Solo Camping by the River | Peaceful Outdoor Adventure

I'm really not familiar with this area whatsoever. Ow! We might be walking back. I'm gonna give it a go. What was that noise? I'm back home in England and I'm at a spot that I've driven past hundreds of times before but I've never stopped. I've been to Kyrgyzstan, I've been to the Dolomites, I've been all across the world camping but I've never been here. I've lived in Lancashire for the past 21 years of my life and I've never really explored it. But today that is going to change. I'm in this gorgeous open field. There's nothing but green all around and it is 30 degrees Celsius. I'm very sweaty and I smell like sun cream. It's gonna be a good one. Let's get the adventure started, shall we? I'm just walking in a field along the River Loon and I'm hoping that I'll be able to find a nice camp spot and a swim spot as well because I'm drenched. You cannot tell me English heat isn't bad. It's so bad. I've just got back from Kyrgyzstan for two weeks and it was around 30 degrees there but I wasn't sweating. The humidity here is just unlike anything I've ever experienced and I know we English people complain when it's hot and we complain when it's cold but we have a right. It's never a nice temperature here. I'm gonna try and find somewhere closer to the water. I've got loads of midge repellent so I'm not bothered about the midges. I just want it to be a little bit cooler. Just a little bit. It's already getting cooler. You can tell I'm getting a little bit closer to this river. I'm really not familiar with this area whatsoever. I've just been walking through the grass. I'm pretty sure this over here is actually a path. It's not on the map in my defence. It's also very busy. There's a lot of people everywhere. I had to park like a 20 minute walk away because there's so many people around and they're all swimming as well. It's making me jealous. I have a feeling I'm on the right side of the river for camping but the wrong side for swimming. They all seem to be swimming on the other side. There seems to be like actual sections for it whereas here it's all barbed wired off. We might be walking back. It's so hot. He's a noisy guy. I don't think he likes me. It's okay birdie. This area has so much nature. It's incredible. This is so beautiful. I've just seen a stork fly past. This bird does not like me though. It's making a squeaky sound. Go away. That's what that noise is. I think I do see a gate behind me. The barbed wire fence stops here. That was an odd looking bug. There's a gate up here. I'm so glad I carried on. I had a horse fly on me for a second though and I didn't like that. I don't think that's a Katie goes through gate. I think that's a no go gate. I'm going though. It's just turned 7pm and the sun doesn't go down till about half nine and then last light's at like 11pm. So I'm good for time. I'm gonna walk to the tree line up here and see what that's like. All the grass verges are pretty high up so there's no really safe swim spots. Because I'm by myself I'm very picky with my swim spots. I don't want to be in a position where I couldn't easily just hoist myself out and I can't here because I've not got long enough legs. I'm only 5'3". I don't reckon I'd be able to get myself out to be honest. I think I might be able to get a swim spot. What was that noise? That must be a very noisy motorbike. I can't go for a dip there. It's just a sudden drop and it's really muddy so no from me. Anyway the other side seems to be the side that actually has like stones and gravel which is much better. I am dying for a swim and I can't swim on this side. So back we go. I've made the choice. There's a lovely gravel beach on the other side. I didn't walk past this on the way here. I'm gonna give it a go. Isn't that perfect? Oh my gosh. This is skimming stone heaven. Basically every stone is a skimmer. This is the spot. I think I'm gonna have a dip and I think I'm gonna just set my tent up right here because well the river's not due to get any rain into it anytime soon. It's very dry here and I'm secluded from that side, that side and you can't see me because of the verge there. So it's a very private little spot for me to go for a swim and set up camp. I've got the most optimum skimmer ever. Never mind. This is England. This is my England. I like it. Okay I don't know how deep it's gonna be. Okay I'm going in. There's a lot of little bugs in the water. I don't know what they are. That was a rock. I think a fish just jumped out of the water. Hello fishies. Please don't nibble my toes. There is hundreds of bait fish here. I'm gonna make my presence known. Oh it's very hot right there. Sitting. What a lovely spot. Oh there's fishes on my feet. It's really not deep enough anywhere for a full-on swim but I can dip. That's all that matters. Ow. I could probably walk the whole way across here. I'm in the middle of the river. My goodness. This is lovely. It's actually the perfect temperature. It's really cold but like not too cold. This is a 10 out of 10 camp spot. I'm definitely setting up camp here. It's about time we get set up. I need to set my tent up and I'm very tempted to not put my fly sheet on but I'm gonna figure that out. I can use my towel to protect my mat and I think we'll be fine. I've got a brand new mat as well. It's very exciting. This is the spot I'm thinking about. If I move all of the big rocks out the way or the spiky ones as well. I should be able to make a relatively spiky free zone for my tent. I was hoping that I'd packed my ground sheet but I haven't. But it's not too bad because I've got my microfiber cloth towel-y thing. I can put that underneath and then I think that should be fine. We shouldn't have a problem. You know I said what is that weird noise a few minutes ago? There's a hot air balloon. A hot air balloon. What? I've never seen a hot air balloon that close in my life. What on earth is going on? It's definitely not the most comfortable thing right now but I'll blow my sleeping mat up and we'll see how it is. I think I'm just gonna layer my clothes on the bottom to try and stop my mat from getting anything happening to it. Considering it is literally brand new I really don't want to damage it. Right let's get set up inside here. I'm gonna keep the flysheet off just for the time being because you know what? I can see in the world. So I'm not gonna put the flysheet on because why would I want to cover it up? I don't want to cover my view up. I want to watch it all day and all night. It shouldn't pop my mat now if I do this. That's my hope. I normally have my hips about here so sit mat is where my hips are because that's where the heaviest point is when I'm let down because I'm a side sleeper usually. So if I'm like that then all my weight's gonna be on my hip bone in the mat. I think that will work. I hope that will work. I'm gonna show you my new mat. After very many comments saying it's probably not best sleeping on a mouldy mat I have finally bought a new one. I had my old one for years and I love it a bit. It was the Therm-a-Rest X Therm and this one is the Nemo Tensor but this time I got myself a wide sleeping mat because I got the mummy shape last time and I've learnt my lesson. So this time I've got a regular wide and hopefully it'll be really good. My last mat was my second ever camping mat. My first one popped on me and that was a Sea to Summit mat and then before that I was using a yoga mat to be honest. But now look at this. I might get myself one of the flex tail pumps. I did have one but my mum asked me if she could have it so I gave it to her. This is my new mat. It's very comfortable. I like it and it's got like a inbuilt deflator thing. So I lift this up and then I just press this and it lets go air so I can get it to the perfect comfort. I like that. Right, pillow time and then I'm gonna have some dinner and then I get to watch Harry Potter later. I've been re-watching Harry Potter at the moment which would not be possible without Proton VPN because literally Harry Potter has been taken off UK Netflix. I'm coming for you about that. I'm very annoyed. So I figured out that it's actually available on Japanese Netflix. I can show you what I did. I go on Proton VPN here. I can go on home. I'm unprotected right now and then countries, find Japan. I'm gonna connect to Tokyo. Okay, I am connected to Japan on Proton VPN. Now, this is very important to me, all right. I can't believe they've done it. I can't believe they've got rid of it off UK Netflix. It's very disappointing. But what I can do is I've changed my location so whatever you change your location to your streaming service is gonna think you're there. So you can access whole different catalogues of movies and TV shows that aren't available wherever you are which is perfect because on Japanese Netflix there is the entire Harry Potter movie series. That's what I'm talking about. So not only can I watch the entire Harry Potter movie series it also encrypts my connection. So nobody can see what I'm watching like my internet service provider, for example. They don't know that I've managed to hack Netflix. So if you do wanna check out Proton VPN I'll leave all the links in the description for you and in that pinned comment as well. Honestly, it is a lifesaver. And yes, I am watching Harry Potter even though I'm in the most beautiful scenery in the world I can still enjoy it and watch one of my favourite movies of all time. I am slightly obsessed. Obsessed? That's a new word. That was fun. I'm almost finished setting up and then I can make myself some dinner. I've actually got a new cooking system. I'm getting very excited now because I'm about to eat dinner and you know what? I'm a bit hungry. It's about 9pm right now. I'm still jet lagged. I only got back from Kyrgyzstan a few days ago and my time's all over the place. I don't know where I am, what time it is. I don't know. I've got a new pot but my stove is still one that I've had for ages. I've got my old MSR Pocket Rocket. I went too fancy for a bit. I had a Prima's Light. It broke. It broke very badly. It's just stopped working which is a bit frustrating given how much it is. But you know, never mind. It's alright. Would you listen to all those birdies? Anyway, this is my new pan because I had the Prima's Light stove and it broke. I had the MSR Wind Burner stove and it broke. So you know what? I'm going back to basics. This literally weighs enough. I can't even describe it. I don't know how much that weighs but it must be grams. Like 100, if that, with a lid. I'm very impressed. I've got a trusty lighter that I picked up in Kyrgyzstan and for dinner tonight we are on my favourite noodles of all time. I found these in my local Oriental style shop. I don't know. They've got loads of different stuff in there. It's incredible. You walk in and it's just like heaven. I'm also getting ahead of myself now. Can you tell I'm getting excited? I'm having a lovely day. I woke up this morning on a mountain with a cloud inversion in the Lake District. I came down. What else? Oh, I saw a squirrel in my garden. A fish has just jumped. That was cool. I'm having such a good day. I saw a stork this morning and then I've seen multiple this afternoon. Gone for a swim. I went for a swim yesterday in a waterfall which was beautiful. I'm having so much fun and I'm actually doing something very exciting tomorrow. Very exciting. But it involves getting a four and a half hour train journey somewhere. I'm taking you along with me. So it's very exciting for you as well because it's a whole new experience. It's also very echoey here. So maybe someone down there's having a whole conversation with me. This is so peaceful. I'm just watching the river float by. Keep getting distracted though by very cool birds and I've not even started cooking my dinner. But I mean, look at it. Isn't that so pretty? There's a bird up there. Right. These noodles are... I can't pronounce them. Vermicelli? I'm not gonna put any of the chilli in because you know what? I'm not gonna say that I'm great with spice because I'm really not. I'm just waiting for my dinner to cool down. I'm surprisingly getting a little bit chilly. It is not very sunny anymore. The sun's gone down. So it makes sense. My body is very used to hot temperatures at the moment. Although I'm still sweating. There's no stopping me sweating. I don't glisten. I don't glow. I sweat. There's that noisy bird again. It's almost dinner time. Do the dinner time boogie. I'm very excited about this. This pan holds heat very well. These are literally my favourite noodles. Of all time. And I know I said that I wouldn't eat noodles ever again after that Kyrgyzstan trip because I think I had noodles every single day for 16 days straight. But these are no exception. They don't taste like noodles. And they don't have the same texture because they're really thin. Oh, I've got noodle juice on my sleeping bag. It feels good to be back in England. I love it. I really do. Especially when the weather's like this. I mean, I can complain all I like but it's beautiful when there's blue skies. It's just turned 10pm and it's still perfectly light out. The sun's gone down. I'm watching the birds every so often. I hear a fish just go bloop out the water and I'm on Harry Potter number six. It's about 11pm right now and I'm going to try and get some sleep. I've decided to put my flysheet on just for sleeping because it feels a bit safer. There's also a couple of fishermen roaming about and they came and said hello. And now I'm really jealous because I wish I had my fishing rod. I can hear all the fish jumping about. I'll have to come back. I will. I might go for a morning dip before heading off tomorrow. It's so beautiful here. I'm gonna head to bed but I will see you all in the morning now. Good morning. It is about half past six and I am ready to wake up. I've probably been awake since about half four when the first light happened. I just kind of... I didn't put my eye mask on or my earplugs because I was like, you know what? I want to listen to all of the sounds of the birdies. I had such a good sleep but I'm ready to wake up. It gets so hot in this tent as soon as the sun hits. I think it's about 18 degrees Celsius right now. Let's get out. I'm just gonna really quickly get the tent down and then I'm gonna head further up that way and I'm gonna hopefully find a better place to swim because I can't swim here. It's like knee deep. So I'm thinking by the bridge everybody was actually swimming. I'm hoping there's no one there. Right, that is me all packed up and ready to go. It is hot already and it's just 7am. I am leaving no trace as always. I'm just gonna pick up my phone and my melted Citra bar. It is very gooey. Let's head off. Made it to the other side. That bridge behind me has literally been here since before the 1600s. There was one there before this one was built but it was unstable so they rebuilt it. I'm gonna try and go for a dip here. It is definitely deeper and it's got a nice little cove area. Let's go in. There's so many fish. They're just little babies. I'm going in. See, I went to the middle of the river in the last bit. My knee wasn't even... My knee just about got in. There's so many little fish in here. Oh my gosh. Hopefully these ones don't like to eat me like the other ones. Well that is it for today's adventure and what a fun adventure it's been. It is so gorgeous here. Thank you all so much for watching and I will see you all on our next little adventure. I'll see you then. Happy roaming. Bye.