I've always liked going on holiday. There's just something so peaceful about being able to get away from it all, to tune life out for a little bit and focus more on the now.
It also gives you more time with the people you love, whether it's family, friends, or other loved ones. What makes it even more special is when it's with your significant other. You can block the world out together and just exist in each other's presence.
There's nothing quite like it.
That's how I feel with Marcus anyway, he makes it so easy to forget the rush of life and just enjoy the present. But when we go on holiday, its like its magnified.
I can't even explain it.
Now, on a normal holiday you can just book, pack your stuff and go. Its very efficient and easy to manage, no extra work or thought really goes into it (apart from travelling). Its different with camping. Its like more effort goes into the planning, timing and equipment you bring.
In a way, you're more dependent on each other to provide for each other. Kind of like a whole new level of trust. I wouldn't exactly call Marcus the most organized person on the planet, far from it. But even he takes packing and all that stuff very seriously.
Its very rare that I'll make a packing list for what we need to bring on holiday. I feel like that goes a bit too far, but if it works for you, go for it. But for camping, we definitely need it.
"You put the cooker thingy in right?" Marcus asked me for the third time, and I sighed very dramatically.
"Yes, baby, have some faith. All that's left to go in are the sleeping bags and walking boots."
He pouted and checked the list he was holding again.
"But you said we could use the double sleeping bag. I don't want to have separate ones, I wanna share". He almost sounded like a child who didn't get the chocolate they wanted.
"Of course, sorry, how could I forget! I'll go grab it and the boots right now then we're set to go. Please tell me you've programmed the GPS?" I asked.
Marcus's eyes widened drastically and he took off in the direction of the door, cursing under his breath. I laughed loudly after him, watching him go. He glanced over his shoulder with a sheepish look on his face before he went round the corner.
This is only the beginning I thought.
*******
The journey only took us about three hours, and so far the weather seemed to be behaving. Marcus drove us up to the reception hut and we showed our reservation sheet, before we were directed to a spot on the campsite. Switching the engine off, Marcus turned to me with a mischievous smile.
"And now for the fun part, setting up the tent!"
I playfully rolled my eyes and got out to get the tent out of the boot, ignoring his laugh as he took in the look on my face.
"Um, where do we even begin?" I hesitantly spoke, looking down at the parts of the tent and then looking back up at Marcus.
"Leave it with me. I'll show you how its done." He boasted, gently taking it out of my hands and unwrapping it. An amused smile crept on my face, this was going to be interesting.
Once the tent was out of its case, Marcus got the metal poles and rings and lined them up on the floor. He then began to feed the poles into their gaps, and reached down to hook one of the rings onto the end of one of the poles.
"Could you pass me the hammer thing" he asked quietly, a concentrated look on his face. I wordlessly gave it to him, it was almost mesmerizing watching him work. He hit the pole into the ring and then into the ground with the hammer (it was actually a mallet but I didn't have the heart to correct him).
One corner of the tent was secure.
Eventually, he did ask for my help, and I made it very clear that I was smug about it. Together, we drove the poles into their designed areas and then into the ground. It didn't take us long at all to fully set the tent up, and once we had, we carried our gear inside. Of course Marcus was carrying the double sleeping bag.
"Are you hungry?" I asked him when everything was in place.
"Absolutely! What's on the menu?" He asked.
I rummaged through our food bag, pulling out some instant pasta pots and homemade brownies.
"I was thinking this for tonight then after that I'll just wing it or something."
He laughed and kissed my forehead.
"That's why I love you" he grinned. I tried to stop the ridiculous smile from taking over, but to no avail. Obviously, he noticed.
"Love you too, you weirdo".
I struck a match and lit the portable camping stove, placing a pan on top and pouring in some water to heat it for the pasta. Once it was done I served it in separate bowls and gave Marcus a can of coke. It tasted good, and so did the brownies. Noticing how dark it was getting, we headed inside and turned on our camping lamp.
"So, what do you wanna do? We could go for a nightly walk, play uno or watch a movie?" Marcus suggested.
"Why don't we get ready for bed, roast some marshmallows and then watch something?" I responded. He nodded eagerly in response, and we both got up to head off to the communal bathroom areas to get ready.
Coming back to our tent, I saw Marcus was already preparing the fire in the weird cauldron/ fire pit thing we bought. He looked so happy, and his smile widened as I brought out the packet of extra large marshmallows to him.
He opened them and stuck one onto the spiky kebab sticks we got, and began to toast it. When he was sure it was done, he leaned over and held it up to my mouth. I didn't hesitate as I allowed him to feed me the gooey sweetness.
It was divine.
In return, I toasted him one and fed it to him, and we carried on like that until we noticed how much lighter the packet had gotten.
"Better stop there, otherwise there won't be any left for tomorrow" I chuckled, and he agreed.
Once the fire was put out, we headed inside and began to arrange the double sleeping bag into a comfortable position. When we were sure it was good enough, Marcus got his laptop out and we looked through the movies we had downloaded to see what we wanted to watch.
In the end we both agreed on Shrek, an absolute classic. I got out the foldable table and lowered the height for the laptop, and after pressing play I settled into the sleeping bag next to him, relishing in his warmth.
We enjoyed the film, content after a day of travelling and a good meal. The movie finished, I was half asleep so Marcus got up to put the laptop and table away before sliding back into our makeshift bed next to me.
I curled into him, and he protectively wrapped his arms around me.
"Thank you for such a good day" I murmured into the darkness, and although I couldn't see him, I could feel his smile.
"Anytime, baby. Lets hope for your sake there's no spiders around" he fondly joked, pressing his lips against my temple.
I jokingly prodded him in the ribs, hoping there weren't any spiders. The other campers wouldn't be ready for my screaming, that's for sure.
But lying there, in his strong arms, I had never felt this loved.
Never felt this safe.
