A busy Solihull mum and teacher made 13 trips from Birmingham Airport last year – without using any annual leave. Claire Howard set herself the goal of travelling to 12 countries in 12 months after cutting her hours and duties down at work – and it left her feeling like a “female warrior.”
The busy mum-of-two and English teacher said the decision to embark on the cut-price 24-hour trips came after she had some life changing health news. Claire, 47, has travelled to countries like Poland, Romania, France and Spain, getting return flights for as cheap as £27 from BHX.
‘Extreme day tripping’ sees travellers use local airports to embark on a day-long adventure, often solo. Costs are kept low as you don’t book accommodation, but the ‘extreme’ element comes into play because you have to pack as much as possible into 24 hours.
READ MORE: Inside Birmingham Airport ‘extreme daytrip’ craze where travellers get bargain 24-hour holidays
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‘I’m not just going to spend my Tuesday cleaning’
Chatting to BirminghamLive on January 14, Claire said: “I went back to being an English teacher and on four days. I thought, I’m not just going to spend my Tuesday at home cleaning.”
Claire used to be deputy head of a sixth form, but 18 months ago she experienced burnout symptoms and relinquished her deputy head role. It was then she decided to swap boxsets and cleaning on her day off for travelling Europe.
Look through our photo story below of Claire’s trips:
“I will fly after school on a Monday, stay at a cheap youth hostel and then I have the full day” she said. Adding: “I really loved going alone. My kids have really enjoyed it it’s been showing them what you can do. I am starting to run out of places from Birmingham Airport!
“For me, it has to be BHX, I know that when I land I can be in bed half an hour later.” Facebook groups with hundreds of thousands of members have popped up this year as the extreme day-tripping craze sweeps the UK.
Travellers will often share hints and tips from their adventures, which begin from airports like Birmingham, Manchester and Luton.
Claire in Chamonix
(Image: Claire Howard / SWNS)
Claire primarily uses her off-day on Tuesday, so will either catch a flight late on Monday or the first flight out on Tuesday morning, returning by teatime the same day. She plans to slow down for 2025 and complete six trips.
Claire said the spark for her adventures came after she found out she had the BRCA1 gene, and underwent an elective hysterectomy, followed by a double mastectomy in March 2024.
Claire’s 2024 extreme daytrips
1) January – Geneva, Switzerland – Caught the Flixbus to Chamonix to get the cable car
2) January – Alicante, Spain
3) February – Geneva, Switzerland – did the other side and went to Lake Geneva
4) February – Bucharest, Romania
5) March – Warsaw, Poland
6) March – Bydgoszcz, Poland
7) June – Paris- Beauvais
8) June – Malaga, Spain
9) July – Berlin, Germany
10)July – Palma de Mallorca, Spain
11) September – Dublin, Ireland and caught train to Howth
12) October – Poznań, Poland
13) December – returned to Malaga
‘I found it life-changing’
“That’s why I crammed in all these trips, I had this goal having that to look forward to after my recovery, I found it life-changing.
“The first time I did it alone I got home and felt like a female warrior! I am 47-years-old I I stayed in a youth hostel, the sense of achievement when I did it was really overwhelming.”
She said her favourite trip was Geneva-Chamonix because of that feeling and said other highlights included a £27 return to Paris-Beauvais and a cheap flight to Poznan during half-term.
Claire said to anyone thinking of trying a solo 24-hour day trip to try out city like Dublin, Belfast or Edinburgh. “They are all like a 50 minute flight there’s no language barrier.”
She added: “You need to be realistic if you have to go to work on three hours sleep, I could not do that.
“It feels like you have been away for ages. It is a different way of doing things. Other trips I have done relaxed, where you are happy to wander and see where the day takes you.”