BIG small distance...
ADVENTURES You don’t need to travel that far from home to enjoy the outdoors, says Marcus Leach Marcus Leach is a writer and speaker with a passion for adventure and the outdoors THERE’S SOMETHING QUITE magical about planning a caravan trip: sitting late into the night with an assortment of maps and books, reading other travellers’ blogs, piecing together itineraries that will take us far away from home. From the moment the process begins, the excitement gradually builds. The allure of discovering foreign lands, the prospect of tasting exotic foods, the distant thought of stolen moments of escapism. They all add to the thrill of the experience, long before we set off. However, contrary to popular belief, we don’t have to travel thousands of miles over several weeks to have an adventure. After all, adventure is little more than an attitude, a state of mind. And for those willing to embrace such a mindset and explore a little closer to home, there are endless opportunities to encounter the immense joy of being on the road. These micro-adventures are all around us and can range from an impromptu night away to a long weekend planned in a little more detail. The key is that whatever guise such trips come in, they still enable us to appreciate the beauty of the world near where we live, as well as the multitude of activities available. Most of the trips I’ve taken since we discovered the joys of touring have been
very much in the ‘bigger is better’ category, so I decided it was time for a new experience, on an altogether smaller scale. The premise for the trip was simple: four days and three nights away, a series of daily activities that would appeal to a range of people and said activities to be within 90 minutes of my travelling companion’s home. That companion was Nick Lomas, the Caravan and Motorhome Club’s Director General, whose knowledge of the UK, and the club’s extensive network of sites, would prove to be invaluable.
Baking and breadmaking We departed from Nick’s house under a grey sky and a blanket of drizzle that would follow us for much of our trip. Thankfully our first activity, an enriched dough bakery course with Monique at Green Cottage Kitchens, would take place indoors. Which was just as well, as by the time we had made the short trip to Kent, the drizzle had become a downpour. Driving past Monique’s house, you could be forgiven for thinking it was like all of the others along the quiet country lane that leads to the village of Rodmersham Green. However, what you can’t see from the outside is the purpose-built kitchen at the back of the house. It’s here that, having given up a successful career in banking, Monique now runs a variety of bakery courses to suit all levels and interests. At some stage, most, if not all, of us have tried our hand at baking. Perhaps this was as small children, under the watchful eyes of our mother or grandmother, or as adults, inspired by The Great British Bake-Off.
24 | MARCH 2020 | www.practicalcaravan.com
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