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.

I've been only once, in Iceland a couple of years ago, on my own, it was incredible and I often long for that experience again. I was absolutely freezing every night (4C), barely slept, and it was raining most days while I went for my hikes, but I still somehow absolutely loved it, and would do it again in a heartbeat. Expecting a baby now, so I doubt there is much camping in the next few years :( I hope to raise an outdoorsy kid who isn't afraid of a spidery outside toilet (I was the opposite, a total snowflake).

I like camping if it's only for one or two nights, but I live in a hot country and have decent equipment to make it comfortable.

I grew up in England and camped a few times with my Dad. All I remember is being cold, wet and miserable.

We are not long back from 16 nights tent camping in Dorset. It was fabulous. It is such a boost to my mental health. I often day dream about selling the house and living in a yurt.

The journey from Scotland to Dorset was rather arduous though.

I do much prefer a proper holiday, but there aren’t many options right now and we have a dog to think of too, so this trip is perfect.
This is our view over the estuary from the site

I love it 🥰

It is a pain to pack for though.
It used to be two nights max, then as we got more stuff and it became a more luxurious experience, it took longer and longer to pack, until it wasn’t worth going unless you went for more nights. Now we have the equipment but haven’t been for a few years, as don’t have the time!

One night wild camping is my limit.

Wild horses wouldn’t get me camping on a crowded site for a week. I’d rather stay home

Can't get to grips with all the 'I like camping but you have to have X, Y, Z . . . '

That's a hotel. You're describing a hotel. Or a B&B. Or your own home.

Surely if you really like camping you should enjoy the 'roughing it' element.

I prefer a holiday inn to be fair.

I hate the huge amount of packing that is involved. Crockery/cutlery/stove/food/sleepingbags/pillows/clothes/toys/tent/chairs - the list is never ending. I hate the constant organising inside the tent and everything ends up on top of each other. I hate having to get dressed whilst standing on a sleeping bag. I hate traipsing across a camp site to go to a public toilet. I hate dew getting everything wet, and the kids tramping cut grass into the tent.

Overall I hate it.

possibly it might be tolerable if someone else did all the work and all you had to do is sit around in the sun with a glass of beer looking-at-you-DH

Obviously many people enjoy it, and this year many more are trying it..campsites are booked up even after schools go back in September. I'm trying to find somewhere to go then. Usually no problem booking but this year I'm struggling.

Camping on a campsite with loads of other people is hell.
Trekking through Norway with a tent and wild camping in the mountains is heaven.

I hated our first couple of camping trips in a borrowed tent - hated it. We've been doing it for years now, all the camping things (with exception of food and our clothes) are kept together, so just goes in the car. Also, we've acquired a few cosy extras over the years - tent carpet, blankets, plenty of lights etc which helps. It's normally my task of coming up with accommodation ideas for holidays - DH chooses one of my choices, so I get to choose a campsite I really like the look of, has good reviews etc.

Camping is awful, the cold, the mess, the faff, the lack of sleep, sharing facilities and trying to wash up around other people's gunk watching the suds slide ineffectually over the plates and crockery. I won't even do it at a festival anymore. I struggle with sleep anyway so am not going on a "holiday" where I basically get no sleep at all.

As I child we went camping in France each year, and would take 3+ days to get anywhere as couldn't go more than 50mph with the caravan. It's given me a hatred of camping and long car journeys...

We love it but there’s only me and the other half (no kids together) and we’re in the middle of ticking off the Wainwright’s, so we’re out walking up Lakeland fells from early morning until teatime. It’s cheap enough for us to do a trip once a month for the weekend, as a hotel would be wasted on us as we only need a place to sleep and shower. Winter it’s YHA’s and the money we’ve saved will go to a “proper” holiday in a proper building :-)

Camping can be fun. But, as many people have said, you need the right kit (which is never cheap), and to pick the campsite carefully. We like the more basic campsites (i.e. no electric points) as there are fewer people and they tend to be more considerate campers anyway. Pre kids we used to go to ones without showers and hot water - now that is the one thing I insist on.

There is a lot of faff at the start and end - packing and unpacking, an drying stuff out again, even though we are fairly organised and keep everything in boxes so it should just be grab and go, it never is.

@LobotomisedIceSkatingFan

Can't get to grips with all the 'I like camping but you have to have X, Y, Z . . . '

That's a hotel. You're describing a hotel. Or a B&B. Or your own home.

Surely if you really like camping you should enjoy the 'roughing it' element.

It is more freedom than a hotel and much cheaper once you have the equipment.

DH went through an ‘isn't camping the best?!’ phase when our DC were small. He bought all the gear and got really into the whole thing.

I went with it because the kids seemed to love it, too, but I secretly found it hellish. We even did full on glamping once and even that was hard going.

I was glad when that phase passed.

I love it! I love the simple living and the coziness of my tent. 3 nights is the optimum number imo, that makes it worth getting all the stuff together and putting up the tent, although pre-kids DH and I had a wonderful 8 night camping holiday touring round Switzerland.

Sadly the kids won’t do it anymore, the entitled little so-and-sos like their home comforts too much . Ah well, they’re old enough to leave at home so we’re planning to go with friends next.

Slept in a tent once on a school trip when I was about 16, didn't get a wink of sleep, was freezing cold and the hard ground was horrific. For those that have kids want to camp, put a tent up in the garden for them. They might last a night or two. Another time I put a tent up inside in their bedroom when they were having cousins over. On top of a soft rug, with a duvet inside the tent as a mattress, no cold, no wet, no insects.

I hated camping, until I moved from the UK to a country where the weather is much nicer and now I love it. Considerably more enjoyable when everything isn't soaking wet after 1 day and you are freezing all night. The weather has the added advantage that I can get away with a small very easy (2 poles) to build tent and 90% of the time don't even bother with the fly sheet.
If I was camping in the UK and it so much as started to drizzle i'd be straight home.

One of my few ambitions in life is to sleep every night in a proper bed in a proper building. This is because I am not batshit crazy.

It is more freedom than a hotel and much cheaper once you have the equipment.

I honestly do not understand the "freedom" element.

It's not that easy (or safe let alone legal) to go wildcamping nowadays. A campervan, you can start and drive off in a couple of minutes, but a tent? The freedom of faff around carrying your belonging on your back and having to set up camp before anything escapes me completely.

I never feel more free than having just a small, and being able to pop from hotel to hotel without fuss. Comfort, freedom, a drink brought to you with just a quick phone call, never too hot, too cold or wet. Bliss.

I was brought up camping through Europe for several months most years - and so I became used to it, even enjoyed it ! Bloody hard work packing and moving on if camping and travelling.
Low points usually involve water and cold. Digging trenches during torrential downpours, being caught by early snow in mountainous areas etc.
But nothing beats waking to fresh air, eating outside, sleeping under the stars.
Today’s weather alerts make me feel for those in tents over the next few days !

I stayed in a hotel a couple of weeks ago and had loads of freedom. I wasn't locked in my room or anything.

I agree, take turn with friends, and put tent up in various gardens for the kids. A dad or 2 to supervise and keep them safe, sorted.

I am more than happy to play the "female" card and leave DH to rough it up. He's better with spiders anyway.