There’s no need to go anywhere else. That’s the thing we say when the sun is out in Scotland.

“Everyone would come here if it was always hot” is another favourite.

Yet, if I’m being completely honest, I’ve always thought there is still something to be said for an infinity pool, a piña colada and somebody else making the bed.

The holiday mood is dampened somewhat when you are on your second coloured wash of the morning, no matter how satisfying it is to see clothes drying on the line.

This week, however, we accidentally cracked it. We stayed almost at home, or at least in Scotland, and had a staycation to rival any holiday.

When my eldest was invited to spend a couple of nights at a friend’s holiday cottage in Elie, I decided that, rather than drive the hour there and back, I would book a hotel with my other two boys.

Elie is hardly an undiscovered gem. Most people have heard of it, visited it or stayed there. I had been as a child, but this time my eyes were opened to just how special somewhere so close........

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