It was the middle of July, me (Jack) and my mates had planned to go camping and mountain climbing for my upcoming birthday, I was turning 18 in three days and I didn't want to spend time at home doing nothing, I wanted something exciting and heart pumping! So I decided to go for a camping trip in the middle of nowhere in general, up north of where I live. I searched on Google maps where to find open spaces and I spotted the perfect location! I didn't dare to tell my friends what the place was called so I offered to drive there, so they agreed and we set off at 5:30am this morning... Well, me waking up at 4am and convincing my friends that they can sleep in the car. That took an hour to do without packing bags in the car, it wouldn't be all that easy if it was 11 am or later; the drive was going to be about 9-10 hours long so I wanted to make the most of it.

Now my parents didn't really like this idea because they're "posh" and too "careful" to go anywhere near a mountain trek, they wouldn't dare to stand on grass on the patch of there fake garden; they really hated nature. But I loved it! I thrived to be outdoors and go playing in the mud when I was a kid! Luckily, I would have the chance to do so when I stayed at my grandparents farm - from my mum's side really but, truthfully, I think they were true family members, not diamonds and glass as my mother is; my father's grandparents died when I was 4, they wasn't fond of dirt but that was because of their age really. I didn't know them so well, although I loved them for treating me right as a real boy. I remember that I had once got covered head-to-toe in mud when my parents had taken me to my grandparents on the farm, I was about 9 at the time; in a white buttoned blouse, with black suit pants and bow tie - no occasion just an everyday style I had to wear. Anyways, when I arrived my dad didn't want his shoes to become caked in mud and animal dung - my mother didn't even want to leave the estate never mind stand in mud at this point, she hated the smell of the fresh cut grass and dug up dirt; it apparently burned her insides but I laughed at the thought back then. My grandparents had given me a pair of wellies to take home and back with me, could you imagine the look of a small boy in a perfect suit but has size 10 boots on to travel mud in? I can! In the end my parents never wanted to return back to the farm so I would travel there alone in the summer and stay for a few weeks. Great times.

Back on the road, it was 7:39 and we didn't even cross a quarter of the distance, I couldn't care really; driving around was the most enjoyable part of traveling, passing new locations, seeing new faces, smelling freedom, hearing the wind call my name above my head, feeling the true sun rest on my skin... Amazing. On the other hand, Chris, Lucy and Rose had complained about cramp in their leg for a few hours; how they are hungry though they've just eaten twenty minutes ago; bored out of their mind; no signal on their phones, luckily for me I inherited the great power of patience from the grandparents that died, they needed it for when I had been covered in mud and brought in bugs and wild rodents inside their house. How they had that great gift that neither of parents had is unbelievable really. Fortunately for them, my mates got their way and we stopped at a cafe next the motorway, we had a spin and gulp of coffee and we had set off again for another 4-5 hours of staring at concrete and the back of strangers cars, ahead of us. Great !