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'Where shall we go this year? That seems to be a common question these days. We want to make the most of that glorious vacation month when all we have to do is enjoy ourselves. But, unfortunately,
And we're not always lucky enough to be the one who finds it. Perhaps pleasure is scattered in random stray gifts, but those gifts are hidden in unlikely places, and the search for them has to be done cautiously. We crave 'beautiful lands.' People who live in cities especially long to see something green. The sea is a tempting option, but wherever we go, we want to see grass and trees. We seek out a place with pure, clean air and lovely scenery. Once we find such a place, we settle down and say, 'Let's be content right here.' For the first few days, it's blissful. We explore, we notice the plant life, we find lots of interesting things. But then boredom sets in and we begin to secretly count the days until we can get back to the tasks and pleasures of our routine life.
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This is the secret to a successful vacation: the mind needs to be actively, unceasingly, and involuntarily engaged in new and varying interests. That's why going on vacation is never as easy as it sounds. A little child, of course, is perfectly happy to play day after day with his pail and shovel in the sand, but that's because his unjaded imagination doesn't need any motivation to go to work. He's able to fill his bright hours with joyful occupations, making some kind of always-new
But a child who has outgrown pails and shovels and who's been under stress with schoolwork needs the same thing that the grown-ups need. He needs engrossing interests that will make him think new thoughts. Fresh air and fresh scenery are only able to fully heal and help when the mind is also provided for by spoon-feeding the weary brain with fresh new ideas. That's why traveling to a foreign country is so wonderful. Unfortunately, it's a pleasure that's usually out of the question for families with growing children. So the question is, can we stay at home, and, with a minimum of cost and a maximum of convenience, can we get all the stimulus that we could get from traveling to a foreign country?
Yes, we sure can. Don't listen to disclaimers from anyone who's never tried it. I've tried it, and I know it's easy, economical and a lot of fun. Pretend that a local county is a foreign country. I don't mean a whole region, but a small county. We often miss how individual each county is in its landscape, history, weather, traditions--for example, could anyone confuse the blue skies of Sussex
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with the blue skies of Cambridgeshire? Each has a 'delicateness in the air,' but not the same delicateness. But, we have to be practical, so we choose a county--almost any county will do, and the cost of taking the family to a far-away location might influence the choice. To prepare ourselves, we brush up on the history of the county, its geology, scenery, and plant-life. Many pleasant family evenings are spent going through Murray's travel book and a map. But once we're on the road, the only thing we're really interested in is the literature that's native to the area, the lives of people who have made the area famous and books they wrote, and well-known scenes from history that happened here. Now that the location has been chosen, we decide on perhaps six little towns that will give us a sample of the interests of the entire county. Hotel rooms are easy to find in an area that doesn't get that many tourists. We don't need much luggage since simple, comfortable clothes are all we'll need for what we'll be doing. It's easy to get from one little town to the next--they're usually just an hour or two away from each other. And the kids will love exploring their new quarters in each town. Each little town will probably provide the opportunity for a dozen different and very interesting walks and excursions. The money spent getting to these excursions is made up for by all the money saved on expensive tourist hotels in popular tourist areas.
But perhaps some aren't convinced. Some might be thinking that it's better to settle in quietly in a familiar place than to go tramping around in the rural countryside where there's 'nothing to see or do.' But a single example is better than a list of persuasive reasons, so let's take a look at the possibilities in an English county--and I don't mean a famous tourist county.
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Knowing a place like Hampshire is a liberal education in itself, and the memories of its pleasant places the fascinating things associated with it will stir,
during dreary periods of life later.
Someone who's interested in archaeology can examine half a dozen old churches that still have fragments from the original Norman structure in a single day's walk, and get a new perspective about how the Normans scattered points of enlightenment throughout the land. A bird-lover might study the graceful ways of the swallows, and the habits of lots of different species of birds in Selborne--the very place Gilbert White did his observing. Those who like plants will see rare treasures for their own gardens. In and around the Great Wood of Alton alone are seventeen of Britain's 38 orchid species. If your passion is history, good and famous people, like Jane Austen, John Kleble's Christian Year--or if geology is your hobby--Hampshire provides a full field to explore in all of these subjects. Would you like your children to claim and enjoy their share of their inheritance of culture and virtue that belongs to them by right of their British birth? Then bring them to Hampshire. Or bring them to some other beautiful, pleasant
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county in any of the UK's various countries. Just a month spent gathering the lore of a single county is more educational than five terms of rigorous school lessons.
I don't recommend studying a county like this for babies [and children under five], because young children shouldn't be subjected to deliberate teaching, but children six and older will absorb lots of mind-nourishing ideas without any effort simply by enjoying the rambling kind of vacation that I'm talking about.
One more thought: it's good, of course, to have multi-cultural tastes, and to be accepting of different ways and unprejudiced in our judgments. But a person who loves the whole world has to start with his own people who he's seen. Enlightened, experienced understanding of other countries can only coexist with deeply felt patriotism based on knowledge. A noble character has a strong thread of patriotism interwoven with every other fine, delicate attribute. A child who isn't trained to have a fine, patriotic feeling won't live at the highest level he could as an adult. And patriotism, the noblest of all the virtues, isn't instilled by arrogantly considering ourselves as better than everyone else. It's instilled by gradually introducing children to the lives of wonderful people who have lived, and great works that have been done, in quiet, hidden places spread throughout every county in Britain throughout every era of our long history.