All camped out.

Holaaaa,

I'm back! Back from the world of mud, tents and icky icky showers (for those that read my Guide to Glamping, it was very similar haha)

I had an incredible time away and I wish I was still there (note to self: things are a lot simpler in a world with no signal, no Internet, my friends and a tent).

Some of you eagle eyed on twitter and Instagram may have noticed that I actually returned on Wednesday, but I took a little blogging break so I could recover, wash all the mud off and sleep! My first night home I slept for 13 hours cause I met a guy and chatted with him for 6 hours the night before as camping is exhausting!

Shall I start at the beginning? Guess it's the best place.

The journey there was hellish, I spent the whole 6 hour drive with 13/14 year old boys poking me and shouting at me- I was seriously fed up.

Once I got there I ditched the young'uns and pitched my tent- and it began.

For those that didn't know, I went to a Christian Festival. The structure was pretty relaxed, with meetings twice a day, optional seminars in between, with cafes, a cinema, sports, and tvs dotted around the place.

I know you must have an opinion on this- but please be kind, I've had a lot of negativity in the past.

So I volunteered in a cafe called 'Soul Action Cafe' which was ran by a company called 'Tearfund'. Tearfund works towards completely abolishing People Trafficking, and is 100% fairtrade.

Did you know a child is sold into slavery every 2 minutes?

Although I can't go to Africa, Asia or another place in need, volunteering in the cafe was my way of contributing to the cause.

Anyway, as part of the job, I was on door duty (checking wristbands which were needed for the festival), being on the till, stocking, and making the drinks for people.

Among other things, I learnt how to use the coffee machine! Achievement of the century haha. I can now make lattes and capaccinos to perfection, of course I don't actually have a coffee machine- so I'll never have to show off my skills. 

I was on a team with 4 other girls, and I made some incredible friends during the week. I taught them the coaster game (flipping beer mats off the counter, classic pub game.) and they sang happy birthday to me.

I was the oldest of the 5 of us, and they all knew eachother already...recipe for being left out right? No way, they were the sweetest girls ever and all the shifts that we did together were so much fun.

At the end of the week we all had a piece of paper passed round and we wrote encouraging things about eachother..I could have cried, the girls were so sweet!

I was team C, so I worked at least once every day :)

So I worked in the cafe for the first 5 days, including my birthday!

My birthday, my birthday was one of a kind.

I was camping, obviously.

My youth group gave me two birthday cakes and sang to me- gave me a card which they all signed. How cute!

Me and my friend then decided to live on the edge, and decided to play 'Seminar Roulette' haha.

So my friend chose a venue and we went, the warning signs should have come when a woman said "Are you here for the workshop?" 

That's right, we walked into a hip hop dance workshop- not that you know me personally, but by taking one look at me you'll be able to tell just how uncoordinated I really am. 

We had to learn a whole routine and do improvisation to spell out 'freedom' with our bodies....and then show people.

I've never laughed so much in my life, between the leg kicking, the leaping, and the throwing myself back and forth, I came out with many many bruises.

It was probably a 'got to be there' moment, but I so wish you'd all been in that dance class with me, it was flipping hilarious.

Me and my friend also did some tie-dye! I know, exciting! We chose a t-shirt, was literally given some elastic bands and told to go crazy! 

I had no idea how it was going to turn out, but it was pretty good in the end. Mine somehow shrunk in the process, so it's more of a crop top now haha, but I'll wear it when I'm feeling adventurous.


Obviously I was home by this time haha, but this is how it turned out :)

Once the first festival was over, my working was finished- and could enjoy the second festival. The second was geared up to people my own age rather than the teenagers the previous week, so my friends from my uni came to join us whilst my youth group went home. 

It was such a fab week.

My friend totally glamped, he bought a portable fridge for his tent, a chair with a foot rest and pillow, and managed to cook a fry up every day! 

The week in itself was so good, there was about 5000 of us on site, (pretty small compared to the 10,000 the previous week) and it did genuinely feel like a holiday. Minus the mud, icky toilets and horrible showers.

For the majority of the week we had a heatwave, yay! Which was a lovely break from the monsoon weather we had the week before (my tent collapsed a few times during the nights!) and the people running the festival put on the loveliest surprise for us of a giant hogroast!

 That's right, 5000 people having a hogroast, in the glorious sunshine, was actually bliss.

Like I said, bliss.

Without going into massive detail, and making this a very long post; I shall tell you this.

My week was so good, I learnt so much about myself and my friends; and my faith got even stronger.

 A snapshot of one of the main meetings, it was a square stage in the middle of the giant* tent. 

*I say giant, it's the biggest in Europe (the world?) Fits over 15,000 people.


And why not? 

They offered to dress us up and put us in front of a green screen...would have been rude not to.

So, my time away was pretty awesome.

I met some lovely lovely people, really grew in myself, and the experience was one of a kind.

Now what have I missed in the past few weeks?!

Love, Elizabeth xx

Tweet Me: _lizabethstone
Instagram Me: _lizabethstone