High-rises, highways and glamorous nightlife?
Not on this trip. Here’s how one family opted
out of city life for a few days of unadulterated
simple pleasures, writes
Kara Arnaudy
.
Free-range
holiday
Y
our family wants to go
camping, and you know
the time outdoors would
be good for your kids. But
you also think some creature comforts
make every holiday more relaxing.
Glamping – glamorous camping –
offers a great compromise, with a
chance to experience nature with
some of the comforts of home.
On a trip to the UK last April to
visit family, we carved out a few days
to spend on a real working farm – an
opportunity to show the children
the English countryside, get muddy,
see some stars and teach our Hong
Kong city slickers (that’s cowboy slang
for kids who think eggs come from
ParknShop) a thing or two about
where food comes from. Since the
price for a four-night, midweek stay
starts at HK$3,200 (rates are higher
during the busier season), I considered
it a bargain for our family of six
compared to what we’d normally pay
for two hotel rooms.
Feather Down Farms (www.
featherdown.com) is just one of the
companies taking advantage of
the glamping trend. The company
actually launched in the Netherlands
ten years ago, but their original
Dutch name “The Better Farmer’s
Bed” didn’t exactly translate well into
English. So, in an effort to attract
English-speaking clients, they wisely
altered the name to Feather Down
Farms. Partnering with a select group
of small working farms throughout the
UK, France, Germany, Holland and
the US, Feather Down help erect two
to ten canvas tents (picture a safari
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