Only in the UK: north of england

Between the two of us, we’re not natural decision-makers. We spend the majority of time asking each other, “I’m easy, what do you want to do?” Now throw an indecisive friend from Vancouver into the mix and I’m very astonished that we ever leave the house.

While Vancouver has been battling extreme summer conditions, here in England we're lucky if we experience 24 hours of no precipitation. Thus, we had to base our decision of where to visit on the ever-changing forecast.

In summary:

1. The rain never let its guard down once during the drive to The North. Although we had lugged all our camping gear, we wisely opted to stay in a room in an old farmhouse on the first night. This house would shine in the spotlight of a Cash in the Attic filming, with its rooms decorated in frilly, pastel petals and eclectic bric-a-bracs.

2. We walked along Hadrian’s Wall. The weather was almost cooperative and only rained during our lunch break. The remains of the wall itself were pretty amazing in that was nearly 2,000 years old and, at one time, spanned across the width of the British Isle.

3. We crossed to the southern side of Scotland, much to the delight of my partly Scottish companions. We spent a couple of hours in Jedburgh visiting the town and the Abbey.

4. We headed to Bamburgh on the eastern cost of Northumberland and went into its grandeur castle, complete with its own torture chamber! We spent some time sitting on the beach with the softest sand ever, while our friend swam in the North Sea in his skivvies and we pretended that we didn’t know him.

5. We spent two nights camping. The first night we camped on a large farm property with young British air cadets. I only managed a couple hours of continuous sleep that night though, due to the hundreds of sheep across the road. Normally, this wouldn’t cause much consternation but their continuous chorus of out-of-tune baa’s drove me absolutely batty.

The second night we camped in a caravan park, where the size of your tent does matter! We pulled our little backpacking tents, which looked like miniatures compared to the multi-roomed, inflatable accommodations some families pitched up. That night we encountered rain (surprisingly loud under the thin layer of nylon). While we felt safe under our down sleeping bags, we were concerned for our friend who slept under a fly-less tent, who had to retreat for the safety of the car at 2 in the morning.

6. We meandered along the eastern coast enroute home. We discovered a beautiful and secluded beach, with a requisite distant castle in the mist. We even met a friendly fellow kite buggying on the beach and spent some time watching him in awe.