I realise this is probably not the reaction most people expect. The Football World Cup arrives and suddenly everyone starts planning where they’ll watch the matches. Pubs advertise giant screens. Group chats become strangely intense. Calendars fill up with fixtures. Meanwhile, I find myself checking National Trust opening times. It’s not that I dislike football. I’ve been to the Emirates a few times over the years, sat through matches, and watched enough football to understand why millions of people genuinely love it. Now Formula 1? That’s a different story. The Winter Olympics? I can happily lose hours watching ski jumping and ice-skating routines. Football has simply never had quite the same hold over me. What I have noticed, however, is that every major football tournament gives something back to the rest of us. Space.
The Unexpected Gift of a Quieter Summer
Most weeks are already full, especially during weekends and school holidays. School runs. Full-time work. Horse-riding lessons. Blogging. Building my new business. Day trips. Seeing family and friends. Life is wonderfully busy. Which is probably why I value quiet places whenever the opportunity arises. During major football matches, many of those places become noticeably easier to enjoy. The gardens feel calmer. The walking trails seem less crowded. Parking becomes less competitive. Occasionally, you’ll find yourself standing in front of a beautiful view wondering where everyone else has gone. Then you remember. England are playing.
Our Favourite Kind of Day Out
One of the things I love most about family adventures is that no two days out ever look quite the same. Sometimes we’re enjoying a luxury vegan afternoon tea. Other times we’re wandering around a beautiful manor house, exploring its gardens and grounds. We love picnics, countryside walks with friends, discovering somewhere completely new, or spending the afternoon exploring a pretty Cotswold village. More often than not, a National Trust property will feature somewhere in the plan, along with a garden centre, farm shop or café we hadn’t intended to visit but somehow couldn’t resist. Those spontaneous detours often end up becoming the best part of the day.
Things I Actually Like Doing While Everyone Else Watches Football
If football is on, you’ll probably find me doing one of these:
- Walking through a National Trust garden while mentally redesigning my own
- Packing a picnic that contains far too much food
- Researching places in Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire or Oxfordshire that I’ve never visited
- Writing blog posts
- Planning future content
- Browsing farm shops and convincing myself I need every vegan product on the shelves
- Finding a walking route that conveniently ends somewhere serving cake
- Watching Formula 1 highlights
- Or simply sitting outside while the children play, enjoying the rare feeling that nobody needs to be anywhere for a couple of hours
The Small Village Pub Test
If we are going to venture into a pub, I have a simple rule. If its biggest selling point is the number of screens showing sport, it’s probably not for me. If it has hanging baskets outside, sits in the middle of a village, serves decent food and has at least one dog asleep under a table, we’re getting much warmer. I don’t drink alcohol and I don’t drink coffee, which means my perfect countryside stop is usually something much simpler. A cold elderflower presse. A good view. And nobody shouting at a television.
Maybe That’s Why I Like Football Tournaments
Not because of the football itself. But because they remind me that there are lots of different ways to spend a Saturday. For some people, that means gathering around a screen with friends and following every minute of the action. For me, it usually means a picnic blanket, a countryside walk and two children asking whether we’ve packed enough snacks. The football fans get their tournament. I get quieter gardens, emptier footpaths and a good excuse to explore somewhere new. Honestly, I think we’re all winning.
