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AIBU?

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Original poster

Is this the camping trip from hell.

212 replies

Redgreenfroggy · 27/08/2024 20:30

Just want to start by saying we camp 2 or 3 times a year and have loved it. Don’t know if we have been really lucky with campsites.
yep there has been the odd annoyance but on the whole great.

Arrived at a campsite yesterday and the family in the tent next door just seem to yell at each other all the time. If they are not yelling at each other they are yelling at the dog. The adults are constantly swearing at each other and the two little girls just seem to scream

To make it the 2 girls aged about 5 kept running in our tent laughing and running out again. At one point when DH and DS had bobbed to the campsite shop and I was looking for something in the car I looked back at the tent to see both girls coming out of our tent with one of my sons board games. I stopped them and said they should not take things that dont belong to them and to stop coming in our tent. All I got in return was them both sticking their tongue out at me.

When my DH came back he went over and had a word but they parents could not seem to grasp while we didn’t want their little darlings on our tent and said they would only be borrowing the board game.

Woke up this morning at 6 to the girls running around our tent screaming and shouting for my son to wake up. My son is 12 and wants nothing to do with them. Luckily it stared raining so they went back to their tent.

Later this afternoon came back to the campsite after a day out and not only has a new family pitched their tent right up next to ours so we could literally reach out and touch their tent from standing inside ours, they have pitched over were the car is meant to go.

all the tents are pitched so there is a tent and then a car on the right hand side but they have 2 cars and have just taken up their pitch and half of ours. I did point out this to them but I just got a shrug of the shoulders.

We did mention to the owners of the campsite this had happened and they did say they would have a word if we really wanted them too but could we just put our car by reception. We got the feeling they did not want any confrontation. So our car is now by reception. Not a huge deal but still a bit inconvenient.

i am now in our tent listening to an argument from the family next door. The kids screaming and the dog going bat shit barking. Plus the ones that are right up next to us the bloke keeps hacking at the time.
So you get that massive hack noise as if he is trying to bring something up. The women with him had a cackle laugh that would put Amanda Holden and Alisha Dixon to shame.

My DH has gone out to get ear plugs

OP posts:
cardibach · 27/08/2024 21:34

TheCompactPussycat · 27/08/2024 21:32

We all know you don't like camping. You've told the whole of Mumsnet repeatedly. You pop up on camping threads with boring regularity to point out every time that you think camping is crap. It's like some sort of weird itch you have to scratch - see a camping thread so post on it to tell people camping is crap. It's bizarre!

Show quote history

Eh? I don’t remember being on any before. I mostly do politics.

Scentedjasmin · 27/08/2024 21:34

What you need to do is wait until they are out or away from their tent and then get a handful of gravel or a few small stones, lift up the sleeping quarters of their tent and sprinkle them under the ground sheet. Feel free to also walk into their tent to borrow items without first asking.

cardibach · 27/08/2024 21:34

SaltAndVinegar2 · 27/08/2024 21:27

Staying in a building means being indoors a lot more, generally. It probably depends on your budget but shuffling round a cramped caravan or a typical dated dingy UK holiday cottage are not better than a green field with views of the sea or mountains. Staying in a building is just more difficult to organise with groups of friends, there are always issues with bedroom allocation and needing to find somewhere the right size for all the people.

I'm only 48 and have no problems getting up off the floor! A 10 cm self inflating mattress is definitely the most comfortable thing I've ever slept on. It does take up about a quarter of the car boot but it's worth it.

I don't mind walking to the toilet in the day - at night just pee behind the car.

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Why would you ‘shuffle around’ inside when you are on holiday? What an odd term to use. I get up, get out, get on. And I don’t stay anywhere dingy either. And no, I don’t have an unlimited budget. I just use my imagination a bit. Inflatable mattresses are ok, comfy enough I guess, but if they are more comfortable than your bed you need a new mattress at home.
No difficulty getting off the floor is a very low bar…

LlynTegid · 27/08/2024 21:34

The kicking the dog would be sufficient grounds for calling the police. After all, two West Ham footballers were prosecuted for doing the same with a cat.

The campsite owner would take such behaviour a bit more seriously if that happened. Take their car number registration and do it after you leave if you do not feel safe doing so whilst on site.

Goldenbear · 27/08/2024 21:32

Goldenbear · 27/08/2024 21:30

I do think Camping is a bit like Marmite, some people genuinely love it but others just don’t get it. I went on a glamping weekend and there was no problems with neighbours as the whole field only had our tent and my siblings, it had beds and a kitchen and a bathroom but all hot water had to be obtained from burning wood. Everything took ages and the it was pitch black at night, I just felt it was quite a bit of money for no electricity, showers that you had to wait an hour for and I felt vulnerable with just canvas as a shelter, I jumped out of my skin when a badger was sniffing around the back zipped door near where I was sleeping. Equally, my siblings teens were told that it was a device detox and they just moaned about it.

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Were no problems not ‘was no problems’😬

Plmnki · 27/08/2024 21:32

You’re in a campsite, you haven’t bought a house.

Just MOVE - tomorrow.

All the time you’ve spent complaining could have been used to find a better place to go. It’s obviou these people are horrific so get away from them asap.

TheCompactPussycat · 27/08/2024 21:32

cardibach · 27/08/2024 21:05

No, it’s shit. You don’t have walls. Or a shower. Or a toilet. Or any ability to have any privacy. And you sleep on a shitty mattress on the floor (at best). It’s crap.

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We all know you don't like camping. You've told the whole of Mumsnet repeatedly. You pop up on camping threads with boring regularity to point out every time that you think camping is crap. It's like some sort of weird itch you have to scratch - see a camping thread so post on it to tell people camping is crap. It's bizarre!

Goldbar · 27/08/2024 21:31

I loathe camping with the best of them, but I don't think it's fair to judge it by the OP's experience 😂! She does sound particularly unlucky to be sandwiched between the family from hell on one side, and a bunch of aggressive cfs on the other.

Personally I'd be parking my car in front of the second family's tent and refusing to move it until they shifted their stuff to their space, but I can understand that not everyone is happy to be confrontational.

I'd be making damn sure they got a terrible night's sleep though with periodic loud phone alarms throughout the night.

Goldenbear · 27/08/2024 21:30

SaltAndVinegar2 · 27/08/2024 21:14

I genuinely love camping and find it much better than being a building, unless it's a ski holiday in a nice chalet for example. There's nothing better than beautiful outdoor space, sunshine all day, being with friends. I have a good thick mattress which is just as comfy as my bed at home, cosy sleeping bag, take my own pillow, plenty of blankets. When I was growing up I used to sleep in a tent in my parents garden all summer

Show quote history

I do think Camping is a bit like Marmite, some people genuinely love it but others just don’t get it. I went on a glamping weekend and there was no problems with neighbours as the whole field only had our tent and my siblings, it had beds and a kitchen and a bathroom but all hot water had to be obtained from burning wood. Everything took ages and the it was pitch black at night, I just felt it was quite a bit of money for no electricity, showers that you had to wait an hour for and I felt vulnerable with just canvas as a shelter, I jumped out of my skin when a badger was sniffing around the back zipped door near where I was sleeping. Equally, my siblings teens were told that it was a device detox and they just moaned about it.

6pence · 27/08/2024 21:28

Make sure you leave a really bad review.

Ilikewinter · 27/08/2024 21:28

Redgreenfroggy · 27/08/2024 21:10

Omg now they are playing pepper pig at full
volume. Time for the eye mask and ear plugs.

Ds is out for the count, really early for him but I am glad he is.

OMG, I'm so glad you've got other plans tomorrow. I would make AS much noise as possible when your packing up, accidentally pull up the tent pegs of the cheeky neighbours....and massively complain about the site on every social media site possible.

tattygrl · 27/08/2024 21:28

My mouth is hanging open reading this! I've been camping many times and while yes, it's luck of the draw who you end up camping near, that's the same for any holiday situation really. Neighbours in hotel rooms, whether your air bnb is near a noisy pub, etc. I have NEVER had other people, of any age, running in and out of our tent and taking things! That's astounding.

BBCLW · 27/08/2024 21:28

The campsite should require a minimum of six feet between tents, any closer is a safety issue. I suspect their insurers wouldn't want to find they're allowing tents within touching distance.

Judellie · 27/08/2024 21:28

Just leave. Camping is shit.

SaltAndVinegar2 · 27/08/2024 21:27

cardibach · 27/08/2024 21:16

Why does staying in a building mean you can’t be in a beautiful space and all day sunshine or with friends? A mattress on the floor is not as comfortable as a bed, that’s a fact - particularly since my mattress would fill the car in its own. Plus it’s at floor level so getting out of it isn’t fun. Then you have to walk bloody miles for a wee and share showers with a load of strangers.

Show quote history

Staying in a building means being indoors a lot more, generally. It probably depends on your budget but shuffling round a cramped caravan or a typical dated dingy UK holiday cottage are not better than a green field with views of the sea or mountains. Staying in a building is just more difficult to organise with groups of friends, there are always issues with bedroom allocation and needing to find somewhere the right size for all the people.

I'm only 48 and have no problems getting up off the floor! A 10 cm self inflating mattress is definitely the most comfortable thing I've ever slept on. It does take up about a quarter of the car boot but it's worth it.

I don't mind walking to the toilet in the day - at night just pee behind the car.

TheArtfulScreamer1 · 27/08/2024 21:26

Sounds shit YANBU! do you fancy sharing the name of the site so the rest of us know to avoid.

whyNotaNice · 27/08/2024 21:25

The last time we did camping ( in tent) was when I was 4. Then we bought campervan or actually the son of the local communist party gave it to my father and then we just starting staying in hotels. I have never gone back to this lifestyle

Mustreadabook · 27/08/2024 21:24

Ridiculousme · 27/08/2024 20:33

Sounds horrific. Our end to camping holidays came after camping at the top of a (very sloping) cliff in Cornwall in torrential rain and gale force winds.

No, thank you.

I think our trip to cornwall where the tent blew down is one of the DCs favourite trips to talk about!

Cattery · 27/08/2024 21:22

OhshutupBarry · 27/08/2024 21:11

Stop the press...People like different things shocker!!

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Newsflash: read the thread title

ThinWomansBrain · 27/08/2024 21:21

By definition. camping of any variety is hell
Your current hell sounds like it is in even deeper depths of hell.
(I did camp in India once, and there were waiters offering me hot toddys, someone offering to put a water bottle in my bed and my tent had its own loo and shower, that was OK).

Idtotallybangdreamoftheendlessnotgonnalie · 27/08/2024 21:21

My best advice is to do is camp next to a stream or similar. The noise acts like white noise and you can't hear the fuckwits near you. We are a quiet family, and look for campsites that expect silence from 11pm or midnight.

I always go for small campsites as well, otherwise what's the point of 1000 tents in a field. It's not scenic or back to nature is it.

MellersSmellers · 27/08/2024 21:21

Oh god, I generally like camping but that sounds just awful. A pain I know, but is there another pitch you could move to well away from this crowd.

CatsForLife · 27/08/2024 21:19

Just reading your posts OP has depressed the hell out of me. Sounds utterly crap. It’s not nice having a window into the lives of others sometimes. This, right here, has reminded me why I will never go camping. Just pack the hell up and get to the B and B (or home!)

OldTinHat · 27/08/2024 21:17

Urgh. This happened to us one year. Exactly the same. I packed us up, threw everything in the car and drove straight home.

AgileGreenSeal · 27/08/2024 21:16

SaltAndVinegar2 · 27/08/2024 21:14

I genuinely love camping and find it much better than being a building, unless it's a ski holiday in a nice chalet for example. There's nothing better than beautiful outdoor space, sunshine all day, being with friends. I have a good thick mattress which is just as comfy as my bed at home, cosy sleeping bag, take my own pillow, plenty of blankets. When I was growing up I used to sleep in a tent in my parents garden all summer

Show quote history

“sunshine all day”???
where is this mythical place?

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