Friday July 26^th 2024

Another year, another Vegan Campout.

Honestly, I don’t write anymore. I don’t have the time. It’s felt as though a chunk of my life has been missing and so I’m super excited to get back to it by keeping one of my travel journals. Tradition dictates that there’s going to be a little poetry, too.

This is my third year at Vegan Campout, my second with Shay and our first time with Vegan Runners. It feels like I’ve come a long way since two years ago, when I spent most of the festival alone.

So, to business.

Well, I wrapped things up with work and the house last night, after an eighteen mile run in the morning to tick off this week’s long run, and then I treated myself to Subway and chips to kick off a weekend of eating delicious vegan junk.

This morning, I met Shay in town to get a few final bits and then we went to Wetherspoons for breakfast before getting the train to Bicester. We’d been hoping to get a taxi or an Uber but they were all booked up and so we ended up getting a bus and then walking the rest of the way.

It was surreal because it doesn’t feel like a year since we did the same walk. We made a few friends in the queue, which was nice, and it didn’t take long for us to get inside. And once we did, it was easy to find the Vegan Runners because of all of the flags.

 

Green Submarellow

12 inches

no longer herb and cheese,

just hearty Italian

with mango habanero,

preparing for the sea of green

I see before me,

Ringo,

why was it

yellow?

 

Green is free

and the living is easy,

green is renewable

energy for free-thinkers,

green is the past,

the present,

the future.

 

If I had a boat

that could sink beneath the water,

if I could float

like a million bits of plastic,

I’d remind the world

we’ll have fishless oceans

before I’m 64,

take that Paul

(husband of Linda)

McCartney.

 

I’m surrounded by green,

the green of my people,

a hundred Vegan Runners

and a thousand walkers.

Skies of blue

and seas of yellow

in our green

submarellow.

 

We pitched the tent and I started work on this old thing, then we played a quick game of Uno and headed into the arena. It has a different layout to last year and I kind of preferred that, but it’s good to see a lot of the same traders coming back. I picked up a few trinkets (magnets, stickers and a keyring) and Shay got a “protect the sky kittens” bat conservation tshirt.

We also went into a crystal shop and I got a little bracelet while Shay got a cute headband and a pair of matching earrings. As we were walking away, I realised that the lady had undercharged us, and when I told shay, we decided to do the right thing and to go back. The shopkeeper joked that the crystals would have cursed us if we hadn’t, and then the universe rewarded Shay immediately afterwards when she found a £10 note on the floor.

We found the Vegan Runners stand and stopped by for a chat and then it was time to grab some food. I went for a doner kebab from Doner Summer, while Shay went for Chinese food from Vegan World Planet, the same place we went to a bunch of times last year.

Like most people at the festival, we headed to the music stage to check out the big announcement that we’d been promised. We were right by the sound stage and so we got a front row seat for the ensuing chaos. The founders had prepared a video but they literally delivered it on a flash drive via a runner about two minutes before they went on. Because they hadn’t tested it, it wouldn’t play because it needed re-encoding. And even when they did get it kind of working, it was the wrong dimensions. I felt for the sound and vision team because it totally wasn’t their fault.

Anyway, the upshot is that they’re moving to a different site next year which is called Bygrave Woods. Pretty weird, because that was my surname before I changed it. There’s also going to be an additional day on the Thursday, and they’re downsizing slightly to make it more manageable.

We watched P. Money and had a little dance, which was dope, and then it was time to go back to the tent. But I got super anxious and so I had to get Shay to play Animal Crossing so I could watch and get a little less stress.

When it was bedtime, Shay fell asleep straight away and stated a snoring competition with someone in the tent beside us. I only managed to get a couple of hours of sleep and played some Minecraft to get me off. It worked.

 

Saturday July 27^th 2024

It was a cold night and Shay had a sore throat and wasn’t feeling well in the morning, so she stayed in the sleeping bag while I nipped to the main arena. No one on the gate had been told when to open and they couldn’t find anyone who knew, but one guy just made the call and opened up and I was the first one in.

I stopped by Dirty Vegan for the full English breakfast and scoffed that down (delicious), then grabbed a smoothie and some overnight oats for Shay. She still wasn’t feeling great and so I did my best to make sure she was okay and then jogged off to Parkrun.

I’m not sure how many of us were there, but there were a LOT of us. I think it set a new record for the most Vegan Runners at a single event, and we also got some awesome photos. Then I ran back via ALDI to get some goodies for Shay to help her to feel better.

 

Full Circle

One year vegan

for Shay “Snuffles” Feehan,

one year since Vegan Campout

and Juliet Gellatley

and an undercover video,

now full circle

at Vegan Campout

and Juliet Gellatley

and an undercover video,

difficult to watch

but extremely important.

 

Shay “Snuffles” Feehan

with the sun in her eyes

and above her head,

a single tear

rolling down her cheek

to water the grass.

One year vegan

for Shay “Snuffles” Feehan,

she’s saved lives,

365 animals not eaten,

3,373 kilos of CO2,

3,340 square miles of forest,

7,455 kilos of grain,

1.5 million litres of water,

she’s a saviour.

 

I’m a proud

little chickpea,

and I’m getting prouder.

 

When I got back, we went for a mooch together and got some more Chinese food from Vegan World Planet, but it was way too hot and so we ended up collapsing back at the tent for a while. And then it was time for Juliet Gellatley, which you already know about. We shared an ice blast while we listened.

We went for food afterwards, and we bumped into my mum’s friend Soph Allbones on our way, so I grabbed a cheeky selfie to send to her. Then I chowed down on Hogless Roast (amazing) and Shay had churros with chocolate and caramel, although she found it too sweet to finish them all.

This was followed by more chillin’, and then we went to volunteer at the Vegan Runners stall for an hour. Shay was a little worried beforehand, but we both enjoyed it a lot and so we’re thinking about volunteering again tomorrow.

I grabbed a mac and cheese bowl from a place called Say Cheese!, and then it was time for Dr. Michael Gregor. Which is where I am now.

 

Cholesterol

The Alzheimer’s gene

may explain the so-called

Nigerian paradox,

genes hold the gun

but lifestyle pulls the trigger.

 

This is milligrams

per decileter,

in high income countries,

killer number two

is dementia,

we can reshuffle the deck

with diet,

vegetables,

legumes,

fruits and

whole grains.

 

Prevention is not sexy.

 

When it works,

nothing happens.

 

Reverse it,

heart-disease progression

is not inevitable,

moderate exercise like walking,

stress management,

most people in a controlled group

get worse and then

they die.

 

Why?

 

When we comply,

we benefit,

it explains some kind

of reversal.

 

Plants,

plants

and more

plants,

grains and

berries,

nitrates

and beet juice

allowing you to breathe

better.

 

And if you’re hungry,

eat a salad.

 

We just had time for a trip back to the tent for a refuel, and I hopped in for a shower, which was divine. The water was hot and had pressure, and I ended up feeling cleaner than I’ve ever felt at a festival. Even on day one, I tend to feel gross after lugging everything to the camp site.

Then it was back to the main stage for Chris Packham.

Packham’s talk was pretty good, but we were too far away to really see him. We could hear him well enough, though. I got Doner Summer again after that, and Shay had a fairly disappointing meal from a vendor that charged her for a drink that they didn’t give her. I tried to queue up to ask for it, but they were taking forever and so I got anxious and we wandered off instead.

We caught a little bit of Macca B’s set, and what little we’d heard was great, but I’d seen him before and Shay was anxious too, so we went back to the tent. I fell almost immediately to sleep.

 

Sunday July 28^th

I woke up fairly naturally this morning at about 7 AM, then cracked open an energy drink that I’d forgotten about and which then spilled everywhere. Oops. Shay woke up a little later and we chilled for a minute or two, then we went on a social run with Vegan Runners. The shortest route was supposed to be 5k, but it worked out closer to 6.6k, putting Shay two-thirds of the way to a 19k. She fell and injured herself in the way back and I wasn’t there to help her because I’d taken the 10k route, but luckily there were other VRs around to help out and she’s okay, if a little bruised, stung and limpy. And I think she still enjoyed her first ever experience of a social run. I loved it!

I got us both an ice slush on my way back to tend to the wounded warrior, then headed into the arena for more Chinese food from Vegan Planet. That went down a treat, and now I’m lying on the grass in front of the main stage, trying to upload my Strava photos while waiting for Mic the Vegan.

Mic was great, and he played a game of Jeopardy with the crowd which he’d been planning when I saw him during my first visit but was unable to do so because of the lack of WiFi. Although I think it’s almost a waste as he’s so intelligent. He could leave the game show presentations for brainless influencers.

Shay came to meet me and caught the last question of Jeopardy, then we headed back to the camp site for a while via the camping shop to get some suntan lotion, which they’d ran out of but which they’d restocked on.

And so Shay chilled out at the tent for a while, and I came back to see Juliet Gellatley for the second time for a talk about David vs. Goliath, which I thought was a lot better than her other talk. I caught the end of Millie Manders and the Shutup too and was very impressed, and so now I think I’ll almost certainly go and see them at the arts centre.

I grabbed some more mac and cheese and ate that, then picked up the suntan lotion for Shay and went to the tent, then brought her back to the main arena. She got Chinese food from Vegan World Food and I got a chocolate blondie with ice cream from Shrub, and then we headed to the main stage to get ready for Simon Amstell.

Amstell was great, although we only caught the second half of his set in the end because I went to get roasted padron peppers from Shrub, the stall which I think gave me the most pleasant surprises of the festival in terms of value.

Earthling Ed was on straight after and so I played Minecraft while we waited and then settled in for the last talk of the festival.

I went to get vegan fish and chips from No Catch afterwards, because they’re one of my “can’t miss” vendors, and then we dashed back to the tent to get changed because we were cold. Then we rode Atmosfear, one of the fairground rides, because that’s a new tradition of ours. Shay was more scared this year because she was sober (she didn’t drink all weekend), and I’m pretty sure it was more intense and with more Gs than last year. The guy running it was live-streaming on TikTok, too.

Then, back to the tent to sleep.

 

Monday 29^th July

I was the first one up this morning, so I packed my stuff and went to the toilet and then woke Shay up to drag her to the arena for some breakfast and a browse around the stalls, where we spent more than we should have on some final goodies because a lot of stuff was discounted. I grabbed a coffee and a final serving of mac and cheese, and Shay got ice cream and a smoothie.

Then it was time for us to finish packing up and heading off, although Shay added some excitement by almost choking to death on an energy drink. We also had a struggle as we went back to the entrance because she was fighting sunstroke.

Luckily, Shay’s aunt was kind enough to pick us up, which was a blessing because we wouldn’t have been able to get an Uber. But we made it back home alive but much poorer. What a weekend.