Plan H
With the easing of lockdown measures in the UK I have been making plans! At the start of 2020 I felt sure that the year would be able to top 2019…. so far this has been far from the case! But ever the optimist I feel confident that August could be the hold the key to redeeming what 2020 has bought so far!
My long-term adventure buddy, housemate and best friend (all the same person… I’m not that popular!) and I have made exciting plans for an adventure in late August. We have been laying down the foundations of this plan since well before Covid-19 rolled along and smashed up the joint! Our original plan… Plan A… was to spend two weeks driving the NC500 coastal route around the entire Scottish North Coast and camp in a tent along the way, avoiding midges and seeking out stunning beaches. Several revisions of the plan later and we are now set on Plan H… certainly the best of all the plans, mind you Plan C looked like the whole adventure was to be fully cancelled at one point in time!
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Plan H is booked and involves fulfilling an almost life-long dream. Plan H is incredibly exciting and will be our longest adventure to date (11 nights away). We are hiring a VW campervan from Herdy Campervans near Kendal in the Lake District and then driving it up to Inverness and around the NC500. Words cannot explain my excitement at hiring a campervan to take on this adventure… a VW campervan at that! A T6 or a Transporter conversion would be the top of my ‘when I win the lottery’ shopping list! The vehicle we have hired will be almost new as Herdy Campervans are a new company only launched just before lock down but we cannot wait to set off on our adventure in their awesome looking vehicle, adorned with Herdwick sheep accessories and decals from the Herdy company!
The last week has been spent researching, booking and extending our itinerary for the trip, whilst negotiating the ever changing impact of Covid restrictions in both England and Scotland. It is looking good for Nicola letting us into Scotland and campsites being mostly reopened, albeit with limited or no shared facilities. We are thankful that we will be travelling with our own portable chemical toilet and toilet tent, although their is perhaps some trepidation about emptying said facilities! Either way adventure is afoot!
In the midst of the complexities of the lifting of lockdown measures, the hope, optimism and excitement bought about by the booking of this trip has lifted my spirits and given us hope that 2020 will not be written off as a wasted year. It is easy to let the negatives override the positives in life but I am determined that 2020 will go down as a year that a dream was achieved, adventure was pursued and memories were made. Life really is what you make it, let us not have this year defined as a year that was stolen by Coronavirus but a year that we made choices to pursue our dreams and remember what is truly important to us and where our priorities lie.
Watch out for future blog posts as the adventure draws nearer…
