Most summers, when I was a child, we would go to North Yorkshire to stay with my mum’s old college friend. She had a house on the edge of the moors, not far from Richmond. It felt a world away from where we lived in Gants Hill, north-east London, and we loved it – all cream teas and massive walks. I was scared of dogs, but they had this lovely springer spaniel called Fergus. I totally fell in love with him and used to pretend he was mine. It was idyllic – apart from the terrible weather!
We never went abroad until I was 12, as we didn’t have the money. But I remember crossing the border into Scotland when I was nine. We’d left England – the height of sophistication!
My grandfather took my mum and her siblings on driving holidays to Europe when they were growing up. When he died and left her a bit of money, she decided to spend it on a family holiday. So we piled into the car and drove to France, Germany and Switzerland. It was a real adventure. I remember things like an enormous pine forest near Heidelberg. The car was broken into in Amsterdam. I have a clear memory of a plastic folder that I’d taken my homework in being used to patch up the window. We drove home with it flapping the whole way.
The first time I went away with my own family was when Oli was about a month old. We hired a cottage in Dorset. We didn’t realise how ridiculously young that is to travel! We’d bath him in a washing up bowl that we bought from Tesco but we were terrified. The beams of the cottage seemed to mesmerise him though – he’d stare at them for hours.
When Tilly and Oli were about five and seven we did a road trip along the US west coast, from Seattle to LA. It was fabulous: so many new experiences, and we really bonded with all four of us in a motel room. They talked about it non-stop, so two years ago we did it in reverse. If anything it was better – electronic gadgets make long car journeys a bit of a treat for a 12- and 15-year-old. People talk about Big Sur, but the Oregon coast is breathtaking too. We’d have music on, but the constant soundtrack was of us going “Wooah!” at the views. Hearst Castle is a bit overrated, though. I got told off for standing on floorboards that are more modern than those in my house!
My husband Phil should have been a travel agent. He adores travel, whereas I’d generally rather be at home. He was a producer for years and loves organising things. He is great at working out where to stay, how to get a discount, the best routes … so we’ve done a lot of travelling with our two kids.
We went to Puglia a lot when the kids were very little, before it was fashionable. I’m not crazy about beach holidays, but you kind of have to start with what the kids want to do. So they’d play on the beach in the day, and we’d persuade them to go into a hill town in the evening so we could walk around and look at a few churches before a nice Campari and dinner.
I’m an addictive parent and adore being with my children, so for me having concentrated time together on holiday is heaven. They’re now 14 and 17, but so far, touch wood, they still come away with us and I’m going to eke it out for as long as I can. One thing we’ve got up our sleeves to prolong it is to say they can bring friends – we’ll just book somewhere a bit bigger!
We had a disastrous holiday in Sicily when Oli was 18 months old. The flight was delayed by 12 hours, I got food poisoning on the plane and kept having to stop the car to throw up, and the villa had a high-security prison on one side and an abattoir on the other… not the idyllic setting we’d envisaged! It was horrible and these enormous dogs chewed up Oli’s favourite foam ball. Everything was wrong!
I prefer self-catering to staying in hotels. Phil and I both like cooking, you can spread out, and you don’t feel the need to pick your underwear off the floor before the maid comes in.
My ideal holiday would be just the four of us self-catering, probably in the UK. I love the British countryside, walks and pubs – and luckily the rest of the family does too. West Somerset is one of my favourite places: there’s fabulous walking with cliffs, forests and rivers. Pack a bit of chocolate and water and we’re off. Perfect!
Rebecca Front is currently appearing in War and Peace on BBC1
