This weekend was so good because it was so spontaneous. Here I was sitting in a warm house with two friends trying to decide what to do for the weekend. We all were agreed on one thing, we wanted to get out of the city and away - so camping it is then!!!

I love camping. I love the way that you can camp nearly anywhere, I’ve camped on mountains, near a runway in Italy, parks, beaches, just anywhere. I love the way you carry your house with you and its up to you how comfortable you are.
We decided to get on the train and head for the Dales. We didn’t know where we were going and our decision was made simply by the price of the train tickets.

So we arrived in Settle a little village in the Yorkshire Dales and set about searching for an appropriate site. We walked past the official campsite which was embarrassingly in the middle of the town, a field closed in on all sides by houses. We left the village and as soon as you had gone past the last house there were places upon places to choose from. We climbed a hill and pitched our tent on a small flat area and looked out over our new doorstep view whilst eating homemade scones and jam.

For dinner we headed back into the town and had fish & chips in a greasy spoon. We walked around the town and picked up a nice bottle of red, then returned to the camp. Nina had brought a wind up torch and solar powered glow jar, so we spent the late evening drinking wine and reading each other Roald Dahl short stories. What a weekend, I just loved getting away and drinking in the fresh air. This is England at its best, freedom and beauty.

With an eternal optimism Nina decided we should hitch hike back. I pointed out to her that this was very unlikely as firstly we were standing on the wrong road and secondly it would only happen if a hippy VW drove past. Initially only SUV’s passed us with ladies suppressing their smiles and showing off their 5 spare seats, but then a VW van pulled up with our hero, a guy about to head back to the south of France. We had to push it a few times and shout over the noise of the engine, but it really was traveling in style.