I can remember the sounds and smells of a school trip like it was yesterday; the crackling of crisp packets opening on the bus, despite being hours off lunchtime; the stench of suncream, smothered on by parents; head counts shouted out by teachers cutting through the excitable shouts and laughter of a group of unruly schoolchildren, swapping the classroom for the real world for the day.
I was fortunate enough to attend a school where school trips were semi-regular, particularly if you studied drama (as I did). After school, we’d head to a local theatre, change out of uniform and arm ourselves with snacks to sneak in and wads of paper to try and makes notes on in the darkness. Afterwards, on the coach home, we’d discuss what we liked about it, how the performance varied from our readings of the play and the acting we wanted to mimic in our practicals.
