Your UK seaside holiday home is your place. It’s where you and your family and friends, go to chill out, have fun and make memories. There are lots of things you can take with you - because it’s so easy. At the moment we have some extra considerations like hand sanitisers and masks but these days won’t last forever. What will be timeless are the simple pleasures of a seaside holiday. Here are 5 timeless and classic essentials for your checklist.
Image - Book at your holiday home! Look out for novels set in the area you’re in. Many are the fictional crimes and dark deeds in the Essex countryside or on the Suffolk coast.
1. The Books - there’s always time to read at your seaside holiday home
There’s no more timeless pleasure than reading and at your seaside lodge you actually get time to sit down and do it. What makes a perfect holiday read is of course a matter of great debate and personal choice and the choice is limitless. You might be a fan of factual reading and want to spend your time immersed in history and biographies. Or perhaps a modern thriller is more your thing. Crime fiction always makes for a good holiday read and that’s a genre offering loads of choice. Look out for novels set in the area you’re in. Many are the fictional crimes and dark deeds in the Essex countryside or on the Suffolk coast. It’s a nice idea to look through some books on the local history of your seaside holiday home’s area. Get to know the place and you’ll love it even more. Don’t forget, tablets and e readers aside, there’s now a huge choice of audio books. They’re more popular than ever. Also, remember that other book-shaped holiday past time of crosswords and puzzles. They’re a great way to spend an hour with a cuppa.
2. The Deck chairs. Ideal for the beach or outside holiday homes by the sea
The main thing about a deck chair, apart from it being a great place for a holiday reading session, is that it folds away. That makes it easy to carry to the beach, and easy to store in your holiday home. From Suffolk cottages by the sea to chalets in Mablethorpe, wherever you have your holiday home, deck chairs are a must. There are all manner of fold away chairs available. They range from simple, metal framed, lightweight picnic chairs to ‘umbrella chairs’, with an integral sun shade. There are modern (frankly sometimes quite complicated) chairs that offer various seating positions, and there are chairs that extend to be sun loungers. For practicality there are are ‘backpack chairs’ - you get the idea. There is a myriad of colours and fabrics to choose from and sizes vary too, to take in child sized options which are both practical and cute. But, for sheer, timeless style, and a statement that says ‘I am on a seaside holiday’, it has to be the authentic, the classic, deckchair. It has a wooden frame. It has a canvas seat and of course it has to be striped. You know that.
Image: A BBQ on holiday - a brilliant way to eat and entertain. Food seldom tastes better.
3. The portable barbecue - cater creatively at Clacton on Sea
There are seriously big barbecues on the market nowadays. Some of them are really very sophisticated. Think ‘outdoor gourmet’. At the other end of the spectrum there are beach purists who manage to make magic happen with half an old oil drum and some wire netting. (Yes. Really). There’s something though about a small, ‘go anywhere’, portable barbecue that says ‘adventure’ and ‘fun’. It’s important to make sure you choose one with legs so that you don’t singe the ground. Those things done it’s a brilliant way to eat and entertain. Food seldom tastes better. Stand by to watch the mysteries of barbecue; mysteries like men who don’t normally so much as boil a kettle taking over cooking duties; and children happily eating things they normally avoid. It’s mysterious indeed.
Image: For your next holiday home getaway - pack everything from bats to ball and something suitable for all levels of sporting prowess, suppleness and flexibilty!
4. The games - If you have a Suffolk holiday home or a place on a Clacton caravan park - no seaside holiday home is complete without the games
One thing is essential here. No matter what other games and beach equipment you bring, you must have buckets and spades. It’s the law. It’s always been the law. Provided you’ve adhered to that rule you can indulge yourself in choosing from a host of beach holiday entertainment. Boules is always a favourite. A Frisbee always goes a long way to entertain. Fly a kite. Everybody loves to fly a kite. Bats and balls - be that baseball or cricket - are simple but provide hours of fun. Swingball! Who doesn’t love Swingball? If you’re looking for a bit more sophistication - or competitiveness - it’s a good idea to prepare by spending a few minutes online. You’ll find loads of ideas for games that don’t need stacks of equipment but do make for real entertainment. Have you tried ‘Gritz’ for example? Check it out. Make sure you find and organise games that are ‘suitable for all ages’. Not only does this mean you can entertain people ‘of all ages’ it’s also a very diplomatic way of saying what you really mean, which is ‘suitable for all levels of sporting prowess, suppleness and flexibilty’. For sheer compactness, versatility, timeless games and whatever level of age or competitiveness you need to accommodate, there is of course one amazingly clever thing you can take to your seaside holiday home. Pack a pack of cards.
5. The towels and blankets
This may sound like a simple, and less than exciting, part of seaside holiday planning. A trip round the home wares department isn’t, it must be admitted, the best build up to your beach time break. However, these things are important. For a start, even a tentative paddle requires getting dry. Towels and blankets do more than simply dry you off though. They are a lovely layer to lie down on. With a beach towel or blanket you can stretch out on the sand without getting sand where you don’t want it. Do not be fooled by the apparent simplicity of these items. There is science involved. Look for fabrics designed for the beach, study thread counts, check out sizes. This is serious stuff. Enjoy the research. There’s design to consider too. Is a plain slab of colour your thing? Do you want something fun for the little ones? Are you looking to make a logo emblazoned style statement? Or is a retro beach stripe, or even traditional plaid blanket, your signature seaside accessory? Think it through. Then stretch out and chill. Who wants to think too much on a seaside holiday?
