This morning, I set off on a road trip again, for the first time in ages. Starting point: the edge of Southport. Finish line: the small village of Jordans - at least for now.

I'll be doing work experience at Wanderlust Publications in Windsor for the next two weeks, and during the week, I am staying at the YHA in Jordans, near Beaconsfield.

Driving the Renault felt strange at first. I haven't driven that car very often before, and haven't driven a manual in a while either, so taking it on the motorway was scary at first. Luckily, Gaz gave me his sat nav for the journey, so finding the way was not that bad. It's over 200 miles, and after a while, the motorway gets tiring. But what was even more frightening, was the country lane I had to turn into... down here in the Chilterns, it's potholes and speed bumps all the way... I'm already feeling lucky I'm in the Renault, instead of a Mini, but some of the potholes can catapult you onto the other lane... not the safest place to drive around.

I left Southport at 8.52am - and got to the YHA at 1.13pm. Unfortunately, although the lady was here, I wasn't allowed to check in until 5pm. So I decided to take a look at the village, which supposedly has a 17th century Quakers Meeting House (next door to the YHA, actually) and links to the Mayflower... all I found was said Meeting house, a square park surrounded by a row of houses and a village store which was shut. So much for that idea.

So I decided to drive on to Beaconsfield, the next bigger town, 2 miles or so down the road. Not the easiest town centre to find - there's a New and Old Beaconsfield... I finally pulled into Sainsbury's parking lot. The YHA is self-catering, so I decided to do my shopping, have a Starbucks Coffee and drive around some more. I eventually made it to Old Beaconsfield as well, although the area I parked in was a bit dodgy and I didn't want to stay too long. So I turned around again, got lost a few times and found my way back to Jordans, where I parked up and sat down on a bench on the town square/park for an hour.... that's how much there is to do down here.


The YHA is nice, but not the best I've ever stayed at, but it's clean. What annoys me most is the isolation and that there is only one key for the dorm and no cupboards...

Tomorrow, I'll venture into Windsor and on the weekend I'll be in Oxford. I'll let you know how that goes.