Two retail workers from Derbyshire set their alarms for 5am, flew to northern France, looked at a cathedral, ate a burger and an omelette, and were back in their own beds by half past midnight.
Total spend each: under £75.
Mel Evans, 44, and her friend and colleague Joanne Howard, 46, pulled off the trip on 19 September after Mel found return flights from Birmingham to Beauvais for £48.
Out the door at 5.30am
The pair parked at Birmingham International train station for £9.50, left the car for 24 hours and took the free shuttle to departures in time for an 8.45am Ryanair flight.
One hour and ten minutes later they were on the ground in France, just before 11am local time.
An 85p bus carried them into town.
“We had seven hours to explore before we needed to get the bus back to the airport,” Mel, from Chesterfield, told Creatorzine.
The plan was the market first, then the cathedral, then whatever the afternoon allowed.
“They had fish, meat, clothing, bags, purses and all sorts,” she said of the market stalls. Then came the part she had actually come for.
“I love architecture and got lost looking at the cathedral, chateau and old houses. I was in my element.”
Seven hours, £38 of lunch
Inside the cathedral they watched the astronomical clock. A craft fair nearby cost them £5 in souvenirs.
The Oise museum, which Mel says looks like a château from the outside, came with grounds worth walking.
Lunch happened in the main square: a burger for Mel, an omelette for Joanne, two Coke Zeros between them.
Two main meals and two drinks came to £38.
The rest of the afternoon went on shops, churches, a £2.50 ice cream, a second market and a £2.15 coffee back in the square while they waited for the bus.
No delays. No missed connections. Nothing to report at all, which was rather the point.
“I’m the planner, and Jo turns up; she’s very happy to go with the flow and my itinerary,” Mel said.
“It works well. There were no hiccups at all.”
They boarded the 10.50pm flight home, landed at 11pm and Mel was asleep roughly 19 hours after her alarm went off.
“At the end of the day, before flopping into bed, I felt very grateful I’d been able to travel. The next day is when I feel tired.”
Why It Matters
The day-trip-abroad format has become reliable content for travel creators because the maths does the persuading.
A £48 flight and a £38 lunch is a whole video’s worth of proof without a sponsor, a press trip or a week of annual leave.
Creators working in the budget travel space are increasingly building audiences on exactly this: verifiable receipts, ordinary jobs, no pretence of a lifestyle nobody else can reach.
Budget carriers have spent the past two years pushing regional routes hard, and secondary airports like Beauvais are the direct beneficiaries.
Twelve years into their friendship, Mel and Joanne have already done Milan, Bergamo, Alicante and Oslo the same way.
More are booked. France, Italy and Spain are on the list for the rest of the year, and Mel’s family have started calling her Judith Chalmers.
Her advice, for anyone tempted: “Midweek tends to be cheaper than the weekend, and it’s best to book around 12 weeks in advance.”
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