Sinking into the cooling water, I wiggle my toes and exhale with relief. With the trees and blue skies above me, I’m entirely at peace.
When my fiancé Paul – who has been a wheelchair user for 20 years – moved in, I needed to ask the council to adapt our bathroom into a wet room. Unfortunately, that meant sacrificing my beloved bath. I was quoted £7,000 to get an additional bath upstairs, which was well beyond my budget.
In hope of finding a solution, I turned to the internet – and soon enough, my social media algorithm responded to my urgent bathing needs. I was suddenly inundated with stories of outdoor baths. Supposedly, they aren’t just good for our wellbeing – they needn’t cost the earth either. I immediately took to Facebook Marketplace and found my dream roll-top bath with chrome feet on for £150, including delivery.
A plumber was able to get a hot water tap installed outside, next to the existing cold one, for just £70. In under a week, I’ve got my new outdoor bath set up, connected to the hot and cold taps with two hoses, and it’s ready to go.
To make the experience all the more relaxing, I invest in four of Ikea’s best-selling Nämmarö wooden privacy screens at £60 a pop. I add some climbing plants behind them to grow through the wood to create a green wall over time, blending in more naturally with the rest of the garden.
The cherry on the cake is a £10 string of solar-powered glowing yellow rubber ducks from a local garden centre, perfect for an evening dip. I hang them from the privacy screens and they add a warm glow as the sun sets, meaning I don’t have to bathe in darkness.
Worth it? Certainly. I am unequivocally an outdoor bathing advocate, enjoying an alfresco soak to recharge and reset. And I’m not alone in that, with research showing that outdoor bathing is more relaxing than the inside alternative.
Loughborough University scientist Dr Danny Longman co-leads research on the effects of environments on people, and has found that any exposure to natural sights, sounds and sensations can be beneficial to the human body. “Even brief exposure to natural settings can lower physiological and psychological stress markers compared with equivalent time indoors or in urban environments,” he says. “There's growing evidence that time in nature also benefits our cognitive function, immune health and even our endurance capacity. An outdoor bath essentially reconnects us with the kind of sensory environment our bodies are adapted to, which allows us to reset our stress response systems, relax and perform better.”
With that in mind, let’s head out into the garden, listen to the birdsong, and enjoy a long, soothing bath in the fresh air.
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Words by: Erica Crompton
Top image: Erica's outdoor bathtub setup (credit: Erica Crompton)
