Daily blog (audio): The photos I didn't share of our holiday [It was a dump]

<p>The photos I didn't share of our holiday [It was a dump]</p> <p><br> We're on a mission to help one million people RISE by 2030 - join the movement at <a href="http://www.myrise.co.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.myrise.co.uk</a></p> <p><br></p> <p>Those of you who are Facebook friends with me may have seen that the family and I holidayed in the North East the other week.</p> <p>I shared lovely family photos of us at Whitby, Robin Hood’s Bay, Saltburn and the like.</p> <p>What I didn’t share was a photo of our accommodation.</p> <p>We’d left organising it till the last minute as we weren’t 100% sure of some of the logistics (blended family, etc).</p> <p>And found relatively few options available for five (no Step-Daughter for the first time) and a dog.</p> <p>You’ll probably have seen that prices have gone up for holiday accommodation quite a lot this year.</p> <p>And, while I’ve been mega pleased with how we’ve handled the challenges of COVID…………</p> <p>16 consecutive months of either the club being closed or operating at restricted capacity…………</p> <p>With the same or higher (more sessions and cleaning) costs………..</p> <p>Have added up to a reasonable sized hole in the budget which needs filling over time.</p> <p>So we booked an AirBnB in Middlesbrough.</p> <p>Now, I’m not daft.</p> <p>I’m aware Middlesbrough isn’t the most well known of holiday venues, shall we say.</p> <p>But the accommodation looked fine on the photos.</p> <p>And it would make a suitable base for day trips along that North East coastline.</p> <p>We stopped off at Harrogate on the way to break up the journey which is, of course, lovely.</p> <p>As Sat Nav indicated we were entering the final mile of the journey to our holiday home, our hearts began to sink.</p> <p>As we pulled up outside the house, they dropped completely.</p> <p>It was rough.</p> <p>Really rough.</p> <p>Maybe 30 or so houses on either side of our street.</p> <p>Many looked vacant.</p> <p>Some were boarded up and / or burnt out.</p> <p>The first people we encountered