I’m currently sat in my living room on day 3 of self isolation (symptoms - mild but definitely not pleasant, I’ll survive) listening to Steven repaint the bathroom (he’s only on day 1, it’s gonna get weird), wondering how we’ll survive being cooped up indoors for so long. I can usually go about a week before I need to get outside and recharge. Luckily we had a long weekend last week that we spent dotting from Northumberland to the Lakes and back. I can remember us having a conversation on our last night there, parked up at an amazing campsite near Ullswater, right on the edge of a stream, about how smooth the trip had gone and how relaxed we felt. I can only assume that a higher power of road trip joy wanted to prepare me for the times that lay ahead.

We left straight after work on the Friday night and decided to stop off for night one at Cawfields Quarry in Northumberland. You can park overnight right next to the water. We got there, walked the dog, got assaulted by sudden heavy rain and had dinner and beers in the van. I feel like I’ve become so climatised to rain by the past few months of absolutely shite weather that it doesn’t even faze me anymore. My hair is already frizzy, the dog will always be muddy, may as well enjoy yourself.

The next day we pottered around the lake district, stopping off at various pretty spots for walks and coffee breaks. I love these days. Not having a plan and seeing where we end up is my favourite way to road trip. We had booked a night at Moss Side farm, as we know we can just relax there and have a campfire. They have the nicest little dogs that just wander the farm and beg for food and attention. Although one of them seems to have developed this weird habit of nipping you on the leg constantly. It followed me around biting my calf and knees. I tried some Victoria Stilwell techniques (I’ve been watching ‘It’s Me or the Dog’ on youtube) but I gave up and panicked and just belted away from him. The smallest of the lot is a little black female, and we’ve betrothed her to Pim. She’s adorable. She spent half the night on my knee sitting in front of the fire.

The next night we winged it, and just explored and then found a campsite wherever we ended up. It turned out to be one of the nicest places we’ve ever stopped. A lovely big open site right next to a river, in a secluded little village at the bottom of a lake. You pick your spot then pop up to the farmhouse and pay the lady who lives there. We couldn’t hear ourselves think over the river, but I have tinnitus and there’s nothing better than a strong water noise to block it out. Literally would pay good money to have a river noise following me about. We explored by foot, then came back to the van and watched three episodes of Better Call Saul and didn’t even feel guilty about it.

The ideal long weekend.

Let’s hope I can carry that sense of calm with me for the foreseeable future.