Camping

[littlemousebigcheese]

I hate camping, my family love it. We’ve booked a ~proper holiday for October half term in exchange for me agreeing to camp for a week in August. Please send me your best tips. We’ve got a campervan so I sleep in that but I mean stuff to make it bearable and manageable. I hate the faff and mess and trying to wash up in a tiny sink with either freezing water or water so hot you lose some skin. Meals that don’t use lots of pans? People always suggest taking chilli or bolognaise but then that’s a Tupperware box to clean and a pan to heat and another for spaghetti plus plates and cutlery and I’m not about that life 😂😅 any tips for storage or packing or things that make camping really easy and fun?! Any ideas on how to keep children off screens? Any advice would be gratefully received thank you!

Get the family to do the cooking and clearing up - if you normally do that point out it’s a holiday for you so either they do the food or you eat out

since it’s a change for them to cook it counts as a rest and a break from the norm for them too

Bbq stuff is minimal / eat salad from the bag etc

And why is the water either too hot or cold? Patience ! Heat more or add cold water

Nothing but sympathy OP, sorry. The older I get the less I enjoy camping - I used to really like it! I just spent 2 nights camping wondering why I'd paid to transport everything I owned into a damp field...

The kids really like though!

Tbh I think you either enjoy that kind of holiday or you don't! Rubber gloves are the obvious solution to the hot water issue. What age are your dc? We used to take a big box of lego when mine were small. Board games? A bat and ball game? It sounds like you already know the standard suggestions for cooking. I prefer camping or self-catering, so cooking and washing up are always part of the deal, you can't really avoid them!

I would rather stay home than sleep in a tent, is staying home an option 😀

If i was you id do a weekend as a compromise. I am assuming they won't "hate" the proper holiday you are going on.

Don’t take screens so the children can’t use them
paper plates to reduce washing up
a nice campsite with an onsite takeaway or order local takeaway

breakfast take nice oats, fruit, nuts
one other meal always be sandwiches that everyone makes themselves eg bread pate gherkins lettuce cherry tomatoes pre cut carrot sticks

that leaves you with just one meal to cook, depending on your budget you can simplify
pasta and pesto plus frozen veg and pre cut cheese
baked beans and bread
scrambled egg and salad
Buy chips or jacket potatoes from onsite takeaway then make nice salads and precut slices of ham/cheese/turkey
take spice mixes with you so food is still flavourful with low effort eg Cajun spices plus two cans of different beans, one of chopped tomatoes and one of sweetcorn equals Mexican plus tortilla wraps?

hope that helps