywhere from 20 to 100 years behind the times, their more common complaint apparently. I'd say damned lucky for that as it's in terms of character and behaviour that they reflect societies of long years past. Consistently courteous, no rubbish to be seen at all, neither homeless nor druggies in evidence. Stunningly vast grass pitches on which cricket, field hockey and rugby would be the preferred sports, endless access to beaches and harbours.

 

[Bibs]

Quiet blustery in Cornwall at the moment!! 

[Slotus]

"Holiday" ? - what's that? 🤔

[Sparky]

Dunno, but I'm forced to endure at least half a dozen a year.

[C8RKH]

@Slotus go on holiday. No one wants "he worked so much he never saw anything" on their grave stone.

[MPx]

Some of us consider ourselves incredibly fortunate to live somewhere lovely in relative luxury and no longer "go to work" for our income.  (Very different to not doing any work!)   We've done some travelling over the years and seen some of the wonders as well as just other lovely places - although I readily admit pretty tame compared to many.  But I've not yet been anywhere where going back was a must, or even worked out as well the second time when we did.  Not yet been to a hotel at any price point where the plumbing worked as well as it does at home and the facilties were as nice as we keep them here.   I fully appreciate (and am genuinely grateful) that we lead a different life to the majority - but if every day is "on holiday" then going on holiday offers little, if any, excitment - just extra ag, and we stopped bothering several years ago.

[eeyoreish]

I think we're similar here in West Sussex and with the holiday lets and the horses we are, to some extent, tied to the place.

We're lucky though to live in a place where people want to come on holiday and with 'The Stables' and 'The Hayloft' holiday lets we get to meet quite a few of them. Only in our second year we've already had a few returning guests so I guess we must be doing something right!

Maybe @MPx you'll come and test our plumbing sometime (?) and I'll wait anxiously for feedback...

[C8RKH]

I live in a stunning part of the world too, and currently don't work full time, however, I still love visiting new places and my recent 2 weeks in the Western Cape was superb!  Our apartment was a home from home, right on the beach, at surfers corner. It wasn't a 4, or heaven forbid, even a 5 star hotel (I hate the pretentious pricks who boast about such places) but it was comfortable, safe, quiet etc.

For me, life is all about experiences, and holidays are an opportunity for more experiences. I'm just back from an 8 mile walk along the coast and nature reserves, invigorating but bracing in the gale force winds and whilst I am incredibly fortunate to live in such a place of outstanding beauty, and make memorable memories, the scenery of the Western Cape still totally blew me away.

We marvel here about the beauty and isolation of Glencoe for instance (and it is stunning), but even that just fades away when you're in the Cape National Park with the Cape of Good Hope in the background and False Bay stretching out like a half moon to the distant beyond. 

So living an alternative lifestyle, at home, in a great part of the UK is great, but exploring new places is just the icing on the cake of life.

For me and the current wife, life is not about posh hotels or swanky over priced restaurants, which is why we shun places like Dubai for instance - a veritable soulless Chavfest of a place in my humble opinion.

it is about seeing and appreciating the diversity of the world. Meeting new people. Talking to strangers in strange places. Experiencing awe and wonder, whilst making memorable memories. As much as I love "home", I couldn't just be at home every day, every month, every year. I'd be missing out on too much.

However, each to their own, we all have our likes and dislikes.

 

 

[eeyoreish]

Been to West Sussex..? 🤔

I could rustle up some strangers, the current Mrs H and some gale force winds 👍

[C8RKH]

27 minutes ago, eeyoreish said:

I could rustle up some strangers

Never been brave enough to visit West Sussex, sure I read a book about it though once, every one there seemed "strange".

 

[eeyoreish]

None taken…🤨

[Kimbers]

The downs in Sussex are gorgeous. We are down at Sussex Art fair in May at Goodwood.

We have an Air BnB in the forest in the downs and its gorgeous and quiet. 

But there's no replacing our holidays abroad. Mauritius, Cyprus, Spain, Italy, France, Various Greek Islands. And thats in the last 8 years. 

Whilst there are still loads of places for us to visit and explore we do love going back to Cyprus and are actively looking to buy a place where we can just go "Lets jump on a plane and pop over for a long weekend". Flights are so cheap even in high season.

[Doug Ashley]

On 08/03/2024 at 11:40, Doug Ashley said:

Our main holiday this year will be the ferry down to Spain, and slowly make our way home in the Evora via the Pyrenees 😎  Would be interested to know about any car events going on in that area, haven't properly started planning yet. 

Just in case anyone is going as well, on our upcoming France/Spain trip I've managed to shoehorn in a visit to the Club Lotus of France festival:

https://www.club-lotus.fr/collect/description/375944-n-billeterie-visiteurs-6eme-festival-lotus-le-22-juin-2024

Will be releasing some kind of video of the event as well. We're heading there first, then making our way slowly down to the Pyrenees and heading home on the ferry out of Bilbao (the reverse of what I originally planned, for boring reasons).

Very much looking forward to the trip, give me a shout if you'll be over there at the same time 😎

 

[Bibs]

We're off to Rhodes soon, think I'll give the day trip to Symi a miss...

We were booked to go last year then there were wildfires which started in the village we had a villa in. We ended up in Italy instead but it just so happens the same Rhodes villa was available again so we rebooked it! 

[mayevora]

This time tomorrow I’ll have car packed and setting off on another 7 Country road trip for a couple of weeks. 😊☀️

[drdoom]

The wife and I have now and then discussed travel with a motorsport angle, recently pondering the Goodwood Revival as I much prefer Historics to contemporary machinery. Might be in our sights for 2025, having other plans in place for this year. We took in the Spa Six Hours a handful of years ago and had a fine time doing so, partly owing to its uncrowded setting. I understand Goodword is very popular and rightly so but what think those who've attended? Pro's and cons?

Cheers

[eeyoreish]

Well, if you do decide to do Goodwood at some point, (shameless plug) our two places are only 15 minutes away from the circuit 🙂

www.airbnb.co.uk/h/the-hayloft-chidham and www.airbnb.co.uk/h/the-stables-chidham

Edited June 21 by eeyoreish

[Bibs]

One of the best events on the planet imo, I've been a dozen times. Make sure you dress up too, you and your wife will enjoy it much more. 

It's hugely popular so can be crowded despite it's vast size so it can be hard to see the racing if you don't wander further around the track but it's not a big circuit so do a lap and you'll find plenty of good spots, the racing is brilliant. 

[Sparky]

Action packed year for us!  So far we have not been to Antigua and Italy, and we are planning not to go to Florida and Iceland in the coming months.

[jep]

Goodwood Revival utterly brilliant.  

And I have no interest in watching cars go around a track (live), it bores me within 5 minutes but i still adore this event.  If you like watching track action, book grandstand tickets.  

So much more to do and see, wonderful atmosphere, brilliant access to the cars, mechanics, owners, drivers (check if you need paddock passes), lots of stalls and other activities.  

It is busy, get there v early and prepare for queues but with the right attitude,  it's fine and supremely well organised.  

The public car parks are full of interesting vehicles, so wander there too. 

Definitely dress the part, for once folk actually look sartorial elegant which is  rare these days in a world where dressing-down has become the norm. 

It's impossible not to enjoy this event.

Justin 

 

[Rambo]

I would agree. And I also like track action.

If you go and aren't in period dress you will look like a spare part !

[jep]

1 hour ago, Rambo said:

you will look like a spare part !

And may end up on a racing Type 47 🙃