How can I convince my wife to give camping a go?

[johnnybuoy]

I would like to go camping with my wife and 2 kids (boy - 2 years and 3months, girl 3 months).
Neither of us have ever camped before and I know my wife will be against it on the grounds that it will be cold, wet, uncomfortable and the campsites will have dirty toilets & showers.
How can I convince her otherwise?
I know people suggest going to those places with a tent already in place but they seem to cost as much as renting a holiday home!

Also if I do convince her to go away for a few nights how much is it going to cost to get up and running?
Is this reasonable?
Tent off Ebay £80 ish
airbed(s) £50 ish
We have sleeping bags somewhere and could bring duvets.
I'm sure we wouldn't attempt cooking the first time, fish suppers and sarnies would do for a few days!
Pitching tent charge £20 - £30

Is it feasible to get up and running for £200?
It would have to happen in the summer as I'm sure she won't go any other time.

[filthymindedvixen]

you can try freecycle for all sorts of equipment - people have asked for - and recieved - all manner of things on ours from inflatable matresses, sleeping bags, camper stoves etc.

Coul you try just one night somewhere quite close to break her in gently? We have a lovely campsite near us (15 mins drive ) which has lovely shower/loos and an indoor heated pool for example!

I'm camping this weekend - despite rainy rainy forecast...

[themildmannneredjanitor]

well i've got to say i do go camping but i wouldn't have done when my boys were 3 months old.

but your costs sounds reasonable.

you'll get a couple of airbeds cheaper than thta.

[Flier]

hmm, I am currently trying to convince my dh that camping would be a great idea.

[OverMyDeadBody]

airbed £50 ish?! I don't know where you shop, but that seems ridiculously expensive to me.

Make sure you take her in the summer and you have lots of warm bedding so she won't be cold.

I've been to plenty of campsites where the toilets and showers are clean. They tend to only get mucky with mud and grass when it's wet.

Take lots of wine and chocolate!

It cost me a lot less than £200 to get up and running with camping, but I suspect it's because I'm a minimalist camper and have no car.

You need a little gas stove if nothing else, to make tea in the morning and maybe heat up some soup, make flasks opf hot drinks if it does happen to be cold.

[Minum]

My DH didnt want to go camping en famille - he'd done it lots as a scout/wild camping, and loved it, but thought camping at sites would be naff. So I told him how much it meant to me for us to go, we went for one night only as a taster (borrowed the kit, so money wasn't an excuse not to go), and I took fab food, wine, candles etc, and we had a wonderful romantic evening, and we've camped for several weeks every year ever since.

So I'd say seduce her into enjoying it

[johnnybuoy]

I meant £50ish for 2 double airbeds, one for Wife and breastfed baby and one for me and son. She would want decent ones and not second-hand!

[Rhubarb]

Camping's shit.

I wouldn't get a tent off Ebay, it'll probably leak. If it does piss it down, you'll have nowhere else to go, no other option apart from sitting in a café all day. If you need a wee at night you have to trapse over to the bogs and if it's raining then you have to wade through mud to get there. The washing facilities are crap for kids especially - some of them are not heated and kids hate going in showers, well mine do anyway.
You won't sleep for the dickheads who have a very noisy drinking session in the next tent that lasts all night.

Don't do it. She's just had a baby 3 months ago - don't be tight and treat her to a proper holiday!

[johnnybuoy]

Flier, if you're having problems trying to convince DH to go camping and I'm having problems with DW......maybe we could do one of those wife swaps .... just for a weekend?

[themildmannneredjanitor]

double air bed good make too!

[Rhubarb]

GET YER MONEY OUT OF YER WALLET AND TREAT HER TO A B&B YOU MISERLY GIT!

Trust me. She'll not thank you for this camping malarky.

[Bluebutterfly]

Decathalon has tents and camping gear for very reasonable prices - a 4 berth tent for £89 www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/t6-2-35289237/# - we have it and it was very comfortable. A double air mattress for £24.95 www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/comfort-double-bed-34700097/(I would also buy the pump that they sell).

Seriously - we camp and I LOVE Decathalon for their gear - good quality and inexpensive...

Now, do you think I could charge a fee for that endorsement?

[johnnybuoy]

Rhubarb, we've just come back from a 'proper holiday' in Devon in a lovely cottage which cost £700 for a week and we're going to Ireland for 2 weeks in Sept to visit family.
It's really for long weekends where we have the time at the moment but can't afford £80 - £100 for family rooms at B&B's!

[cardy]

Tell her that the following week you can spend a week in a luxury hotel in a hot and sunny location. That would be the only think to persuad me to go camping.

[Bluebutterfly]

Oops linked to the wrong one this is the one that we have

[Rhubarb]

Premier Inn then.

[Flier]

johnnybuoy now there's an idea

[themildmannneredjanitor]

we have this one. it's great.

[SparklyPrincess]

Do you know anyone you can borrow stuff off to try it out. Your dw will prob feel quite pressured if you're going out buying lots of kit.

One or two nights only to start with and you'll need to promise to deal with the kids when/if they wake up in the night!

Have to say you're being quite brave camping with a 3 month old! We took dd first when she was about 7 months and I spent a lot of time checking she wasn't too hot/ too cold/ under her blanket/ on top of the sheet etc! Then I calmed down and stopped fussing!

And just in case she believes me! Most campsites I've been to have been clean with good showers, you generally get what you pay for! If you do get into it, there's loads of options for making it more comfy. We get an electric hookup these days, probably won't bother when the kids are bigger.

Second the comment about the cooker - you'll definitely need a gas burner and a kettle/pan! About £15 should get you both though.

Good Luck! ... SP (a camping convert!)

[Lovesdogsandcats]

Rhubarb are you Jonnys wife?

[johnnybuoy]

hmmm, she/he does sound like my wife except not as bitter or sarcastic!

[surprise]

Sorry that was as clear as mud! I meant you should take your 2 yr old camping, and leave wife and baby at home (if she'd be happy with that obviously).

[KazzaL]

I love camping and I'm also a guide leader and last summer I took DS1 with me on summer camp - a whole week when he was only 4mths old - he had a great time - slept brilliantly due to all the fesh air and it poured with rain for the first 3 days so wasn't even very warm - he slept in a travel cot and I slept on the floor next to him. The only inconvience was having to cold water sterilse and making sure always had bolied water ready for the next bottle - he had a couple of washes in the sinks in the toilet block during the week.

We're not camping with our guides this summer which i;m disapponited about, but next year me & my co-leader will have a creche of 3 - DS1 + her DC1 8mths & my DC2 5mths - we have a big tent and pitchit away from the girls, not so the babies don't wake them, but so they don't wake the babies!!

Camping is good fun as long as you keep warm and get a good night sleep, so lots of layers, a good mat under you at night and as many blankets under you as on top - and always have a hot drink available

[greenelizabeth]

Promise her a real holiday afterwards.

[motherinferior]

I think you are clearly blessed with a wonderful woman! Rejoice in her, and take pride in her good sense .