I had the best afternoon I’ve had in ages - sitting in Sainsburys carpark :)

[Bladed]

I’m not sure what that says about me (that I’m a cheap date?!) But I really did.

My friend cancelled on me so I had a couple of spare hours. Decided to do a food shop but couldn’t face it when I got there, so just bought some water and some crisps, sat in the car and read my book.

I mean I probably won’t make it a regular thing but who knew Sainsburys carpark could give such joy!

Basement of my Sainsbury's car park (v quiet cool and darker than the two upper levels). Park facing the wall and sit in the back of my car (tinted windows) and listen to a podcast with a doughnut. In peace. Nobody bothering me. Phone out of service as I was deep in the frozen section and lost signal. Reckon I'll finally get in a few episodes of Cabin Pressure. Mission accepted. In all seriousness I see women sitting in the car park of my Lidl with magazines and pastry a few times a year.

I remember, once, years ago, I was so very tired but unable to get any peace and quiet at home this particular afternoon. I got in my car, drove to a country park, reclined the seats, locked the doors, and slept for 90 minutes - my kids were then about 21 and 18. It was lovely.

I’ve done this but B&Q.
peace and quiet.

I often do this after a big shop 😂

Youd get a much better experience sitting in Waitrose car park😆

I do this when DS is at gymnastics. 2hrs to kill and I used to drive home and do housework. Now I park up somewhere, sometimes with a snack and I read/listen to a podcast/nap. Nobody knows.

You should have bought sandwichws as well & turned it into a proper car picnic!

This is hilarious 😆

I did this all through lockdown 🤣

I would love to know what you were reading? And BTW your idea sounds lovely! Will be doing something similar this weekend.

Reminds me of lockdown too, I used to meet friends in the car park and we used to chat through our windows with our travel mugs of coffee. Lots of people doing the same. Kept us sane!

She is obviously a genius. I bet she's also incredibly beautiful.

During the heatwave I snuck off to the underground car park at Waitrose. I spent £10 (to get my parking card validated) on a coffee, sushi and a pack of lychees, and just quietly read the paper on my phone.

I also routinely leave for work an hour early so I can go via McDonald’s, and eat breakfast in the loading bay / car park.

I did similar during lockdown. There's a Starbucks drive through down the road - would get a hot chocolate and then sit in my car listening to an audio book for an hour! It was my only escape from 2 cooped up toddlers.

Water tho? You could do better than that 😂

I wouldn’t get high hopes for Aldi and Lidl. DH tried a couple of times to read news on mobile while waiting for me while I was shopping and then gave up - no piece and quiet at all. I would try Tesco superstore if you’ve got one, it usually got nice remote corners.

Genius idea!

What was the book? It does sound rather like being on holiday really.

I had to go to A&E last night (nothing too serious but no other option) and was really looking forward to sitting reading my book for an hour or two, but they were annoyingly efficient and I didn't even get to take my Kindle out of my bag.

We need special little flag things to put on our car ariels (arials?) - we could fly it high if we were up for a natter, and half-mast if we wanted to have no interruptions.

The book was Blood Orange by Harriet Tyce.

I wish I’d thought of going to a basement carpark in the heatwave - I’ll be better prepared next time!

I did similar a few weeks ago. Had a house full of people, nipped to Lidl and sat in the car park for half an hour with a coffee, a muffin and did some writing. Was absolutely lovely.

She will if she's parked in the carpark and not gone in to shop. Driver's get fined driving through our local Tesco to avoid the one way system.

@Bladed just be mindful of the time limits...each store has different ones (even between branches of the same shop) some as low as 90 mins, which isn't much time for relaxing 😉

Something like these @Emotionalsupportviper?