Sometimes The Best Adventure Might Be Closer Thank You Think

By Lauren Regan.

This month's travel column is a little different. Usually, I'm writing about jumping on a plane, exploring somewhere new or discovering a new corner of the world, but recently, I've found myself falling back in love with somewhere much closer to home.

Northumberland.

In fact, I've just bought my dream house on the coast in Amble, a little fishing village nestled in the Northumberland coast, and, as anyone who has bought a house can attest to, the process was far from easy. So, in an effort to claw back some sanity, I've been spending my weekends rediscovering the county I've called home for the last seven years, Cerberus the Sheepadoodle by my side.

Stepping onto remote beaches, standing in the shadows of castle ruins or meandering around ancient market towns has reminded me that sometimes the best adventures are the ones waiting right on your doorstep, and it can be just as fun to be a tourist in your own back garden. 

Throw back to 2019 when I first told people I was moving to Morpeth. Not Manchester. Not London. Not even another country. Morpeth - a thriving market town in South Northumberland, barely 20 minutes from Newcastle. Yet the reaction from friends and colleagues was as though I'd announced I was abandoning modern society altogether. There were concerned looks, dramatic pauses and the inevitable question: "But what will you do all the way up there?" as if I was packing up my belongings and relocating to a remote outpost somewhere to start knitting my own clothes. 

Fast forward to this year and I found myself having the same conversation all over again when I announced I'd bought a house in Amble, a whole 15 minutes further north. "Amble? But that's miles away!" people exclaimed, with the kind of horror usually reserved for news of a long-haul commute. One man on a dating app told me he didn’t want a long-distance relationship (his house was a 30-minute drive away). It was a reminder that for many people, Northumberland still occupies a strange place in the imagination, somewhere beautiful and rugged certainly, but impossibly distant. The reality, of course, couldn't be further from the truth.

Only 45 minutes from Newcastle city centre in the car or 20 minutes on the train, one of Amble’s greatest misconceptions is that it's remote. Yes, it feels wonderfully removed from the noise and pace of modern life, but Newcastle is on the doorstep, Edinburgh is only a 90-minute train journey away, and some of the country's most beautiful landscapes are within easy reach. You can have a morning coffee overlooking the sea, spend the afternoon walking through ancient woodland and be in a city for dinner, and for me, that's part of its magic.

Northumberland is vast, sprawling and wonderfully empty. As England's most sparsely populated county, there are huge stretches where the horizon feels endless and the only soundtrack is the wind, the waves or the call of seabirds overhead.

What it lacks in people, it more than makes up for in personality. Americans often talk about never needing to leave their own country because they have everything they could possibly want on their doorstep. Mountains, deserts, beaches, forests and world-class cities and that’s how I feel about Northumberland.

Want coastline? We've got miles of it. Want forests? Head into Kielder Water. Looking for castles, market towns, wildlife, history or culture? Take your pick. It feels impossible to run out of places to explore, and some of my favourites have become weekend rituals to reset after a busy week. 

Beadnell Beach, located midway up the Northumberland Coast near Seahouses, will always hold a special place in my heart. My grandparents lived there when I was little, and some of my earliest memories involve windswept walks, collecting shells and peering into rock pools with my ancient family dog Fidget. Returning now feels like stepping back in time. The beach remains as beautiful as ever; vast stretches of golden sand, dunes that roll into the distance and views that make you stop mid-conversation just to take them in. While it’s popular in the summer with tourists visiting the local caravan park, most people tend to stay near the entrance from the dunes, walk 100 metres down the sand, and on most days you have the beach all to yourself. 

Then there's Northumberland Zoo, where I’ve made regular pilgrimages over the last few years to visit the snow leopard, raccoons and, more recently, Sally the sloth. Every visit feels slightly different, but my favourite involved meeting some of their most popular residents - the capybara. When I was given a capybara feeding experience at Northumberland Zoo for my birthday, little did I know that I would turn into a “rodent influencer” on TikTok with the video racking up hundreds of thousands of views overnight. The experience itself was wonderfully simple - a bucket of sweet potatoes and cabbage, a one-to-one encounter, and some surprisingly charismatic capybaras. Up close, they're every bit as charming as the internet would have you believe; gentle, curious and completely unbothered by the excitement they generate. Spending time with them felt oddly therapeutic, and watching them delicately accept chunks of sweet potato from my hand was one of those unexpectedly joyful moments that makes you feel like a little kid again. Proof that you don't always need to travel thousands of miles to find an experience, or a rodent, worth talking about.

Closer to home, Amble itself is quietly becoming one of the county's most exciting coastal towns. There are independent shops, a thriving harbour, brilliant seafood courtesy of The Old Boat House or Jaspers restaurant and enough walking routes to keep even the most enthusiastic explorer happy. You can wander around the marina, browse the market pods, watch the boats come and go, or simply sit and stare out towards Coquet Island, trying to spot the elusive dolphins that occasionally pop by to say hello. 

My favourite stop is Ethos Coffee in Amble. It's one of those places that perfectly challenges people's assumptions about Northumberland. For anyone expecting sleepy seaside cafés and slightly tired tourist traps, Ethos is the complete opposite. Bright, contemporary and effortlessly cool, it wouldn't feel out of place in Shoreditch, Copenhagen or Melbourne, yet here it is, tucked away on the Northumberland coast. Walk through the door, and you're greeted not only by the smell of exceptional coffee but often by a friendly black lab who seems to take his role as unofficial welcome committee very seriously.

Light, airy and beautifully designed, Ethos is filled with vintage motorbikes, classic cars and carefully curated memorabilia that give it the feel of a contemporary museum as much as a café. On any given weekend, you'll find groups of bikers and car enthusiasts gathered outside, proudly showing off their prized possessions and swapping stories. It's become a destination in its own right, attracting visitors from far beyond Northumberland's borders. What I love most is that it feels completely unpretentious. Whether you've arrived on a vintage Triumph motorcycle, in a classic Land Rover or simply wandered in after a walk along the harbour, Ethos perfectly captures modern Northumberland. Creative, independent, full of character and quietly world-class, it’s the kind of place people don't expect to find in a small coastal town, which is precisely why I love taking visitors there. It challenges everything they think they know about this corner of the country.

As someone who runs a business, I've discovered that Northumberland is also an incredible place to work. There is space here; physical space and mental space. Creativity seems easier to find when you're not fighting traffic, noise and crowds every day, and despite the perception that it's sleepy or disconnected, Northumberland is packed with ambitious, innovative businesses doing remarkable things. Entrepreneurs, creatives, manufacturers, technology companies, cultural organisations and family businesses are building successful ventures while staying rooted in their communities, and that's something I've come to value enormously.

One organisation that captures this spirit perfectly is NOVO Theatre, where I'm proud to serve as a trustee. Through community-led storytelling, heritage projects and creative engagement, they're ensuring that local stories are collected, preserved and shared for future generations. At a time when so much feels temporary and disposable, there is something incredibly powerful about helping communities tell their own stories and safeguarding the voices that might otherwise be lost.

Perhaps that's what I've come to appreciate most about Northumberland.

It knows exactly what it is and it isn't trying to be anywhere else.

It’s a part of the country shaped by its dramatic landscapes and history, but the really exciting things about Northumberland are happening right now: it’s in the businesses, the opportunities and new ways of interacting with our open spaces. Buying a house here has encouraged me to slow down and look again at places I thought I already knew, and in doing so, I've discovered a new perspective on a county I've spent years calling home.

That's the thing about travel. It's easy to assume adventure only happens when you board a plane or cross a border. Sometimes, though, the most rewarding journeys happen when you take a fresh look at the places closest to you, because rediscovering what's on your doorstep can be every bit as exciting, fulfilling and memorable as exploring somewhere exotic and new.

You just have to be willing to see it with fresh eyes.

Lauren Regan is the founder and creative director of MOLE, a brand storytelling and PR consultancy.

Crafting a meaningful brand story is within reach for every organisation. MOLE works with businesses in the UK and Canada to find their voice, tell their stories, and shape their future. To speak to Lauren about your organisation's ambitions, reach out at lauren@weraremole.com