The Five-Mile Holiday: How to Travel Where You Live This Summer
So many summer guides assume one thing: you’re going somewhere.
But what if you're not?
No flight. No beach. No real time off. Just… regular life, stretched across warmer days.
Maybe the budget’s tight.
Maybe the schedule’s full.
Maybe you just don’t want the faff.
But that doesn’t mean summer is cancelled.
It might just mean it’s time for a five-mile holiday.
Why Closeness Counts
You don’t need a plane ticket to access awe.
You don’t need a passport to feel wonder.
You can begin exactly where you are.
So many of us miss what’s right in front of us because we’re trained to look for what’s further away.
We assume meaning lives elsewhere — on a coastline, in a city break, under a Tuscan sun.
But what if it’s within five miles of your front door?
We call it the five-mile holiday: an experiment in staying local, but seeing differently.
It’s travel… but turned toward the overlooked, the ordinary, the surprisingly beautiful.
How to Take a Five-Mile Holiday
Here are a few ways to begin your five-mile adventure:
1. Pretend You’re Visiting Your Town for the First Time
Visit the museum you always walk past
Take photos like a tourist
Ask someone for a recommendation
Walk a new route (even if it’s just to the shop)
Read the historical plaques you usually ignore
2. Eat Like You’re Somewhere Else
Find a food truck, bakery, or stall you’ve never tried
Try a picnic in a park you haven’t been to since last summer
Cook a dish from a country you’ve always wanted to visit
Sit and people-watch with a coffee as if you’re in a foreign square
3. Give Your Day a Theme
“Botanical day": find every green space in your area
"Creative day": visit a gallery, journal in a café, buy a new pen
"Childhood day": eat an ice lolly, watch a kids’ film, cook your favourite foods from your childhood
"Quiet day": no plans, no pressure, just wandering and noticing
4. Create Your Own Guidebook
Keep notes of where you went and what you loved
Take a disposable camera or Polaroid
Record how places made you feel, not just what you did
Invite a friend to do the same and swap guides
You Don’t Have to Go Far to Feel Far Away
The five-mile holiday isn’t about settling.
It’s about noticing what’s already here.
It reminds us that we don’t need constant stimulation to feel alive — we need presence. Curiosity. A shift in the lens.
It’s a kind of emotional travel.
A reminder that movement doesn’t always have to be physical.
Sometimes, it’s perceptual. And that’s powerful, too.
What Could Your Five-Mile Holiday Look Like?
If you were to stay local and stay open this summer — what would you find?
Try it for a day. Or a weekend.
And if you want to explore this idea more deeply, our Summer Wellcation is a lovely way to do that.
It’s your gentle invitation to explore what feels good — wherever you are.
No suitcase required.
