Today our writer, Tom, explores the recent pandemic 'staycation' craze. Where the term came from, and where you could go next...

When the UK went into lockdown back in 2020, it was like we all had to learn a new language. There were things we'd never heard of before that we suddenly got used to talking about, like "social distancing" and "self-isolation".

Meanwhile, clever-looking people on the telly talked about "bringing down the R number" and "flattening the curve".

And then there were all the slang words: covidiots, quarantinis, the Elephant in the Zoom. You probably even made up a few of your own.

But there's been one slightly more unexpected word on everyone's lips these last two summers: I'm talking, of course, about the 'staycation'.

I don’t think I’d even heard the word ‘staycation’ until 2020. Now you seem to hear it everywhere: BBC Panorama even ran a show called The Great British Staycation!

But it's not like staycations are anything new.

Even the word goes back longer than you probably think! The earliest known use of ‘staycation’ was in 1944 in the Cincinnati Enquirer: during WW2, staycations were promoted as an alternative to international wartime travel.

In fact, times of international crisis have often led to 'staycation crazes'. Following the 2008 financial crash, there was a staycation boom in the UK, with families cutting the extra expense of foreign travel in favour of a nostalgic fish and chips on the seafront.

And with the climate crisis picking up its pace over recent years, flying has gradually become less attractive to those seeking an eco-friendly break.

Did you know...

The earliest known use of the word ‘staycation’ was way back in 1944 in the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Are staycations here to...stay?

For most of us, these last two summers have been staycation summers. With flights cancelled and borders closed because of the pandemic, we've had to make the most of the situation.

But it's not all doom and gloom! The Brits are still donning the sun-cream and wearing socks with sandals - they just aren’t going as far away as usual.

And if there's one thing I've learned over the last year, it's how much there is to see up and down the UK.

For my birthday a few months ago, my partner surprised me with a camping trip in Snowdonia. The weather wasn’t great, so we didn't risk the wind and rain on Snowdon, but we did make it up Cadair Idris - the ninth tallest mountain in Wales.

And last July, we managed to escape to the Lake District for a spot of fell-walking.

It was a lovely week: we watched the sunset at Blea Tarn, the Craggy Langdale Pikes bathed in orange evening light; and we braved the scramble along Striding Edge to the summit of Helvellyn, one of Lakeland’s most beautiful fells.

Striding Edge on Helvellyn is one of the most infamous scrambles in the UK.

Check out our Striding Edge tea towel here

We're pretty lucky here in the UK to have such an amazing variety of destinations, whether it's for a weekend day-trip or a summer holiday.

No doubt for most of you this is hardly a revelation: that you don’t have to fly across the world to explore new and exciting places, and that being a tourist doesn’t have to mean a huge carbon footprint!

Of course, I’m not saying that nobody should ever travel abroad. Foreign travel opens our eyes to different cultures and it makes our lives infinitely richer.

But at the same time, the wonders of domestic tourism - often the cheaper and more planet-friendly sort of travel - should also be celebrated.

After all, the UK has: 

• A whopping 31 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, from cathedrals and aqueducts to coastlines and palaces. 
• A massive 20% of England is covered by national parks. 
• And not forgetting the UK is an island with 17,820km of mainland coastline.

We really do have everything and more, right here on our doorstep!

Just think of the City of Bath, which was judged by UNESCO to have 'outstanding universal value' not only for its historic importance in Roman Britain, but also for its grandiose neoclassical architecture. No wonder up to 1.3 million people visit Bath every year.

Or the Giant’s Causeway in County Antrim, a natural landmark so utterly unique that for a long time people believed it could only have been created by a mythical giant called Fionn mac Cumhaill. It doesn’t get more iconic than this!

These strange hexagonal pillars were actually created by molten basalt sixty million years ago.

Check out our Giant's Causeway tea towel here

Ironically, it’s probably because these places are nearby and accessible that we don’t get around to visiting them. It feels like there’s less urgency to go somewhere only a train journey away!

That’s probably why I’ve never been to Stonehenge: it’s one of the most awe-inspiring landmarks in the world, but I always figured I’d just see it some other time.

Begun in around 3100 BC and constructed over hundreds of years, Stonehenge is one of the world’s most instantly recognisable monuments.

Check out our Stonehenge tea towel here

You may have cottoned on by now that we make tea towels in the UK, of the UK.

Of course, we haven’t been to all of the places on our tea towels. In fact, we see them as something of a bucket list: places across the UK that we want to visit over the next few years.

Some of our locations are world-famous, while others are hidden gems. But all of them are well worth seeing!

So I guess the real question is: how do you decide where to go for your next staycation trip?

Well, why not have a scroll through the designs on our website and add a few to your own bucket list? Then next time you’re planning a day-out or booking a holiday, you’ll know exactly where it is you want to go.

Whether you’re looking for sandy beaches and blue sea, or craggy fells and heather-blown moors, there's something for everyone! 

View our new designs here