Today, being the lovely day it has been, I decided that I was not going to stay in alsager. This usually means catching the bus to either Crewe or hanley, and, frankly, neither of them appealed. Thanks to the DSA, more and more of the public transport system is becoming accessible (except in London, where that shithead boris intends to bring back the old route master busses). I decided to test if this was true.

I decided to go to Chester. I’d seen busses with Chester marked as their destination depart from Crewe bus station, and it seemed an appropriate distance for a daytrip, so I got the 20 to Crewe and then the 84 to Chester. The busses were all wonderfully accessible, and, despite having to ride backwards, I enjoyed the journey.

80 minutes later I was in Chester, feeling quite pleased with myself. First I got a map from tourist information (I’d only decided to go to Chester after leaving home) and then decided to head for the Jonses. They’re my friends and I thought I might as well see if they were home. If they weren’t, no harm done.

Charlottes family don’t live too far from the city centre, but I nevertheless needed to ask directions two or three times. Everyone was very helpful. I found Mr. Jones in his garden, reading the paper. Only he and will were in. I’d only expected to stay about ten minutes, the purpose of the experiment being only to see if it was possible to get myself there,, but I stayed about an hour and a half. At one point, Mr. Jones asked if I’d like to stay the night. I was given a ham sandwich and a cup of tea, before Mr. Jones insisted we walked back to the bus stop together. They’re such nice welcoming people: although I didn’t want to intrude, their place was an obvious destination for my adventure.

The journey back went as smoothly as the journey out. I know this isn’t anything special, really. Most folks my age have already been on gap years and the like. But to me, this was an adventure – one more step towards Timbuktu. And besides, it certainly beat staying at home playing on my computer.