Can You Take Holidays as a Smallholder?

Is it possible to take a few days away as a smallholder? Can things just tick over for a weekend? How much do you need to ask someone to do if they house-sit?

These are all important questions. As a smallholder, I have responsibility for my animals and garden. Just as a pet owner or gardener does. So due consideration is needed when planning time away.

I should preface this post by saying that we have never been week-in-the-sun holiday people. Previously we enjoyed cosy cottage holidays somewhere quiet and scenic over Winter, and adventures such as walking the West Highland Way and cycling the North Coast 500 over the Spring and Summer months.

I think this made our transition to smallholding life and the decision to take on this level of responsibility so much easier.

In terms of the smallholding, my husband and I have our routine to ensure everyone is taken care of every day. The hens and ducks are let out at dawn, the dogs are walked, the garden is weeded, the rabbit is fed, the sheep and alpacas are checked on and the bird houses are cleaned out. And that’s all before breakfast!

We realised how this is all just second nature to us as we gave our house-sitter a walk-around the property before we left for our honeymoon. There is so much to do here each day, but we have our mental list that gets checked off one item at a time.

While we enjoyed our honeymoon (a 9-day, 600 mile cycle adventure), home was never far from our minds. We called every day to ask how things were going, and were assured time and again that all was in hand, and we should relax and make the most of our time away.

Sadly, we came home to find that all was not well. I won’t go into details, but it shook us both to the core.

The harsh reality is that no-one will ever care for our home or our animals in exactly the way we do.

And really, is it even reasonable to expect that of anyone else?

We are very nervous about going away again, but there is always the possibility of emergencies outside our control. So I have compiled a comprehensive list of clear instructions that we can quickly print out if we need to leave someone else in charge at short notice.

But for the foreseeable at least, our hope and intention is that we will not be calling on anyone to house-sit. For special occasions such as weddings, one of us will go as the family representative. Friends and family are welcome to visit us here (especially if they bring their work clothes with them!). We hope they understand that it’s difficult for us to reciprocate and visit them next time. But it has been surprising that a lot of folks don’t appreciate the level of responsibility that comes with living life as we do.

In truth, we have built a life that we don’t want or need to take a holiday from. We spend lots of time outside each day. And when we’re tired of working the land, we have part-time paid jobs that we can do instead.

When we’re really organised and on top of our jobs, there are all kinds of away days just a stone’s throw away from our front door. Beaches, bike trails, forest walks and more. So we can plan our trip out around the daily chores.

So in summary, it is difficult to be away from home. Running a smallholding is a big responsibility; it’s not for everyone. But we wouldn’t have it any other way.