I’m lying in plush white bedding under a four-poster treetrunk bed, watching my three children giggling in a patchwork of green wheat fields outside our canvas dome tent, the distant sea framing it all in the background. It’s a far cry from the steamy London we’ve left behind — we’re on the Isle of Wight, only a half-hour ferry from mainland England. Driving off the ferry, we discover the island has two immediate things in its favour: a cooler climate (we left London in 30C, and here found a more pleasant temperature of 25C), and a feeling of going back in time.
Our family of five was seeking out some kind of digital detox. As a freelancer, my phone is rarely free from my clawed grasp as I chase deadlines — and the Xbox needs a holiday too, back at home. Will a break on the Isle of Wight, with its old-fashioned vibes, help us embrace Famous Five mode?
