Berridon Farm | Travel
These images have gone unedited for over three months, there’s always so much work stuff to prioritise, that these kept getting pushed to the bottom of the editing mountain. However a prompt and possibility of winning a once in a lifetime trip to Tanzania with Yellow Zebra Safaris, got me thinking about my favourite trip so far.
We have been lucky enough to travel quite broadly, from posing with nearly every 1950s car we found in Cuba to sinking our toes into the silky sand on Fraser Island. We've chatted with monks in Thailand and gorged on Pastel de Nata in Lisbon so would you believe one of the best holidays we've had is 4 days in a cabin in Devon?
This is the second year in a row we've returned to Berridon Farm and since it's extraordinarily rare for us to return anywhere twice we really must like it.
When I thought about why this was such a stand out memory for me I realised there wasn’t the pressure to see and do and experience everything. It's the exact opposite of many of mine and our trips and I think with life generally getting faster and busier and my own never ending to do list of what I want to see, do and experience, I completely forget how to be in the moment. These few nights away, remind me how to be present, how to sit still, to plan no further than the eggs that we will collect that morning and the breakfast we will make with them.
The pivotal moment for me that snapped me out of my own head was one of the dilemma’s of holidaying in the UK; the weather. Summer 2018 was incredible, what was it 12 weeks of sunshine? The day WE arrive in Devon, the spell breaks and it’s drizzly and damp. We carried on with our beach plans, but I was a ‘little’ grumpy - how unlucky is this? Months of sun and our only family holiday this year and it’s raining! I huddled under a towel, only to look up and see our two little things running, laughing, chasing the waves with complete and utter unbridled joy.
I suddenly saw we had this gorgeous beach to ourselves, the wild sea, this huge open sky. We were almost alone in this glorious expanse of nature and I suddenly felt that joy too. It was one of the best days I've had, the weather doesn't really matter to a child, THEY WERE AT THE BEACH!! Why do grown ups (particularly me) forget to be in the moment?
So here in the Berridon Farm bubble we completely lose ourselves in the moment and follow our childrens lead, bedtime and routines relaxed, Eden & Michael playing football til dark which in Devon in Summer was 10pm. The sunshine returned the next day and stayed until we left, we slowed down, just focusing on the task in hand, no hurrying, no clock watching, just collecting eggs, cooking, heading to a local beach, decorating cookies, colouring in and making coffee slowly and enjoying every last sip.
I still want to see, do and experience so many things (like Tanzania perhaps!), but sometimes you have to just see and experience what is right in front of you. Thank you for the reminder.