What the family holiday looks like this summer

Will there be a summer this year?

That’s actually not such a new question in the UK: We Brits tend to ask ourselves that every June, July and August as we look up at gray skies and pull on our raincoats.

This year of course is different.

(Join us on Facebook Live on Thursday 21 May at 11am, where BritMums cofounders and family travel bloggers Susanna Scott of A Modern Mother and Jennifer Howze of Jenography talk with Katja Gaskell of Globetotting and Karen Beddow of Mini Travellers about what the family holiday looks like now.)

The family holiday 2020

By summer we mean family holiday and this year we have to think about things beyond whether we want to go surfing or hiking. Now it’s also about the 2-week quarantine on returning flights, the regulations at our destination, the changes in travel insurance, the effect on vulnerable people in our group or when we return and more.

What is certain is that family travel this summer will look at a lot different. Goodbye to the hotel buffet, to packed flights (or at least, to resigned acceptance of them), to a pint at the bar after your country walk. 

People are talking and wondering about camping, about heading out the countryside, about flying to a beautiful destination then staying put.

Family vacations we’re used to

As a family we’ve gotten used to these things as part-and-parcel of our summer holiday experience as well as a family trip to Austin, Texas. For the first time in as long as I can remember, my daughter and I won’t be joining family in Texas to experience sidewalks as hot as skillets and breathtaking plunges into cold swimming holes. No Tex-Mex food. No shopping at American malls. No cousin’s swimming pool.

But that could mean having a totally different kind of holiday – something shorter and out of the ordinary that gets us outside.

A 2020 holiday trend: Simple & sustainable

This summer will be the return of the simpler holiday – one focussed on nature, the outdoors and sustainability. That could mean camping in the British countryside or even finding local beauty spots. And it doesn’t necessarily mean ‘budget’. For some, it will mean spending more for an exclusive experience, a villa away from the crowds, an entire house rental set on a swathe of land, a hotel suite that allows more separation from other guests.

For us, we’re still waiting and evaluating. But as the trees bloom outside my office window and the news about the virus inches slowly in the right direction, we’re getting excited about the summer to come. Raincoats or no.

Get some inspiration for family holidays and getaways in 2020

The best family beaches in the UK

The best educational places for a family day out

The best places to camp in the UK

12 things to do with kids on the north Norfolk Coast

The Ultimate Guide to family camping

Top 10 essentials for camping with baby