{"id":32866,"date":"2019-11-15T11:14:13","date_gmt":"2019-11-15T11:14:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thevoiceoflondon.co.uk\/?p=32866"},"modified":"2019-11-15T11:14:13","modified_gmt":"2019-11-15T11:14:13","slug":"staycation-vs-vacation-round-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/staycation-vs-vacation-round-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Staycation vs Vacation: Round 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

The idea of a staycation is no new concept: weekend breaks and bank holidays have been catering to the desire for passport-free getaways for years.\u00a0 But can I have the same holiday, doing the same things, for largely the same price? Let\u2019s break it down. It\u2019s early November: London is grey and miserable and Spain was a happy 20 degrees with sun and a light breeze.\u00a0 From the outset Spain\u2019s in the lead. A painful tube journey, two hour flight and many security checks later, I landed in Alicante, Spain.<\/span><\/p>\n

The purpose of this getaway?\u00a0 To relax. Eat good food (yum), sleep well (zzz) and drink lots of cocktails (responsibly).\u00a0 To do all of these things, I had a luxury hotel for the first two nights before saving money and downgrading for the last two, my hotels were on the front (next to food and drink aplenty) and I found cheaper spas which I could keep on going back to.<\/span><\/p>\n

I still did all things Spanish: I ate seafood paella and tapas, discovered a burning passion for potato and ham croquettes, drank my fair share of sangria, had a siesta every afternoon and enjoyed the ability to go out without a million layers.\u00a0 The group I was with were golfers, so while they practiced their putting I drove golf buggies around while topping up my tan for winter.<\/span><\/p>\n

When I didn\u2019t want to follow 3 men around a large field with holes in, I went to the spa.\u00a0 For 12 euros I had the whole place to myself, with steam room, sauna, two hydrothermal showers, and himalayan pink salt wall, pool and four water jets, it was quite some experience for a tenner.<\/span><\/p>\n

This gallery are all photos taken by me of the food, drinks, views and experiences I had.\u00a0 As a short getaway, I kept my holiday to relax instead of being a tourist, and came back feeling refreshed and ready to go back to work.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

Tune in to the next part to see if London can live up to the \u2018stay don\u2019t stray!\u2019 hype.<\/span><\/p>\n

Words and gallery: Eleanor Smith<\/p>\n