With the bank holiday forecast looking scorchio (it might even reach room temperature in some parts of the UK), this weekend is prime time to get outdoors with the family.
And who better to inspire us than the king of adventure himself? We caught up with former SAS serviceman Bear Grylls to find out about his dream bank holiday plans. Thankfully, it didn’t involve DNA-infused Easter eggs.
While Grylls will be spending the long Easter weekend working (not ideal), the adventurer tells HuffPost UK that his dream bank holiday would be spent with wife Shara and their three sons on their small island hideaway in North Wales.
“This really is where I feel most at home,” he says. “We have no mains electricity or water and run everything totally off grid – and it’s that magical mix of adventure and solitude.
“We can swim from the rocks and wrestle with the dogs in the long, spongy grass that covers the island.”
Ideally every bank holiday should kick off with a nice lie-in, says Grylls, as most weekdays tend to involve early starts. He will then do a workout before planning the day ahead.
“Big breakfast is always fun, the boys like to cook those,” he says. “As for adventures, all the family love to ski in the winter months and we often do quite a bit of wild swimming in the summer – in rivers, lakes, and the sea.”
The family also enjoy playing touch tennis, which is like normal tennis but with foam balls and bigger racquets.
He is a huge fan of a roast dinner and says it’s fun to cook one together as a family. If they don’t do that, they’ll visit local pubs on the mainland near their Welsh island. “We have several favourites that we can access by boat,” he says.
After all of that business, the evening will largely be spent chilling by a fire, watching a family-friendly rom-com with the whole team
Grylls is excited for summer holidays spent on his island – “in the evening we do a night time boat mission to the mainland to go to a small restaurant on the beach in a small cove,” he says.
“Getting home afterwards, the lighthouse flashes and acts as our homing beacon and there is always a real sense of adventure as we cross the four miles of open sea in the dark.”
The family then have a 300ft hill up to their house, which he exclaims “is a great way to walk off a the supper”. It rains a lot in Wales but a feast always awaits when he arrives home: “My best meal always ends with chilli chocolate back inside when dry.”
So just to recap Grylls’ 12-point list: lie-in, work-out, big breakfast, wild swim, dog wrestle, touch tennis, restaurant, hill walk, roast dinner, pub, chilling by the fire and a rom-com film.
Oh, and don’t forget the nocturnal boat mission. Totally achievable.
The extreme Easter-Eurghhh Hunt takes place at The Bear Grylls Adventure, NEC Birmingham from 19 to 22 April, 2018.