Camping is hell.

[Thisisnothappeningagain]

I havent enjoyed camping since i was a teen. Dp is well into it 'i just chuck a few things in the car and go!' -_- (i wont even get in to how much effort it was to acquire, sort and pack everything for a family and dogs) i finally bowed to pressure and here i am, a trek across a field away from the locked, extremely poorly ventilated, toilets and no idea where in this dark tent trying to take off the key is even though ive tried to keep it in the same zipped pocket. I must have had 5hrs sleep all week.

I HAVE TRIED to be positive, but im seriously struggling to see why this is fun, or relaxing.

DH is a scout shooting instructor

Are they difficult to shoot?

We did it twice.

Then sold all the camping gear and said sorry to the kids for such a batshit idea and that we'd have proper holidays from then on.

Freezing cold at night; waking up at 4am by whinging kids in other tents soaked in sweat because the tent is warm and you've got 30 layers on; having to get out of a warm bed shivering at 3am with a torch to have a wee. Never again!

Hate it. It’s a middle class fetish, see also Norfolk and Cornwall. Camping in the south of France is also shit - you might have better campsites but your tent will be an inferno.

I can just about cope with a couple of nights of lightweight camping & cycle touring by myself but the idea of having to sort kids out and cook is just nonsense. Thankfully DH takes the kids for a couple of nights every year and I get a break to myself.

I always thought a canal boat holiday would be very relaxing. Until I went on one. Not doing that again.

@Bumpsadaisie

It is hard to get out of bed to go to the loo at 3am. But the fresh air on your face, the bleary feeling, the tightness of your skin as your so tired, you look up at the stars and mountains as you go and you feel faintly heroic.

I like that! Like I'm a 19th century explorer or something. Realise I manage camping by constructing a total fantasy world about what is going on 😆

me too, @Bumpsadaisie.

We camped in Cornwall when Poldark was on, & I very much saw myself as a fat Demelza, grey hair blowing in the wind.

I absolutely hate it - I've done it 3 times as a kid and it was fucking awful. Too cold, got no sleep, woke up at 5am because of slugs/mildew dripping on my face, plus it's always noisy. As an adult I just turn down any invites to go camping. Why would I pay to leave my nice, cosy, quiet, warm home to sleep like a homeless person? No thanks.

@Sparklingbrook

I always thought a canal boat holiday would be very relaxing. Until I went on one. Not doing that again.

True! I'd always thought the same, but definitely far from relaxing.

Lol-ing at these. I love camping but as has been said numerous times elsewhere, you need decent kit (do not get an airbed - get a self-inflating mattress), a decent campsite and decent weather. It's not necessarily a cheap holiday, at least the initial outlay, although our brilliant and huge tent was secondhand. We camp a few times a year but are prepared to throw in the (damp) towel if conditions are awful and just go home. It's a holiday, not bloody SAS training.

@tectonicplates

I remember a thread on here a couple of years ago, where someone on a very low income was saying how stressed she was because she couldn't afford a holiday, and she just needed a break from everything. I forget her exact personal circumstances, but clearly she was having a very difficult time.

The replies were absolutely FULL of people having a go at her for not going camping, saying how cheap it would be, and why didn't she simply grab a tent and go? But equipment costs money, and as @PieceOfString commented back on page 5, "The only people I know who enjoy it are well off and own every piece of kit you could possibly need to make things comfortable. I just remember the thread was full of middle class fury about why this woman wouldn't just buy a cheap tent and go.

I wish we could've time travelled to the future and sent this thread to all the commenters.

Definitely. Camping is a cheap holiday for us now but only because we have paid out for all the kit over the years. If you are just starting out and need to get all the kit to enjoy camping in the UK you can probably find an all inclusive abroad cheaper. No one in their right mind would ask someone why they can't just afford to pop abroad for a week! Grabbing a £20 tent from the supermarket and camping in the local field is going to be a completely miserable experience.

Camping is not for everyone. I can see why it isn't fun for some people, if you can't sleep then automatically you are going to feel rubbish in the morning, if its pissing it down, then you can't do much and its cold and damp...having said that, I love camping! but only for a few days.

When its lovely and sunny and you are in a beautiful area, camping can be magical. We are going in a few weeks time , for 2 nights with our nearly 2 year old.. we are so excited! I love the atmosphere of camping, the camp fires at night, waking up to the birds singing and the sunshine. It's lovely.

Just back a day early from my first solo trip with kids. Have camped with friends/festivals many times.

This was altogether different. Picked a holiday site so we had a pool/pub/food place. Hideously noisy at night until 1am. Woken by seaguls at 4am.

Torrential rain 1 night and on and off rain that day. If it was just me, or other adults, I'd gave relaxed in the tent reading/snoozing. Not an option with the DC.

We did enjoy (parts of) it. But even the DC were happy to leave early.

I will pick a smaller quieter site next time, and won't trust the weather forecast

We used to go camping every summer as a child. My dad was a bit mean, so we used to do 'wild' camping. The most exciting thing I remember was a sheep coming into the tent. I had no idea they were so big. DH and I went once and decided staying at home was much better.

With you 100%, OP.
I read something once where a neurodiverse child explained why they didn't like camping: 'nasty peeing by tree, both socks wetted all time, plates muddy, no TV.'
I couldn't have put it better myself

@Jaxhog

We used to go camping every summer as a child. My dad was a bit mean, so we used to do 'wild' camping. The most exciting thing I remember was a sheep coming into the tent. I had no idea they were so big. DH and I went once and decided staying at home was much better.

Did the sheep do a poo in the tent?

My DH camped as a child every year in the south of France. He said he had vivid memories of his Mother spending 3 weeks hunched over a camping stove even managing to cook chips as his Father was too mean to buy the excellent frites from the takeaway.
He said he would never inflict that on us so we always went in a mobile home in France. Kids then get the sort of camping experience whilst still having a bathroom and a dry bed! DH also isn’t mean so despite not being very flush with cash we always had chips from the campsite takeaway!

Fuck. That. Shit.

DH got up at 5am to take the DC camping for the weekend. I am staying at home to enjoy my king-size bed, en suite bathroom, electricity and civilisation.

I do not agree with camping. If it's less than a 5* hotel I'm not going.

I appreciate that not everyone has the resources to do what I do, but as I have I will never fucking camp ever!

I feel your pain! We, despite the adults not really liking camping, go 3-4 times a year now with various friends groups because the kids bloody LOVE it! And there is something special ( I will begrudgingly admit) about seeing them half feral, playing out together in woods, rivers etc. from dawn to dusk without a screen in sight.
Have you tried wine in a box?? Wine in a box can really help the time pass...

It's just drudgery going with children. More stressful as it's unfamiliar territory and no comfy bed. Fine if camping without DC!

I haven't camped much & not for years - last time now 23yo DS was a toddler & a few families from our village went to the Dales for a night, camping in a field next to a pub.

We had to buy kit but had already been considering camping holidays at that point.

DH insisted we buy a small, low-profile wind-resistant tent that only the toddler could stand up in, with just enough room for the three of us to lie down, no space for kit, nowhere to shelter the cooking stuff etc etc

I gazed in envy as our friends who camped regularly all over the UK & Europe produced a sort of pop-up bungalow from their car boot & had it erected in five minutes - grr!

It was horrific, made worse as I got as pissed as a fart around the campfire trying to drown my camping sorrows & had to dive out of the zip in the middle of the night to be sick

Is it be a red flag early in relationships if a man wants to go wild camping? Shows a total disregard for women imo. If you're both into the outdoor life and roughing it, fine. But men who expect women to cope with periods etc in a field with no facilities, water or anything are just bastards.

My idea of hell

@Sparklingbrook

I always thought a canal boat holiday would be very relaxing. Until I went on one. Not doing that again.

Camping is shit. Unless you are in posh fully catered for camping (safari style) or there's lovely loos and an on site cafe. And the weather is fabulous.

Camping in a small 2 bed tent on skye with my best mate and no respite from midges - that tested that friendship.

Canal boat holidays though - I love them - though the last one I was on as an adult was 30 years ago now...maybe it's changed.

@notagermannoun

Is it be a red flag early in relationships if a man wants to go wild camping? Shows a total disregard for women imo. If you're both into the outdoor life and roughing it, fine. But men who expect women to cope with periods etc in a field with no facilities, water or anything are just bastards.

😂 bit extreme!

Trying to show you what they're into is not such a big deal. You can even try it once. It's the refusal or sulking if you hate it the problem.

and surely if they take you wild camping, they also take you to a 5 star holiday to compare? Only fair.

If I'm going on holiday, my minimum requirements are indoor plumbing and electricity. And a large bed. And excellent food, ideally prepared and cleared up by Someone Else.

This is why I love Guides and Scouts. They take the offspring on camping trips and I never have to.

Arghhhhh I'm totally with you OP - but DC have somehow convinced me to go camping for 3 nights later this summer! Why did I agree?! It will be hell. I've really got to figure out how to put on a brave face and act like i'm enjoying it, as DC will love it and I don't want to be a downer.