The perfect weekend break, without going anywhere

The perfect weekend break, without going anywhere is totally possible and great fun. This is how we had a very cheap weekend away that we made perfect and wonderful by staying at home. Sounds crazy but read on and you’ll see The Mind over Money Matters way makes perfect sense.

We all love a break, a weekend away somewhere. A break from routine. No alarms in the morning. Doing different things, eating different foods. No cooking or cleaning. Exploring somewhere new and spending quality time together. Here’s how we did it for practically no money.

We were looking for a weekend break to celebrate our wedding anniversary. A couple of nights, great breakfast, somewhere with a spa, places to visit. Either in the UK or abroad, we did lots of research, and came up with a few options. These ranged in price from £340 in the UK to £700 for 2 nights.

When we looked at the list they all had these must haves.

4 star hotel with these facilities

Superior room with kettle and hairdryer – We need more than a room with a just bed, part of being away is chill time. Lounging around in our bathrobes, no rush to get out and do anything. We could pack the travel kettle and hairdrier but prefer to pack light if we can.
Awesome bathroom with walk in shower and luxury toiletries. We had our bathroom done at home last year and it is the best, perfectly designed for us. We absolutely love it everyday, so when we pick somewhere to go for a weekend break, the bathroom has to be as good.
Breakfast and a restaurant. Not just any breakfast but a proper decent buffet, and a proper coffee machine. We tried quince jam in Alicante and I had brie for breakfast in Stockholm, Taz had meatballs. Breakfast is not just something to eat – make it a Joy, make it an experience.
WiFi. Essential for most people now. We write, we WhatsApp, we check football scores (I say we but you know that’s only Taz). While it’s great to sometimes have no WiFi so you can really switch off, that should be a personal choice.
Swimming pool, steam room, sauna and gym. One of the things we love to do when we are away for a weekend break is for Taz to have a run, me to have a swim (more like a float to be honest) and then we have sauna and steam room together then lunch or coffee and relax.
Good location where we can wander around and visit cool places. We always make a 5 things to do list. 5 is doable in a weekend. The sauna is always one and we plan the rest.

The perfect hotel bedroom, macaroons optional.

So what we realised was that we had pretty much all of this at home, and with a few touches we could have our perfect weekend away. We planned it like any other trip and this is how we did it to really make it one of the best weekend breaks we’ve had. Thinking about it makes us smile. It was such an unexpected joy. Here’s what we did.

Ok really here’s what I did, Taz pretty much showed up and made it awesome just by being him. Just saying that I know I’m pretty lucky to have been married for 10 years and still feel the wow when he looks at me. It takes a very special person to go along with this idea. Anyway here’s my steps for the weekend ‘away’.

Planning. Same as for every trip (and pretty much everything – you know I love planning). I made sure the boys were away for the weekend. Our weekend breaks have as much ‘us’ time as possible. This requires being able to not wear very much. Essential.
Getting the hotel room ready. So this was easy – put on fresh bed linen and put all the personal stuff out of sight. This was going to be a proper break, no home distractions. Cleared space in the wardrobe and put in 3 single hangers. It had to be like a proper hotel – not enough hangers. Then I put a little notepad and pen on one of the bedside tables, and added some pointless but pretty cushions to the bed that we could chuck on the floor and trip over. I did toy with the idea of making a fire safety sign for the door but settled on a do not disturb one instead.
The bathroom. First I hid all of our stuff out of sight and put some miniatures of shampoo, conditioners and shower gel on our alcove. These must have fallen into our cases from previous trips away and I’ve kept them for emergencies in case we ever run out. Luckily we’ve not had a shower gel emergency so I had plenty to use. Finishing touches of a stack of fresh towels. 2 glasses, a shower cap, comb, nail file and mini tissues (yes I ‘had’ all those too) and bathroom was ready.
Kettle and hairdryer. I put a little tray by the kettle with various individual tea bags and coffee sachets (guessing these had fallen into my bag too, oops). I had to buy some biscuits and wrap them in twos and put them on the tray. Biscuits always get eaten, the cupboard is just a short resting place for them. Also I didn’t buy any nasty milk pots, does anyone use them? Then I put the hairdryer in a bag and hid it in a drawer so we could recreate the ‘looking for the hairdryer, there’s supposed to be one in the room’ moment.
Breakfast and dinner. So when we are away there is no cooking or cleaning. We have a Toby Carvery 10 minutes away. It’s a really nice one, at Whitewebbs, a beautiful old house with amazing grounds and walks around, which we’ve never really done. Breakfast should be plentiful and is served until 10.30. So that was sorted. Dinners and coffee a bit more difficult. When we are away we try to eat in places that we have not experienced before, avoid the chains and find where the locals eat. Fancy long meals are out, partly due to my back – I can’t sit down for long, and budget – it’s just food right. There’s lots of cheap, delicious, different options. Same with coffee – Taz is a proper coffee connoisseur and wherever we go we try independent and different coffees. So no Costa or Pizza express for us this weekend.
Gym and Spa. So we are both members at David Lloyds, it’s 5 minutes up the road. Taz uses it a few times a week for running. I, well I am a member. I do go. Gem N Eyes – my beauty salon and Simon my Physio are based in there. Yes I’m one of those people who pay for the membership and should cancel but one day I may want to go. I realised that this was perfect, we could do our weekend away swimming, running and sauna there. Sorted.
Activities. So I had to think like a tourist staying in Enfield. Around Enfield there is so much do that we haven’t done yet. We tend to go to Forty Hall, beautiful walks, a lake, a little tearoom, a farm, woods and a rose garden. It’s a 10 minute walk away. We have never been to Myddleton House, Capel Manor Gardens, Whitewebbs Museum of transport. That was Saturday planned. And Sunday, after breakfast and a wander round the woods, it’s a short walk to the station and the train only takes half an hour to get to Liverpool Street. A day in London with a big red bus tour and we’d buy a London fridge magnet from a souvenir shop in Leicester Square.

When we arrived of course we checked in – I’d got a visitors book from the pound shop – Our check in was to sign that and show our credit card. The room was amazing and the bathroom fabulous. There were soft bathrobes, lovely toiletries and we even found the hairdryer quite quickly. Then we unpacked our cases and found places for everything. We managed to squeeze our clothes on the hangers – why is there never enough? We changed into our robes and had coffee with our favourite biscuits. And enjoyed a very relaxed evening in our room (after throwing all the cushions off the bed). We had the best weekend, we did everything we planned to do.

So how did this weekend away work in real life? Well we decided to behave as if we were away. So we set the rules. These were – we would do the things we planned, we would ignore everything in the house that we had not brought with us or was not provided by the Hotel. We would make the most of every minute. This started with us packing our cases properly like in my essential hand luggage checklist, including our chargers, books and toothbrushes etc and we left home on Friday after work. On the way to our Hotel we stopped off and bought some milk and bottled water (we never like to drink tap water) and some macaroons. We also talked about our plans for the weekend and how much we were looking forward to it.

Breakfast each morning at Whitewebbs followed by a walk round the grounds. Saturday was spent visiting Myddleton Gardens and Capel Manor which we will definitely be doing again (skipped the Museum of Transport, maybe another time). For dinner we went to a lovely restaurant we’d never been to before and we did swim, gym and sauna together. Then on Sunday we ended up in Camden Town instead of London and had the best day walking around, exploring, experiencing. At the street food market we even had Halloumi fries, followed by another first – a barge trip. That was surprisingly good fun and we felt like proper tourists on holiday. Didn’t get a fridge magnet though for the first time ever, we will have to go back soon.

Halloumi fries at Camden Lock. Pomegranate on top. So delicious. We will be back for more.

Did we stick to the rules? Mostly yes, apart from the minatures in the bathroom, they were such a faff. I swapped the shower gels for our ‘best’ . You know, the ones you get for Christmas that are too nice to use everyday. Mine was the Elemis Frangipan Shower gel and Taz’s was Armani Code, a good upgrade I think, and free. We didn’t use anything else, or watch telly. And when we got back from Camden at 9 O clock on Sunday night, we packed our cases again, left a tip for housekeeping, signed out in the visitor book and left. Just like we would at the end of any other weekend break.

On our way home, we stopped for some milk for the morning and talked about what a great weekend we’d had. Would we have changed anything? Not at all, we’d definitely stay there again and totally put a fabulous review on trip advisor, might mention the kettle though, not sure if it was a kettle or an ornament that boils water….. Finally we got home and unpacked our cases. It was lovely to be home. And I found some money in the bedroom. Result. We’d spent maybe £50 more than normal for this weekend, which is pretty amazing as we really felt like we’d had a proper break.

Yes we may be a couple of fools for doing this but try it it’s so much fun. The ultimate budget break. You can change it around to suit whatever you like. This really is thinking differently the Mind Over Money Matters Way. Let me know in the comments what you’d do. And please share with anyone who could do with a break.

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