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Original poster

Camping is hell.

492 replies

Thisisnothappeningagain · 29/07/2021 02:53

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.

OP posts:
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6
marktayloruk · 30/07/2021 17:37

Never attracted me in the slightest.

Alleycat1 · 30/07/2021 17:38

Detest camping! I tried it once in my twenties. Boyfriend and I camped in a farmer's field. He was supposed to leave the outside loo ( very nice, attached to the house) unlocked in case we needed it during the night. One night he forgot and I coopied down in a corner of the field....in a bed of stinging nettles! Never again.

WineInTheBlood · 30/07/2021 17:40

I do love camping but the weather has to be decent and I would only ever go for a weekend. A week in a tent is way too long! I can totally see why it's not for a lot of people at all though. I hope the rest of it passes quickly for you and you get back to your comfort bed soon Grin

Interested in this thread?

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Camping
Dillydollydingdong · 30/07/2021 17:43

Try a caravan holiday, maybe in a big static. Electricity, hot water, tv, showers...Grin

Mary54 · 30/07/2021 17:47

If you’re properly kitted out and the weather cooperates, it’s great fun. But then, I’ve never had a hotel holiday for comparison.

Yespresh · 30/07/2021 17:48

No way. I wont go anywhere with a bathroom less nice than mine.

missfliss · 30/07/2021 17:55

Just back from a camping trip - was fabulous but it is not really a holiday in many ways. We left early to avoid the storm as that is it my idea of fun.

Trick to an enjoyable camping trip:

  • kit. We have the best beds you can buy with SIM mattresses on top. They are inflatable Quechua bases. 100% recommend and we use them for guest beds at home.
  • good campsite. Essential.
The one we have just been at had spotless and fantastic individual shower rooms with sinks and toilets, digital showers and underfloor heating. Amazing views over The Gower and a fantastic shop, and charging lockers.
  • real fires and good booze

However - if you don't like camping you probably never will :-)

Original poster
Thisisnothappeningagain · 30/07/2021 18:00

I thought i'd done everything right and tbf, the weather wasnt THAT bad, and i wasnt THAT cold because i did do duvet and thick woollen blankets. But, my eye mask and sleep sounds failed me and the toiket thing is just a no - i cant make it through the night since having DD, and a wild wee is fine but we were on manicured grass fully surrounded by caravans. The facilities were good apart from zero ventilation.

I think a camper/caravan will be OK but more nights in a sweaty plastic bag is a firm no, sorry DP.

OP posts:
user1472151176 · 30/07/2021 18:02

100% feel your pain. The only time I have ever managed to tolerate camping in in my younger child free years and it was a cheap night away to drink heavily in a different place with friends. I'd rather stay at home and have days out then ever camp again

ShadowInVain · 30/07/2021 18:03

It's hell in bad weather and heaven in good weather Smile .

Happysinglemum72 · 30/07/2021 18:05

Just back from two nights camping! Arrived in a thunderstorm… it’s was glamping, so the tent was already pitched but it was anything but glamorous. I gained two children that wouldn’t leave, had no sleep whatsoever. Flies the size of potatoes in my tent, loads of bugs, cold and damp. However my daughter and dog loved it so we did have a good time. I will never go again though.

Salome61 · 30/07/2021 18:11

We camped with the kids once, and about a trillion earwigs :)

Bard6817 · 30/07/2021 18:17

A close friend of mine had a 30th birthday camp out and was most dissappointed that i wouldn’t go. I had asked if there was a hotel close by, campaite is a 7 mile trek from the road, hotel is then a ten minute drive away. ie. Not feasible once the sherry is consumed.

One of our friends is a michelin starred chef, he agreed to make the main dinner, brought all his bits and bobs and spices, and apparently the food was amazing.

Did i miss out? Yes.

Do i regret not going? No.

I was brought up in caravans and tents in Scotland for summer holidays, too many bad memories, rain, midges, lack of other kids, outside loos, bugs, and so on.

Camping is for those who enjoy it.

Hotels and room service and beds are for those who don’t.

GrasssInPocket · 30/07/2021 18:20

Just pondering that this camping thread has had an entirely different outcome than the last one I read .... Grin

ChardonnaysPetDragon · 30/07/2021 18:21

There’s not enough money in the world to make me go camping.

Galdos · 30/07/2021 18:23

@ShadowInVain

It's hell in bad weather and heaven in good weather Smile .
Agree. As a young adult had challenging camping forays in the UK, and one blissful fortnight in France with a French friend, which was all pate, French bread and carrots (and bear-like toilets), in glorious sunshine (and with a car so we got to see an awful lot of France)
sweetkitty · 30/07/2021 18:24

Last time we were in a pod, DD1 and I were washing dishes at the outdoor dish washing station in the pouring rain. We both turned to each other and thought “how in anyway is this a holiday?”

Our friends are camping enthusiasts and we’re always encouraging us to come with them we would love it etc etc they all have all the gear. Second time we went, first night there non-stop rain, both their tents leaked (we were in camping pods), every time the DC went outside they would come back sopping wet, it was miserable. Never again.

I just don’t understand going on holiday somewhere significantly less nice then your house.

GoldBar · 30/07/2021 18:24

I feel very sorry for those presently trying to camp on the South coast and other areas affected by the weather:

www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/storm-evert-campsites-destroyed-huge-24653387

Low as my expectations would be for any camping holiday, I'd at least expect to have a tent to come back to.

KatharinaRosalie · 30/07/2021 18:41

I don't get the 'oh but camping can be great fun!' posts. What fun can happen in a tent exactly that can't happen in a hotel/resort/Centerparcs/airBnB villa etc where you have all the comforts and don't have to bring your own kitchen sink?

Threewheeler1 · 30/07/2021 18:43

Ugh. Had so many pants camping holidays I've lost count. DH is obsessed.
Same fucking chores with the added difficulty of performing them in a pokey, wet, ill equipped environment, crap sleeping on a wafer thin roll mat listening to DH snoring in my ear, walking 5 miles in the night with a poxy, weedy torch through wet grass to get to the loo... for WEEKS ON END...No. Never again.
And all the shitty unpacking & washing when you finally get home...
It's about as far from a holiday as it gets.

Chin up & think about the joy of getting back OP, it's got to end some time!

mustlovegin · 30/07/2021 18:46

YANBU OP

caspersmagicaljourney · 30/07/2021 18:48

@user1497787065

I have never camped and never intend to. Have no understanding of why anyone would.
Nor me - it's like taking your washing up on holiday with you. Don't mention the dreadful weather - that's another story.🙄
Hesontous · 30/07/2021 18:53

My last camping trip ever was with XH and our DCs and with XBIL and his children.

I realized that because I was the only person that had a pair of tits I was expected to do all the cooking and cleaning. (Notice I say XH XBIL). Put me off for good.

Toty · 30/07/2021 19:00

I have camping down to a T. I put the tent up in the garden, let ds have a pal over for a garden camp. They have WiFi, access to a toilet and fridge and I can sleep in my bedGrin.

GoldBar · 30/07/2021 19:00

It sounds as if camping has been responsible for the demise of many relationships (or at least the final straw).

I have a theory that inequalities in the allocation of domestic duties such as cooking and washing-up which are tolerable at home become an unforgivable crime when perpetuated in a tent by the person who actually wanted to go camping in the first place.