A super-cautious socially distanced holiday

You may have seen from the last half dozen or so posts that I've been away on holiday to the Yorkshire Dales. Actually only for three nights but after more than a year of hiding away from Coronavirus being away from home feels strange and risky - probably more than it really is. Although I've been out walking locally at National Trust properties, and visited my daughters on a few occasions in the past year I haven't been inside a shop or eaten out, and certainly not stayed overnight anywhere, so going somewhere different feels odd.

Last year I missed out on holidays by being too cautious. When lockdown restrictions started to ease, I thought I'd wait, let other people dash away to the seaside or wherever, and go later when the rush had slowed down - unfortunately by that point (late August) there was talk of covid cases rising and before we knew it the autumn lockdown followed.

This year I was determined to not make the same mistake, so once Easter school holidays were over, we headed to the Yorkshire Dales. My husband had had both vaccinations by then, and I'd had my first, but I was still a little (lot) cautious about going on holiday while there's still a pandemic out there, and excitement was definitely mixed with a certain trepidation. 

In an ideal world, I'd have had a self-sufficient campervan and no need to stay under someone else's roof - but buying one for just a few nights away isn't a sensible option. 

At this point in the 'roadmap' self-catering was the only alternative - which was fine by me; after a year or more of social distancing I'd rather have as little contact with the outside world as possible. So we booked a self-contained

farmhouse annex through Air BnB. 

It was entirely separate to the farmhouse, had a fully-equipped kitchen to cook if we wanted (although we hoped to eat out), and a garden to sit in if the outer world seemed too busy. A rigorous clean between lets was promised and it seemed about as safe as it could be. I took towels and teatowels just in case I wasn't happy with those supplied but didn't use them - the cottage's felt thoroughly clean. Also, unusually, I took pillowcases, and we did use these. I figured that although the bedding would obviously have been washed between lets, my nose and mouth would be closest to the pillow, so just as an extra safeguard I thought it worthwhile. Was I being paranoid? Possibly, but these precautions made me feel more comfortable, and armed with my dinky hand sanitizer spray (so tiny it fits in a pocket!) I was ready to have fun.

Once we'd settled in, everything seemed fine - and almost normal. A lot of time on my holidays is spent walking in the countryside; so no need to change my habits there. Going after the school holidays seemed to have worked as most places seemed quite deserted. 

The National Park had handy signs informing the public about social distancing. I didn't see any red squirrels, or even spaniels, to check this out on, but there were plenty of sheep, cows, and landrovers around.

Picnic lunch in the car which was pleasanter than my grimace would have you believe. We'd planned to eat out in the evenings in a pub garden but luckily had taken food 'in case' as this plan fell through due to chilly weather. 

And I even went in a shop! 

All in all it's given me the confidence to get out more - though May's weather hasn't co-operated with that plan.