For this holiday I'm staying in a beautiful part of the UK, deep in the heart of the New Forest in Hampshire, in a cosy cottage overlooking a river. I love going away on holiday. I can eat as much as I like, drink as much as I want, and do whatever I please, because, hey, it's my holiday, I've worked hard for it and I deserve it. The place I'm staying in is right on the Solent, where the TV series "Howard's Way" was filmed. You must remember "Howard's Way", surely? It was a bit like "Coronation Street", with yachts.
I've been to the New Forest many times before, and still find it one of the most relaxing holidays I've ever taken. Life is slower there, the air heavy, small village life carrying on as it has always done and always will do, long after I leave and head back up north. Driving along country lanes, the sun peeping through gaps in the trees, watching rivers flowing, swans protecting their young, horses and cattle wandering along the road side, stopping the car to give a mare and her young foal the right of way. There is no TV where I stay, no computers, no email, no work but plenty to keep me amused and occupied. I'll be swimming every day, playing tennis, walking in the country and taking boat rides. I'll finish the book I always wanted to read and perhaps even start the one I always wanted to write. 10 glorious days of total relaxation when I'll visit museums, farms, the local pubs, and eat the best seafood I've ever tasted. The New Forest is a gem. American tourists would call it quaint. It's old fashioned, pretty, green, real. The woodland hides away secret old houses and villages waiting to be explored and history unearthed. Bliss. I'll see you in two weeks.
Back to the London Mall