When we were young

When we were little, a lot of our holidays were in tents.

I remember an inflatable second hand tent, I don’t think that one even made it through the back garden test.

There was also this used canvas-behemoth with bedrooms that also filled up most of the back of the car, my spot riding in the boot of the cavalier was taken up - that tent was epic.

Then I remember when we got a brand new one, a purple dome thingy that took dad “30 seconds” to put up. I remember it going up - one dome, 5 people.

Noodles cooked over a gas stove. Wales and other places I can’t geographically remember felt like distant lands. We played tennis over home made nets, made jokes, played cards within touching distance of beaches and fields. We laughed, argued, got chilly, got rained on, got sunned on and had great times.

Maybe why I love the outdoors is that both mum and dad do too, they got us outside. Car journeys of listening to the eagles or best of Lynyrd skynyrd or the famous five on a cassette are a far cry from my travels and adventures today.

But the same is true. I go in search for the same ingredients - nature, wildlife, a different environment and awesome people to spend it with.

So much simplicity, almost a question of asking how you bottle it? But I don’t think we need to, because you really can lift the lid whenever you need to….