There’s something about the sound of a train – that steady, meditative thrum of wheels on tracks – that signals to my brain that it’s time to slow things down. Taking to the rails and leaving behind a high-rise landscape of grey cement and hunched-shoulders feels, to me, like shaking off a too-tight jacket and taking a great big gulp of fresh air. I’ve found my thing and it feels so glorious that I’ve made a routine of it.
But really, it’s not just my thing. Nature is kind of trendy right now. Whether it’s the jungles of pot plants sitting pretty on millennials’ kitchen windowsills or David Attenborough’s dulcet tones talking us through the inner-psyche of a penguin, more of us than ever are welcoming Mother Earth into our lives.
As a city-dwelling thirtysomething, with a busy job and a brain that refuses to pipe down, this pleases me greatly. I am no stranger to stress – I wake constantly in the night worrying about emails I did or didn’t send that day, and my social media-fuelled anxiety levels have the propensity to skyrocket (cut me and I bleed cortisol, basically). But give me a countryside day trip – when I simply hop on a train and plunge myself into nature – and that angst seems to drain away. I’ve always thought that immersing yourself in the countryside is like being held ever so gently in someone’s palm, or ducking your head below the water in a warm, peaceful sea. It’s as comforting as buttery toast and as restorative as any exclusive London spa day (and far more affordable).
There’s science behind the stress-busting effects of nature, too. Much research has been done on the quieting impact that being outside can have on our brains, showing that time spent in nature can increase our attention spans and creative problem-solving skills by up to 50% (although this could, of course, be a byproduct of simply unplugging from technology). A 2015 study from Stanford University also found that time spent in natural environments, such as rolling fields, mountains and windbeaten coastal paths, reduces the mind’s propensity to ruminate – good news for those of us whose brains are plagued by negative thoughts. Aerobic activity, such as hiking up munros and picking our way across rocky beaches, has been proven to boost our memory and cognitive ability, too. So there’s no excuse not to book your train ticket and spend a little bit of time stomping though this green and pleasant land.
And the brilliant thing about hatching your escape via rail is that you can start to relax before you’ve even arrived at your destination. There’s something cathartically low-key about watching sheep-strewn fields whizzing by your window; my pupils practically dilate at the sight of a craggy mountain range swooshing by like an army of ogres; and I defy anyone to not feel jolly when chugging through the sun-smattered English coastline, flecked with pastel-hued beach huts and deckchairs striped like toothpaste.
Once there, of course, the adventure truly starts and the possibilities are endless. But I have my very own smattering of favourite day-trip moments: battling high winds at the top of Hastings’ funicular railway (the UK’s steepest), holding my arms wide as shafts of sunlight streamed through eel-coloured clouds; or walking the medieval sea walls on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent, keeping my eyes peeled for the bowling ball heads of seals bobbing about in the Thames Estuary. But with such an extensive network of rail links in the UK, there are so many landscapes to explore – from tiny little fishing villages encrusted in salt, to wonderfully marshy wetlands where wading birds pick through the channels with spindly legs up to their eyeballs – and they are very much doable in a day. Why not take a train to St Albans and walk among vibrant carpets of bluebells at Heartwood Forest? Or head to Malling Down in Lewes and keep your eyes trained on the long grasses for boxing hares going nose-to-nose in the syrupy light of golden hour.
So thank you, English countryside. Thank you, speedy trains. Thank you, London for letting me escape when I need to (I love you really). And here’s to the adventures that you’ll all have as well. Just make sure to bag a window seat.
Book your escape now
Book direct at southernrailway.com and avoid any booking fees. Look for Super Off Peak and Off Peak fares which offer great value for money when you travel outside of peak times
