This year, instead of partying and getting wasted for my birthday I decided to go camping with some friends and spend some time in nature.
It was very last minute and didn't plan much so we just grabbed the bare necessities and headed for the woods. We didn't know where we were going or where we would camp. We just knew that we had to set off. So, we headed to South Downs National Park that was not too far from the city (thats what we thought at the moment).
It was not supposed to be a long drive but it was a huge national park and trying to find somewhere to camp was proving to be difficult. There was not much signal and no campsites for miles. But we kept going and going and the view was stunning so it felt good to just drive around. Finally with some luck we found a campsite not too far from where we were. So, finally we got there and it was a beautiful place. It was a grassland of a farmer and he seemed quite joyful and greeted us. He also had chopped fire wood that he was selling. As it was getting chilly in the evening we decided that we would buy some of the chopped wood to make fire. When it was time to pay we realised that we didn't have enough cash (thats how underprepared we were) to pay for the campsite and the wood but the farmer was kind enough to give us a small discount and even thew in so fire starters as the logs were quite bulky.
After setting up the tent, me and friends played music, had couple of drinks and shared some laughs, it was truly a beautiful evening. Later, we tried to light the fire but it was proving to be quite difficult. The fire starters we had was about to finish and the fire wood still didn't burn properly as it was a bit chunky. There was another camper not to far from us, they had a massive bon fire and was going strong. So, my friend just decided to get their help as it looked like ours wouldn't light properly. They were an old couple, who would go camping from time to time and had years of experience anything to do with camping. They gave us some tips, some more fire starters and thinner, what looked like ply wood.
When we combined the new knowledge with the fire starters and ply wood. It seemed like a no brainer, the ply wood started to burn very quickly that eventually led the thicker chopped woods to burn and lo and behold we had a small bon fire. The fire gave us heat and kept us warm throughout the rest of the evening.
The next day, we went for a walk around the woods and noticed various kinds of birds that were walking/flying around. They were quite noisy but we knew they were communicating. The view was stunning and and we got back and packed our tent and headed back home. On the way, we visited our friend who manages a Japanese restaurant and he fed us quite generously as you will see in the pics ;)
I had a lovely time in my birthday, spent two days in nature. This for me was more special in many ways than the other times getting drunk and passing out somewhere. I felt more refreshed and more so, happy! :)
Thanks for reading through and here's some pictures that I took in this journey.
