Holidays From Home logo
Ricky: Let’s start off with some background – who are you, where do you live, what does your life involve?
Claire: My name’s Claire Wade, I’m 26 and live in Norfolk, England. I’ve had ME for 16 years, bedbound for 6, now slowly improving. I’m mainly housebound; but starting to get out and about a bit, mainly using my wheelchair.
What got you interested in doing things for homebound and bedridden people?
Despite being so ill I was still really mentally active which meant I got bored very quickly. I wanted to find things that I could do; but there often weren’t many options so I had to come up with my own. I also discovered that there was a serious lack of information and I wanted to help other people in a similar situation so I used my experiences to write books and put together websites.
What was your inspiration for Holidays From Home specifically? And can you describe what a virtual holiday is?
I have been developing the idea of virtual holidays for 7 years, since June 2002. The idea came about because I was bedbound with severe ME and was unable to go on holiday with my family. I decided I wanted an alternative solution and since none existed I created my own.
I decided I would have a virtual holiday to Greece. With the assistance of my Mum we put pictures up round my bedroom so I could lie and look at them. We ate traditional Greek food, for example feta and olives and Greek yoghurt and honey.
We also did alternative holiday activities including throwing white paper plates similar to the Greek tradition of breaking plates and I also paddled in a foot spa pretending it was the sea.
A tram ride in Melbourne is part of the Australian virtual holiday
The response was very positive so in 2005 I wrote a second holiday to New York for a friend’s 21st birthday, which I sent with a box full of American goodies, including pictures, hats and food.
On completion of the holidays I felt there was a potential that the holidays would be of interest to other people who were unable to travel for health reasons so to test this theory I set up Holidays From Home as a voluntary organisation to provide the virtual holidays for free.
Along with five other people I formed an unincorporated association and we then approached several health care organisation to see if they would be interested in using the holidays. We got a positive response from several including the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kings Lynn and the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital. The later lead to several meetings with the sister in charge of General Medicine – Sian Watkins and culminated in my giving a talk to the staff on the Respiratory ward during a general staff meeting. It was agreed that they would like to use the holidays with their patients.
The hospital pilot tied in with our plans for an East Anglian pilot sending 400 free holidays to people who were unable to travel due to illness, age or disability, either their own or because they were a carer. We applied for funding from the National Lottery, receiving £5,250 as well as a further sum of £130 from the Friends of the Norwich Hospitals to cover the costs of the holidays used within the Norfolk and Norwich.
The pilot study ran from August 2008 – March 2009 during which time all 430 holidays were given away to people with a diverse range of health issues including respiratory and/or heart conditions, cancer, ME, MS, depression and advancing years.
On completion of the pilot great thought was given as to whether to become a charity or a social enterprise; but it was decided that it would be better to proceed as a social enterprise as the holidays had a potential to income generate meaning Holidays From Home would not be grant dependant.
What are Virtual Holidays?
A virtual holiday is a specially written guide, which allows the user to travel in style, from the comfort of their own home. The guide is a cross between a travel book and a story, which takes the user through the holiday as if they are really there. It describes everything from getting onto the plane to looking round the country, exploring all the famous sights, and uses all their senses to help them imagine what it’s like, what they can see, hear and feel. The holiday brings the culture and country into their everyday life without ever having to get up from their armchair. It provides a fun and unusual escape from the monotony of daily life and can be fitted in around your normal routine.
Similar to a real holiday, for a length of time the user explores a country or city visiting its well known monuments, galleries, museums, theatres and other places of interest; but unlike a real holiday you do it using the special guide, websites, online museums and galleries, web cameras, books, films, music, recipes and your imagination.
A virtual holiday can take as long or as short a time the user wants. They can do it in the set week or spread it out over a couple of weeks or even months – they set their own pace. They can be taken by an individual, or a whole family, ill, disabled, ageing or healthy. They can also be used by care homes, day centres, hospitals, hospices and schools. Anyone can take a virtual holiday, no matter what their ability, whether they can read the book themselves or use the audio CD. They can do some, all or none of the suggested activities, or they can experience the country through the booklet alone.
I am currently setting up facilities so that the holidays can be bought as either a book, audio CD or online, this will be available globally and I’m hoping this will be set up within the next 3 months.
Available Holidays
– Australia
Travel up the East Coast of Australia. Explore Sydney’s famous sights, see a show at the Opera House, visit the street where Neighbours is filmed, watch the sunrise over Uluru and take a dive round the Great Barrier Reef.
– New York
Experience the Big Apple. Take a trip up the Empire State Building, visit the Statue of Liberty, take a trip up the Empire State Building, wander round Times Square and have a picnic in Central Park.
More coming soon!
The itinerary for your New York virtual holiday
I have to admit I chose Australia because I used to watch Neighbours and Home and Away; but the more I did the more I realised what an amazing country it was – it’s top of my places to visit list!
New York was for a bedbound friend’s 21st birthday – she’d always planned to go; but then couldn’t. It was my present to her.
Who can take a holiday from home at the moment? What about people who aren’t in the UK, or people who aren’t sick?
I’m currently winding down Holidays From Home the voluntary organisation and starting up as a social enterprise. I will be selling the holidays, either as books, audio CDs or DVDs as well as online. This means that anybody across the globe can access the holidays, with the majority of the profits going back into producing more holidays.
What can we expect to see in the future – are you planning more holiday destinations?
I’ve got lots planned for the future, I really want to provide lots of different destinations, all over the world. I’m also looking into creating hampers to sell to accompany the holidays, so people can have things which come from their virtual destination, like food, flags and ornaments.
While you’re here, I know you run other websites that might be of interest to readers of Four Walls No Limits, would you tell us about those?
I have two websites which I set up and now run
Easy to Swallow is a collection of recipes and tips for people with chewing and/or swallowing problems. I set it up because I was so sick of eating baby food or soup. I contacted celebrity chefs from the UK and they donated recipes for me to use.
Surviving Severe ME is a site I set up after deciding to publish my book online, so people can access it easily and for free. It contains information on coping with day to day living with severe ME; but is also suitable for other severe conditions. There’s information on everything from keeping warm/cool, getting comfortable in bed/on a chair, coping with symptoms and activity suggestions. It also has articles written by myself and friends with ME commenting on how it can affect you and just general thoughts and feelings.
Thanks very much to Claire for letting me interview her. Where would you like to go if you could have a virtual holiday? I think I’d choose the UK, especially Ireland.
- Ricky
Dear Ricky,
I wrote to you a while ago…I’ve been losing functioning for 2 1/2 years and now can rarely leave the house and it’s beginning to seem I won’t be leaving it at all very soon.
I have to say, having been a busy, active person for 40 years and having traveled a lot, this piece felt devastating to me.
Granted I appreciate that someone can feel good about this…it’s quite impressive…but I sure as heck don’t have the level of acceptance to have fun with this. I’m still angry and frustrated. And I remember REAL trips to such countries…
how does one let go of dreaming they are really there? I am not there yet.
@Monicajane: I really don’t know how acceptance comes except with time. I think in part, that acceptance starts to come when we get through with grieving for our old lives and grief always takes its own time. I think that perhaps this is one thing that is easier for me because I got sick when I was still a teenager – I don’t know what I’m missing, in a way. That’s probably an odd perspective, but I’m an odd person and always look for silver linings.
One thing I do recall is that taking up new passtimes – things I never did before I got sick – was less frustrating that trying (and failing) to do old hobbies as well as I’d done before. I know lots of people with ME/CFS have taken up scrapbooking or putting all their old photos in albumns (finally!) or learned to knit for those who didn’t do that previously. Finding a new hobby where you won’t always be comparing your new ability to your old level of ability may be less upsetting. But really, “the only way out is through” I think. Hang in there!
And please feel free to write something about your sadness and frustration/anger for FWNL if you feel you can – this site isn’t just for us “old hands” who are used to this now. I think it would really help a lot of newly-housebound people to read about how somebody else is having a rough time too.
- Ricky
I was writing the entire time I was going downhill on a blog, but I’ve discontinued it.
But I was writing to an audience who had no idea what was happening to me and couldn’t really understand. So writing here sounds interesting.
I will consider contributing and thank you for the opportunity. Lately my concentration is so bad I can’t read or write much of anything but I will keep it in mind.
I simply don’t know if this is going to be my long-term fate or not…I don’t have a distinct diagnosis though I know the trigger…so I have no idea at this point whether I will recover or not and that unknowing is awful…it makes it harder to accept I think…It’s all overwhelming and confusing.
@monicajane: You’re always welcome to write something – short or long, doesn’t matter. If you would ever like to, just contact me. Writing about how not having a diagnosis screws with acceptance would be great! My own diagnosis is pretty vague, so I do know what you mean about that. I eventually came to a place where I don’t much care where I’ll be physically in the future, I am just dealing with where I am physically now… but I’ve had 15 years to get to here, emotionally!
Best of luck.
r
What a wonderful idea! I have only been bedbound for short periods, but I’ve also used fantasy vacations for pain-control, and it often works better than anything from a laboratory (especially since fibro tends to block pain meds.) Can I please work for these people? One thing I have, that I can always employ no matter what the ups and downs of my health is word-skill. Could they use someone like me?
And I can see a wide range of possibilities beyond tourist spots. Trips to other planets, trips to fantasy realms, trips to the past or future–anything we can imagine, we could create! And some folks, like Monica Jane, might prefer this. For as Ricky points out, they’d have no mourned-for point of comparison.
Another thing to provide might be online links to appropriate regional music and sound effects. And an option for those not chemically sensitive might be scent cards (I’ve always thought that perfumes based on different locales might be a fun idea.) But they might need mailed separately from a different location, so as not to injure sensitive folks by accidental contamination.
With the price of transportation as it is, some perfectly healthy folk might buy a virtual vacation package these days! Who knows?
Great idea!
Hi Dolores,
Thank you for your comments, they are really appreciated! I love that you’ve seen the potential to these holidays to, as your ideas are some that I’ve had; but I’m having to wait for the time/enbergy to do them. I’m always looking for people to help and if you are interested in getting involved then please send me an email!
On the comment about some people not liking the idea, I completely get that. I know these holidays aren’t for everyone; but that’s okay. I do them for those that do want an alternative to travel.
Best Wishes
Claire
Oops–I forgot to check off that I want notified of future messages. Sorry about that!
Thanks! I will. I have my unproductive periods, too, but with all of us working together we can add up to something!
After the enthusiasm I found from people who wanted to contribute I’ve now set up a new site.
I want to create a virtual world online, with contributions by people across the globe. Using descriptions, photos, videos and websites to describe what places are like. Similar to Wikipedia; but instead of being purely factual, it’s more of an experience as if the reader is really there, similar to my virtual holidays.
Have you been to an amazing place? Taken an incredible holiday? Have you seen the cherry blossom in Japan, or the sunset over a tropical island? Or maybe there’s a great cafe, beautiful park, or brilliant museum near you. It doesn’t have to be exotic, or far away. You can describe your last holiday, or a tour of your local village or town. Share what it was like with others who may never get the chance. It only takes a few minutes to do and is really easy. You can add just a sentence or a more detailed description and then the different places will build up as more people contribute. http://holidaysfromhome.wikispaces.com/
The new site will be used in two ways, firstly as a free resource people can access to do some virtual travelling and secondly for me to use to help write the future holidays. I love writing the holidays; but find it hard to get the personal touches of how things really look, feel sound and smell so this seemed like a great way to gather that information.
The sites in it’s early days and needs lots of contributions, so if you know anybody else who might like to contribute please forward this message on. Maybe they have their own restaurant, hotel, shop, gallery or museum and would like to write their own description of what it’s like to visit.
Best Regards for 2010.
Claire