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.

[GrandmasCat]

@Mamanyt, that sounds idillic. It has made me wonder if what I resent of camping is servicing the needs of the whole family and being surrounded by hoards of people in the same situation rather than camping itself.

[Sunflowergirl1]

We are doing it now....but courtesy of a luxury tourer and large awning at a top end campsite which has an indoor pool, bar, restaurant and shower blocks that are top of the range even in a hotel. However, I'm still pissed off being in England (Covid really forced our hand) but the upside is that due to lockdown DH has adopted a fuck it attitude of let's enjoy ourselves whilst we can...so next year luxury villa is already booked a d also thinking of the years beyond. Will keep the caravan for mini breaks away!!

[rantymcrantface66]

@Mamanyt, that sounds idillic. It has made me wonder if what I resent of camping is servicing the needs of the whole family and being surrounded by hoards of people in the same situation rather than camping itself.

@GrandmasCat why are you doing that though? Surely it's a choice. I'm a single parent and my dc chip in or it wouldn't happen. I'd certainly expect a partner to do an equal share too

[Thehop]

We tried camping for the first time last weekend. My insistence, o though it would be fabulous. His and said it was awful but he’d come along.

The entire camping set up was on marketplace on the second day and arranged to have it collected straight from the boot an hour after we arrived home by it’s new owners.

Never again.

[Twatterati]

Eurghhh, me too! The last trip we made as a family pretty much led to the end of our marriage 😂 I can laugh now but at the time it was horrendous.
5 hour drive to Cornwall on the last day of a summer long heatwave. Arrived in torrential rain, tent soaked, bedding soaked, clothes soaked. It rained every single day after and nothing was dry the whole holiday.
Days on a wet beach were ok, DCs had wetsuits and body boards so had tons of fun. We adults just argued mostly.
I hated the walk in pitch black to the loo and after the first night resorted to weeing in youngest DCs pyjama pants (night time 'nappies' for bedwetters). Just held one under me as I stooped in a corner of the tent.
DH was an arsehole the entire time and it really was the beginning of the end...we divorced about 10 months later.

Never, ever again.

[GoldBar]

@Thehop. That made me laugh .

[mafted]

Biggest plus is when the kids are big enough to play on the play area unsupervised/ loosely supervised, they absolutely adore making friends and dens in the woods. You don't get that in a b and b.

They can get that anywhere there are other children. A field down the road or on a day trip to the beach.
Then you can blissfully go home, to a private bathroom, a comfortable bed and a roof.
No zips, no rustling, no slightly musty smell, no annoying other people's kids scrabbling on your tent flap at 6:30 because they want to play again!

[pictish]

@Thehop

We tried camping for the first time last weekend. My insistence, o though it would be fabulous. His and said it was awful but he’d come along.

The entire camping set up was on marketplace on the second day and arranged to have it collected straight from the boot an hour after we arrived home by it’s new owners.

Never again.

I’m intrigued by this. What, after one day, caused you to call it quits and sell your set up? I’m not calling your opinion into question at all…loads of people hate camping and even though I love it, I can see why.
What went wrong?

[Barmychick]

Enjoyed it as a kid but no way in hell would ilke to do it now.

[PussInBin20]

We’re going glamping for a weekend. Is that any better? I hope so!

[Nikki360]

@christdoinghisunspecifiedhobby

Camping is absolutely shit. There is literally nothing about it that isn't shit. Words have not been invented to describe how much I hate it.

This ! It's hell on earth !

[Tiddleztheelephant]

@PussInBin20

We’re going glamping for a weekend. Is that any better? I hope so!

I hate camping with a passion but find Glamping quite good fun. Generally you're warm and dry at night and don't have to wrestle with a tent at the start and end of a holiday but you do get the sense of being outdoors and the freedom that camping offers. Good luck!

[FinallyHere]

Growing up abroad, one of the perks (to make up for no crunchie bars or brilliant TV) was camping on the shores of the Med. Each pitch was between four trees, we took a table as big as would fit in the boot, folding chairs and the tent which had space for two sleeping rooms.

We lived outside, in the warm sun, I was young enough to wear only bikini bottoms and dig endlessly in the soft sand. Loads of other children to play with, not always with a language in common but it didn't seem to matter. Even the heavy down pours of rain in the afternoon were a treat to run through and everything had dried out within a hour or so.

Simple meals, fruit (watermelon / perfectly ripe tomatoes) and fresh rolls from the bakery for breakfast and lunch. Proper meals once it was a lot cooler in the evening. Bliss.

If anyone can recreate these conditions in the UK, I'd jump at the chance of joining them.

How we laughed at the pictures of our cousins on beautiful golden strand on the North coast of Ireland, digging in the sand wearing Aran sweaters. Having only ever seen a beach at the Med, it never occurred to us children that it was colder on their beaches, just thought they were covering up ridiculously.

Reading these contributions. I wonder whether my mother really enjoyed the whole camping experience, cooking without the conveniences of a kitchen.

DF was very keen and for children it was paradise. My limited experience of hotels in those days were needing to be washed, hair brushed and clean clothes to eat in the dining room.

When camping, it took me less than two minutes between leaving the beach and sitting down to eat, with no elaborate preparations required.

[Maggiesfarm]

@PussInBin20

We’re going glamping for a weekend. Is that any better? I hope so!

It's OK if you are not too far from the toilet/shower block - which you will almost certainly have to share with other glampers. Take a torch in case you have to go in the night.

[rantymcrantface66]

If anyone can recreate these conditions in the UK, I'd jump at the chance of joining them.

If you watch the forecast keenly apparently there is another heatwave due so (if it's true) you may be able to manage. Here in Scotland wild camping is allowed so you can camp on the beach and there are spots popular with families. Also artisan bakers aplenty in this part of the world for your fresh rolls 😆

[GrandmasCat]

@rantymcrantface66

It is not that, really, DS and DP are helpful and carry their own weight but we have different interests. What I found idillic of Mamanyt’s post was being able to travel alone, do what I like, whenever I want.

Being alone, in the absolute middle of nowhere, looking at sunrise with a cup of coffee is my definition of heaven.

[Mamanyt]

[quote GrandmasCat]@Mamanyt, that sounds idillic. It has made me wonder if what I resent of camping is servicing the needs of the whole family and being surrounded by hoards of people in the same situation rather than camping itself.[/quote]
I despised camping with the family. That was why. Camping alone is totally different...to watch the sunrise over the mountain and stream while sipping coffee, and no sound at all but the birds...That's peace. To take each day just as I wanted to take it. It was my retreat.

I have two sons, so I did camp a lot with family, out of duty. Camping alone was my gift to myself. LOL, one son still loves camping. The other says that one premium channel on cable TV is roughing it.

[GrandmasCat]

I hear you. I loved travelling more than everything abd did quite a bit on my own, but so many holidays “out of duty” has taken much of the joy out of it.

[DerAlteMann]

If God had wanted me to go camping I'd have been born a Bedouin.

[TheMarmaladeYears]

I only camp as part of participating in an event. The campfire stuff is magic and as you aren't on holiday as such if the weather is shit and the facilities poor, you only have to put up with 2/3 nights of it absolute tops. For sure you aren't left counting the emotional and financial cost of an annual family holiday that's crashed around your ears.

Otherwise it does nothing for me. If you have to spend more than the cost of 'inside' accommodation (probably including a car big enough to take the canvas equivalent of a 3-bedroomed semi) in order to have even basic levels of comfort then it seems utterly pointless. As for glamping, it was surely invented to part punters from money while still offering the fundamentally bleak overall experience that's camping in the UK. I can put up a cheap tent in my garden, emerge occasionally to piss in the herbaceous borders and sit on a wobbly chair while the rain pelts down if I want this sort of outdoor experience.

I did camping when my dcs were small. I have the pictures to prove just how jolly it wasn't.

[CathyorClaire]

This thread has reminded me of some mad fucker who invited us (in our church going days) to camp at a Christian festival.

Never would have thought the seventh circle of hell could be exponentially enhanced but...kudos.

[rantymcrantface66]

(probably including a car big enough to take the canvas equivalent of a 3-bedroomed semi)

We watched in awe of the family that packed a 4 man tent, bedding, cooking gear, luggage and toys - they had parachutes etc- plus 2 adults and one toddler in a car seat and a teenager in to a Nissan micra the other week

[SamusIsAGirl]

CathyorClaire That seems even worse than LARP events - camping but with a load of rubber swords as props and clothes that are actually comfy in wet weather until you need to take them off to go to bed... Wet cloaks aren't fun.

Please spill the beans on Christian festival camping...

[Zenithbear]

It's freezing (I had 6 layers of covers on once in August), damp and you can hear other people having sex/arguing.
No one gets a wink of sleep.
A tent doesn't have cupboards and wardrobes so there's fucking stuff everywhere.. way too untidy for me.

[GrainOfSalt]

Sat in my tent reading this thread. Blooming love it