Are you a Weekender?

Happy New Year everyone!

I hope you’re well and enjoyed the Christmas festivities.

It feels strange for it all to be over so suddenly. One minute we’re knee deep in mince pies, fairy lights and panic buying presents. The next minute we’re all detoxing and dieting, saving money and digging out our running shoes.

I’m stuck somewhere in the middle and I’m wearing my gym kit while I hoover up all the chocolates, pies and wine that are still lurking around the house. It’s got to be done!

If you’re anything like me, this time of year signals one thing and one thing only – it’s time to start planning holidays (or vacations if you’re reading from across the Pond!)

January is holiday planning season and it’s such an exciting time of year.

I’m going to be having a huge focus on weekend breaks on The Travel Hack. You may have already noticed the ‘Weekenders’ tab at the top of the page?

This slight shift is after reading the results from my recent reader survey. I was absolutely amazed by the amount of people who responded to the survey so a big thank you again to everyone who did.

One of the main themes that came from the survey was that you all love weekend breaks. Most of us are working 40+ hours per week and want to make the most of the limited time off we have.

To start us off, I’ve put together 52 weekend away ideas that are perfect if you’re travelling from the UK.

So, I’d like to invite you to join me to be a Weekender.

Weekenders are people who don’t spend those precious Saturdays and Sundays lazing on the sofa. They wouldn’t dream of spending Saturday afternoon in Tesco – have you ever been to Tesco on a Saturday afternoon? It’s actually hell on earth. Friday nights aren’t for kebabs and shit TV and Sunday afternoons aren’t for ironing.

Weekends are for travelling!

The weekends last for two short days so it’s time to start making the most of them!

Weekenders are the kind of people who slip out of the office early on a Friday after working their arses off all week. They’ll be pulling a stylish little suitcase behind them and will have the smug Weekender Swagger as they tell their colleagues where they’re going this weekend. Their colleagues jealously wonder why their weekends are never as exciting and say things like, ‘Wow, you’re so lucky.’

But Weekenders aren’t lucky. Weekenders have got their shit together and they booked this months ago – probably during a sale and for a bargain price.

Weekenders live another life from Friday afternoon until Sunday night. They jet off to exotic destinations, often travelling to places other people have never heard of. They stay in boutique hotels, dine in quirky restaurants, explore forgotten cities, hike across mountains, swim in the sea, meet interesting people and learn new things – all before returning back to their homes and their jobs on a Sunday evening.

Weekenders aren’t rich. Weekenders are just savvy. They know how to find a good deal and they know they might need to compromise on their flight time in order to stay in that gorgeous hotel.

One weekend they might jet off to Paris, but the following weekend they’ll be staying closer to home. Maybe they’re going camping or they’ve found a cheap Airbnb pad. They might be exploring something new in their home town or taking a short road trip to somewhere they’ve never been before. Or they might have saved up their points to score cheap flights to New York!

One thing a Weekender will never do is waste their weekend. Oh no. Weekends are short, weekends are precious, so whatever you do, don’t spend them in Tesco.

If you’d like some Weekender inspiration, check out these posts:

The 12 best weekend escapes to take in 2016

How to travel more with the #Take12Trips Challenge