The Sun’s Travel Editor has taken her kids all over the world

THE Sun’s Head Of Travel Lisa Minot has taken thousands of holidays with her children in her 26 years on the job – from top cruises to 5-star hotels.

But, here she reveals why the holiday park break is one of the best-loved trips among their family.

“But mum, he’s just sleeping!” We’re holidaying near Kimmeridge Bay on Dorset’s Jurassic coast, and four-year-old Ben has caught his first ever fish – a tiny grey minnow netted in the rockpools on the beach.

It’s now floating ominously upside down in a plastic bucket but Ben is convinced Fred – as he has been named – is just having a little nap.

So begin the negotiations.

Mum reckons Fred will be just fine sitting in his bucket on the decking. Ben thinks he’d be happier in his bedroom in the mobile home.

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It was a tense stand-off. And if I am honest, I can’t say Ben didn’t get his own way.

The bucket spent a few hours sitting alongside all the other treasures a four-year-old can pick up on a British beach – broken shells, many odd shaped, interesting rocks and of course, the treasure of sand glass jewels.

So Fred the fish remained inside until Ben had fallen into a happy, worn-out slumber, before being carefully relocated outside in his bucket coffin.

Thankfully, the next day dawned bright and within an hour Ben had forgotten his fishy friend and moved on to searching for ancient sea creatures, entranced by the idea of fossil hunting on Chesil beach.

It’s one of hundreds of incredible memories I have of exploring the beauty of the British coast and countryside with my kids from UK holiday parks.

As a travel editor, my very lucky children got to explore some wonderfully exotic destinations.

From sunny Spain to the beaches of the Caribbean, they got to road-test some amazing family holidays and jetted off on planes decades before I’d flown for the first time myself.

But I am sure the first-time experiences and excitement they had on our breaks at UK holiday parks remain among some of their most vivid memories.

For them, it represented a freedom they never had in our suburban, city neighbourhood.

At home, there was no opportunity for them to ride bikes on quiet country roads.

I would never have even dreamed of allowing them to pop to the local shops alone.

And yet, within the safety of a UK holiday park there were those very first steps of freedom that they could take, with us helicopter parents safe in the knowledge they were never far away and in a fabulous, family-friendly environment.

A £9.50 park gave us the opportunity to holiday as a family without the hassle. 

All manner of toys, bikes and balls would be tossed into the back of the car, alongside wellies and swimmers to cover all bases of a British holiday.

With just a few hours to reach the coast, we’d be unpacking in our little holiday home in the time it would normally take just to get through an airport.

All kids are fascinated with new spaces and a holiday home where they could race between bedrooms bagging the best beds, open unknown cupboard doors and marvel at a very different view from the cosy lounge window was completely intoxicating.

After a quick supper in the van, and with Mum and Dad ready for a drink, it was on to the excitement of the show bar where the kids could explore and we could indulge in a tipple or two.

Of course, the lure of the bright lights of the arcades was another wonder they were simply unable to resist. 

Handfuls of two pence pieces would be studiously posted into sing-song penny pushing machines while Mum and Dad carefully explained their pocket money would last a lot longer there than going for broke on the grab machines.

Garlands of winning tickets would be wrapped around their necks before being carefully counted out at the end of the night to see if they could claim a prize.

The swimming pools meant water fun.

My daughter Abbi’s grin of delight as she bounced confidently on the inflatable obstacle course is as vivid in my head as the day she finally completed the challenge.

Taking the kids out of their comfort zones – challenging them to scale that climbing wall, or bounce higher than they’d ever reached on the bungee trampoline – were celebrated long after we’d got back home.

As they got older, the bikes got bigger and the kids were able to explore the quiet park roads, make friends at the kids’ clubs and get that first taste of holiday experiences without mum and dad watching over them every second.

Throughout their childhood, we ticked off a host of the best of British coastlines, from the piers and promenades of Bournemouth and Great Yarmouth to the beaches of Devon, Cornwall, the Isle of Wight and Jersey.

Every one of those trips gave us all memories that would last a lifetime.

Now I’m just waiting for the day I can bring my own grandchildren on more marvellous British adventures.