They weren’t pretty.
My innermost thoughts about a government wrecking millions of the best-laid holiday plans were colourful – to say the least.
With their cluelessness, their inconsistency and their double standards, there was no point in leaving ourselves at the mercy of ministers by booking to go abroad, with cash most likely flushed down the drain.
So we, too, reverted to Plan B. The staycation.
When my cleverer half came up with the idea to go glamping (camping with beds in tents instead of sleeping bags) I was less than impressed, having just recovered from being laid low after a long, hard, football season.
I needed sun on my back, blue in the sky, something nice to drink while chilling in the waters of sunny climes.
I had Greece on my mind.
Not glamping.
But I loved it. After the recriminations of the European Championship final, who knew that the solitude of a corner of eastern England would help recharge my batteries?
Who knew that I would be reinvigorated by waking up to a stunning sunrise every morning in an enclosed field from which you could see for miles? Barbecues and burgers are welcome at any time anyway. Quality time with a family normally – patiently – operating around my work schedule was priceless.
Especially with no wifi for the kids (and, I have to be honest, me) to be sucked back into cyberspace.
Showering in the morning sun (yes, the weather did hold up, despite the widespread forecasts of the apocalypse) was something I could get used to. Using the outdoor toilets, not so much.
Overall, though, I wonder if – like millions of others across England – this was the summer that I fell back in love with holidaying at home.
We drove south to the seaside to visit friends and then west to Bath where, again, we enjoyed more sun than rain and immersed ourselves in the history of the Roman baths for which the city is famed.
We took in the homes of novelist Jane Austen and Horatio Nelson, as well as Pulteney Bridge – one of Bath’s biggest attractions, not only because of its fine architecture but because it is one of just four bridges in the world to have shops across both sides.
My teenagers showed so much enthusiasm I did wonder who had swapped them for the ones previously obsessed with their screens.
To be fair, they probably wondered the same about their dad.
