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.

[Blueeyedgirl21]

@Aroundtheworldin80moves toilet tent !

[C8H10N4O2]

Dp is well into it 'i just chuck a few things in the car and go!'

How much of the prep, planning and night shifts does Mr "Chuck a few things in the car" do?

We did a lot of camping when the kids were young. It takes time to plan properly, the right site (especially in a dodgy weather country) and the right kit. With young kids and teens don't even think about random fields a route march from the loo - you need a modern site with good facilities and they have the added bonus that performance campers won't go near them as they are too popular.

[Livpool]

I have never been camping and never would. It sounds like my idea of hell. My friend loves it and when she describes it I just think it sounds awful

[YouWereGr8InLittleMenstruators]

@Coffeeand, please share your lakeside campsite! As a Scandinavian, I am desperate for a decent lake .

[Coogee]

I love it and always have. However, I have progressed from a tent to a folding camper with proper beds, carpet and heating etc.

We use it a lot for accommodation at family gatherings. If we use a camp site we pick basic ones where we can pitch a good distance from anybody else. We did use a crowded site once, and it was awful.

[MilesJuppIsMyBitch]

Sorry you're having a shit time, OP

I love camping, but always pop a Nytol at bedtime. It's my holiday treat.

[Slimmingstar]

I am starting to be ‘over’ camping. Hoping to get a camper van next year. However, I disagree with tramping across a fiend in the night for a wee - I just crouch on the floor a few metres away from the tent if it’s night time!

[sHREDDIES19]

I appreciate it won't be for everyone but for us, it's all about getting the right weather (harder to plan for in the UK!), an amazing tent (ideally a bell tent with plenty of headspace), alcohol to help you sleep, electric hook-up is a must, and invest in a comfortable mattress to sleep on. Once all those are in place, it can be fun!

[PolypGrunterPulpit]

DH is desperate to take the kids. I haven't been camping since D of E in school. But it must cost a fortune to gather all the right gear. How many trips do you need to go on to get your money's worth?? I'd rather invest in a small camper van!

[HereticFanjo]

Caravan or camper van is the way forward.

[Rainy365]

@Aroundtheworldin80moves

I don't understand the love for putting a toilet in your tent. Emptying your own toilet is definitely not a holiday...

The main bonus of camping is its cheap... once you've bought all the equipment.

I don’t have much choice about it as I’m on my own with a young child so can’t leave him on his own (and my bladder is not strong enough to wait until morning )

But I didn’t have one before I had him and would probably get rid once he’s old enough to be left on his own. I try to keep my kit as simple as possible to make the trips easy.

[TheVolturi]

Totally agree with you op! I am the lightest sleeper and having only canvas seperating me from the world is not ideal. We upgraded to a folding camper (like a caravan with a tent roof) and it was no better for me. Although it was cosier and more home comforts. If I really really had to camp there is no way I'd consider it without taking our own chemical toilet. I mean, who wants to trudge across a muddy field in the dark to use grubby spider infested toilets? 🤣

[BeautifulandWilfulandDead]

I love camping, but as other posters have said you need the right kit and you need to pick your sites carefully. And it is a massive faff. And if it rains a lot, it will be rubbish. But you get cheap holidays, and when it all works out, it's glorious.

[onelittlefrog]

We have friends who camp. But if we're invited, we go to a campsite that has glamping and decent toilets, so they can rough it and we pay for a bed and a nice shower Or we stay in a local hotel and meet them for the campsite fun during the day.

[LapinR0se]

This is why I will never camp.

[GrandmasCat]

I used to do a lot of camping as a teen and although I hated all the inconvenience, I loved waking up in the middle of nowhere with no other soul in view in miles (this was across the pond).

I really cannot see any benefit of going through that inconvenience (even if there are toilets/showers nearby) to wake up surrounded by other campers. Camping parks are worse than planting a tent in your back garden, they are pretty much the equivalent of a grassed over carpark with some shitty toilets on hand.

Rant over.

[Sidge]

I don’t do camping.

I have a rule about holidays - if it’s not equal to or better than home, why go? I’ve got a comfy bed, loo and hot shower in my house. Why would I go away to forsake those?

[mizu]

I camped a lot in my late teens and 20s just because my friends at the time were camp enthusiasts. Never really had the right stuff though.

Remember camping in Japan while living there in my mid 20s. Pebble beach, cardboard to sleep on and boiling hot don't think I've ever been so tired. A whole week too. Of course this is not proper camping and I was young.

I like the idea of it but as someone else posted on here, it would have to be a warm, dry country with fabulous facilities.

[BrozTito]

I got all cheap but solid old eastern bloc army surplus gear at first and gradually upgraded. Agree with pp about the access camping gives-slept in a abandoned greek forest near delphi last summer. And definitely create some sort of piss bottle for nights.

[worktrip]

I had one camping week in glorious sunshine with DD only and had an amazing time in Cornwall.

Apart from that every one has been misery.

[GrandmasCat]

I am not so sure about being cheap holidays. If you consider the cost of the equipment plus the lose of space at home to store it, you may not be saving that much.

Every single glamping place I have stayed at has been more expensive than a decent well presented B&B.

[Bumpsadaisie]

I enjoy it but in the kind of way someone "enjoys" a survival challenge or half marathon.

Ie it is hard but a kind of masochistic pleasure in surviving and coping 🤣

[dottiedodah]

Really dont like Camping .Its seems to me that many ladies ,are less keen on The Great Outdoors than their menfolk.Idea We girls off to a Premier Inn (ON) to meet menfolk for pub lunch following day .Afternoon ,reading a book /going shopping /swimming .! Maybe we anti campers could start a self help group ?Only treatment avaliable as above!

[BrozTito]

I intersperse my wild camping trips with hotel stays aswell.

[Tal45]

Unless you take a huge car load of stuff with you to make yourselves vaguely comfortable, have a very flat pitch, the perfect weather, clean easily accessible toilets and are far away from people who stay up drinking outside their tent all night/playing football/chatting loudly then it's a nightmare. So generally yeah, it's a sleepless nightmare.