Escape Rooms - taking your hobby on holiday with you

Is there something specific that you like to do in each place that you travel? Do you like to collect a fridge magnet, perhaps visit a local church, theme park or beach? We often have things that on holiday are non-negotiable and that we must do. My children insist that if there is a Hard Rock Café wherever we are that we must go to it (and my daughter insists on getting their chicken tenders!).

My must do is perhaps slightly more unusual than the traditional church visit or fridge magnet purchase. I love an Escape Room. If you haven’t tried an Escape Room the set up is usually that you have 60 minutes to find your way out of a locked room (although you are never actually locked in!). To escape you must work your way through a number of challenges, riddles and tasks. Sometimes these are physical, often they involve a lot of logic and some creative thinking. It’s such a fun hobby and we have been escaping for the last 8 years as a family.

What I love most about having a hobby that we can take with us around the world as we travel is that it often takes us off the beaten track and to areas that we might not have gone to. Playing Paradox Projects in Athens we walked through traditional streets within the city, came across street side cafes for a morning snack before taking part in one of the best Escape rooms we have ever completed (this one was three hours of brilliant escaping rather than your usual hour). In Paris playing The Game took us to area within walking distance of Notre Dame close to the Sorbonne – we would never have explored this area had we not been playing an Escape Room.

Escape rooms can be such a good activity for holidays. In Florida we played Deadlock Games – for us it helped escape the heat of the day, but a brilliant option if you are having thundery showers that Florida is known for. In Tenerife we have played Island Phobia – another company high up my list of must play games and another that is good to escape the heat of the day or perhaps just do something different as a family while you are all together on holiday.

For me, Escape Rooms gives us a hobby that we do together but also something different to do when we travel. We always look forward to finding a new Escape Room and testing them out. We are on our way to Lanzarote soon and will be heading to an Escape Room there. I wonder if it will make it into our top ten Escape Rooms played – I will let you know!