Screens.
Fortnight.
Google.
Snapchat
My kids can use them all. Like me, they rely on technology to live.
I both hate and adore it, in equal measures.
Because I don’t want my kids to grow up with their nose in a phone. I want them to grow up with lungs full of fresh air, knees caked in mud, and memories of adventure – not of imaginary worlds.
And I want to be part of it.
Last week, I fulfilled that ambition. I have the mud soaked laundry to prove it.
After (ironically), searching the web for holiday inspiration, I chanced upon a holiday from my past.
When I was ten, I went to a place called Boreatton Park with School. One of the PGL adventure centres. I have distant but fond memories of canoeing, abseiling, tearing through assault courses.
I wanted my kids to experience the same. So imagine my flipping delight when I saw they offered family trips!
Booked in moments, for a more than reasonable price, and then I got packing!
Lots of packing!
The torrential down pour meant an emergency trip to the local outdoor store to stock up on kit!
Then finally, with a little car bursting at the seams we were off.
I cannot even start to describe how amazing the week was.
My first worry that we would be surrounded by 2.4 families was immediately quashed when single parent families started moving into the rooms around me.
Many of my good friends are happily married, but sometimes it is flipping nice to speak to other people in the same boat as you, who are frantically paddling to keep it all together.
I now have two smashing new friends! And the kids – many, many, more.
The accommodation we stayed in for the week was simple.
Bunk bed simple.
With a foot between beds and a shower that worked for 5 seconds.
Who needs more.
From 8am until 9pm we were taken on adventures. In a world dominated by screens and health and safety, PGL is a breath of fresh air. No WiFi, no need to pass the hours on a piece of tech, just plenty of fun.
We built rafts, abseiled, canoed, Owen found himself being flung in a river after challenging an instructor to a splash off!
We did zip wires, high ropes, rifle shooting (the kids had a scarily natural ability at this).
We learnt how to read a map in orienteering, how to navigate a trail blindfolded. The parents became ultra competitive on the assault course.
Five days. 12 different outdoor pursuits and a rainbow of evening entertainment.
I have never been so tired and so happy all in one go.
Each activity is accompanied by singing. And it becomes normal before long when you live in the PGL bubble.
Meals are included, you can have carbs with your carbs – trust me you will need them!
We wore filthy trousers day in and out as each activity brought a new level of mud!
The kids laughed, ran about with new friends, tried everything once and slept like the dead every night.
The instructors and our fantastic camp guide, Skip, made the whole experience amazing. Credit to PGL for having an amazing team.
Just what the doctor ordered! Despite being physically exhausted, I have not been mentally so relaxed in a very long time. As soon as you walk away from the car, you stop being an adult at PGL and just act as one of the kids….
I feel I will be raving about this trip for years to come, and we will definitely be returning!