Things to do in Lockdown - How to create a home holiday experience
While you’re stuck at home dreaming of your next holiday, we want to share some things to do in lockdown that will help you experience some of the most memorable bits of a holiday right now, in the familiar confines of your own home.
With all the usual stresses of life compounded by the madness of Covid, you need respite and distraction more than ever in order to keep everything from becoming overwhelming. As per government guidelines Round the Woods is closed at the moment, so we’ve used our experience to put together some ideas to inspire you to take a much needed break.
6 key elements of a memorable holiday
Switch off
Relax
Enjoy good weather
Eat good food
Do activities you wouldn’t normally do at home
Spend time together
We keep these 6 holiday essentials in mind when creating a memorable experience for our guests at Round the Woods.
Here’s how you can make these 6 elements work for you when searching for things to do in lockdown.
Switch off
If you’re like me and constantly have countless ‘tabs’ open in your head - kids, work, money, covid - you need to find a way to switch off, declutter your thoughts and help your mind work at its best again.
One way I like to switch off is to spend some time in front of a fire, allowing its primal power to burn away my worries and calm my overstimulated mind. It isn’t just me though; researchers have shown that watching a fire, even on screen, lowers blood pressure and the calming focus it inspires can reduce anxiety.
You will feel your tension melt and your responsibilities drop away as you sip a warm drink and stare into those soul soothing flames.
Here are some ways you can bring the elemental power of fire indoors:
Light a fire if you are lucky enough to have a fireplace
Light a candle or some tealights. Their hypnotic flickering and gentle light will rest your overstimulated mind.
Buy an indoor fire pit
Watch a video of a blazing fire. Seeing fire on the screen can gain you some of its many benefits.
2. Relax
Despite what outdated cultural messages tell you, it is not clever to ignore your need for relaxation and recovery. Athletes dedicate time to it so they can keep pushing themselves and business executives schedule time for it so they can maintain their energy and focus. You can gain enormously from finding time to relax. Try these simple practices:
Breathe. Convince your body and mind to relax by breathing in a relaxed and steady way. Try this breathing exercise 3-10 times: 1. Sit comfortably 2. Place one hand on your belly and the other on your chest 3. Breathe in slowly through the nose. Your belly should move out, your chest should not. 4. Slowly exhale through pursed lips. Push all of the air out with the hand on your belly.
Have a warm bath or shower - the heat helps your muscles to relax.
Use essential oils - The proven effects of lavender for relaxation can easily be harnessed with an essential oil burner and some lavender essential oil. If you don’t have a burner, you could try putting a few drops in a mug of boiling water, or simply putting some on a piece of tissue and smelling it from time to time.
Relax your body. Do some stretching to get your body to unwind and let go of tension. Yoga is easy to do at home, try an app like down dog, including the incredibly relaxing yoga nidra, or find plenty of free routines on youtube, including man yoga for those of you who are too macho for standard yoga.
Get a massage. Beg your partner, get your kids to walk on your back, or even relieve your own tension with self-massage.
3. Enjoy good weather
It’s winter, let’s not pretend we can magic up a warm summers day for sunbathing. However, you do want to be comfortable and warm during your break.
Turn up the heat. Turn the heating up to full and get a pair of shorts on, you’ll immediately feel more free taking all those heavy layers off.
Look for the sun. If there is even a hint of sunshine, soak it up like a lizard. Move your chair into a sunny spot, boost your vitamin D and take advantage of the mood boosting effects of sunlight. As tempting as it is to close the curtains and flip on the lights, your body won’t thank you.
Feel better by comparison. It’s winter, it’s chilly, but the weather could most definitely be worse. Watch some really bad weather to make yourself feel smug.
4. Enjoy good food
Nothing makes me think ‘holiday food’ more than a BBQ, but before you don your woolly hat and gloves and go outside to de-ice your bbq, let’s get realistic. We’re trying to enjoy ourselves, keep warm and relax. Freezing January bbqs are not the way. How about an indoor bbq?
Please don't actually bring your bbqs inside! It's the spirit of the bbq we’re after, not the house fire or carbon monoxide poisoning. So, how can you bring the bbq spirit indoors?
Bring the outdoors in String up some bunting, hang some fairy lights, position some plants and grab the outdoor seating. Bringing the outdoors in will add novelty and a sense of fun that will help you relax and make it feel special.
Music. Get a playlist on with tunes that make you feel relaxed and give a holiday vibe.
Food. Heat up the grill, use your stove top and get creative with your usual bbq recipes. We always go for a creamy potato salad, homemade coleslaw and some burgers and sausages under the grill. Simple and tasty. If you’re feeling adventurous - you’re on holiday after all - why not give these tasty chicken kebabs a go?
5. Do activities you wouldn’t normally do at home
Tricky from your living room? With technology and some innovative thinking from tourism providers, perhaps not. Try some of these wonderful activities to transport you from your confinement and out into the world:
Tour a beautiful historical hall
Visit a museum and try some workshops
Miss the zoo? You can go too
Head to the beach
Seeking thrills? Ride a roller coaster
Or head further afield for some stunning scenery
6. Spend time together
Finally, the importance of this point can’t be overlooked. Loneliness is a pandemic that has affected people long before Coronavirus brought us lockdown. We are starting to get to grips with new ways of connecting with people, but it can still feel awkward to sit staring at friends and family on Zoom with little more than your new baking skills to update them about. Holidays with friends and family are about fun, laughter and lightheartedness so that's what we’re after for your home holiday experience.
Board games - eg. Monopoly. Method: One player will need the game, others will need dice, a pen and paper. The player with the physical game will need 2 cameras (eg a phone and a laptop) and 2 separate skype accounts. One camera will stay pointed at the board, with the mic muted. The other camera will point at the player as usual. The game can then be played as normal. The players with no board should make notes of their properties and money on paper.
Charades - Such a simple, fun game that can easily be adjusted to play online if your connection is fast enough. Use this handy charades ideas generator to come up with the charades to act out. Refresh yourself with the rules and get your family or friends on board.
Scattergories - Get people’s brains working with this creative thinking game. Each round consists of 5 categories and a random letter. The goal is to write a word for each category that begins with the random letter. Use this free game generator to set up the game and share the provided link with all players.
Bingo - Print or copy out a bingo card each using this bingo card generator. Cut up numbers 1-100, screw them up and put them in a bowl ready to pull out randomly once the games begin.
Quizzes - A lockdown favourite. Spread the preparation by getting each player to come up with 10 or so questions. Out of questions? Use this random trivia generator.
Sing together Love Karaoke? Why not try something different? Download the smule app to record yourself singing a song that your friends and family can add to, or just laugh at.
It’s hard to see beyond this third lockdown, but the end will come. You’ll soon be able to book yourself a truly well deserved holiday and we’ll be able to do the hard work for you. In the meantime however, I hope you’ll try out these fun activities that will deliver a tantalising taste of holiday bliss and help to keep you and your loved ones happy and healthy.
Have you created a home holiday experience during lockdown? Did you try any of our tips? Comment below and if you enjoyed this post, please share it with a friend.
