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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to ask what you are supposed to DO on a camping holiday in the UK??

137 replies

BalconyBill · 10/07/2014 21:20

I mean, I know there's the day setting up the tent and the mornings/lunchtimes/evenings trying to cook for a family over a match, but..

Where's the relaxation? The laying in the sun? The chilling in a hammock? The swimming (in warm water)?

I just don't get it Sad

OP posts:
trappedinsuburbia · 10/07/2014 22:05

I was persuaded to go years ago and being a high heels/fake nails kind of girl was dreading it.Well it was bloody brilliant, the kids loved it, I loved it and this was proper wild camping.
Take a wee camp stove and some cheapo disposable barbecues and lots of alcohol. Can't beat it.

Chocolateisa7adayfood · 10/07/2014 22:07

Bacon sarnies for breakfast
Read my kindle
Go for bike rides
Go swimming
Have proper conversations
Listen to birds singing
Just slow down and relax generally because everything from having a shower to filling the kettle takes ages

donkir · 10/07/2014 22:12

I loved camping as a kid much better than the main abroad holiday we'd have. Best bit playing arrows in the Forrest staying up late listening to the animals. Walking, cycling building dens. Loved all of it.

BreadForBrains · 10/07/2014 22:14

Dp took me once and only once. It was a bloody lot of hard work and will never be repeated by me!
His family are camping crazy though (some with campervans which is surely cheating?!) and go every weekend it's dry. They always try and convince me to give it another go, but for me, breaks away shouldn't require so much effort.
Different strokes for different folk.

Pico2 · 10/07/2014 22:14

We go within striking distance of home, so that we can pack up and leave if the weather turns bad or one of us injures themself showing off to 3 year olds and can't walk to the loo anymore.

RosieLig · 10/07/2014 22:15

We tend to do it for weekends rather than as a proper holiday. I love it for all the reasons above. It's great fun but packing and unpacking is exhausting! The major downside for me is other noisy campers, I'm a really light sleeper so 2 nights is enough. The kids (and dog!) love it and I love the relaxing pace and fresh air.

We're renting a motorhome for 2 weeks this summer which I'm really looking forward to, weather permitting (the Outer Hebrides!)

Original poster
BalconyBill · 10/07/2014 22:16

Full disclosure please Pico!!

OP posts:
Pico2 · 10/07/2014 22:18

I decided to demonstrate how to use a climbing wall, while wearing wedge sandals. I didn't get very far up it and sprained my ankle on the way down. But I didn't swear, which I was proud of at the time.

Madcatgirl · 10/07/2014 22:22

We take our caravan to Cornwall every summer. It's brilliant. Kids go nuts in bare feet and have a lovely time running all over and rolling in fields, etc and everyday we go to the beach. It's lovely! Pasties for lunch everyday. BBQ for tea, we have family down there too and our days on the beach are usually a tribe of us building castles, rock pooling, bodyboarding or just sunbathing.

Heaven. Smile

mandy214 · 10/07/2014 22:23

I also think going with other families is what makes it fun. I don't really enjoy it, I mean the actual camping, but the socialising is good. I don't really class it as a "holiday" - I still have to do all the cooking, washing up but its not as easy or accessible as at home. I also end up with about 2 weeks' worth of washing. So if you see it as a "break" rather than a holiday, that might be better. But the children love it and its cheap.

Original poster
BalconyBill · 10/07/2014 22:26

Ouch Pico!! You were very restrainedGrin! That sounds interesting Rosie. I reckon it would be fine for a weekend, just chilling and watching mole hills pop up. My DCs are all teens now though, may have left it too late to convert them to the camping way of life.

OP posts:
MrsMikeDelfino · 10/07/2014 22:27

You're supposed to build a campfire, have some toasting sticks to stick marshmallows on, and all sit there discussing your day.
Think back to guiding days and have a stockpile of songs to sing like "Ging Gang Gooly" or "you'll never go to a heaven in a baked bean tin..."
Giggle and laugh and watch scampering squirrels and listen to the hooting owls. Lie back and see the stars.
In reality you'll be screeching at them to get the fuck to sleep and stop pratting about and it'll piddle it down all day so your groundsheet is sinking into the mud and you squelch about all weekend

Wolfiefan · 10/07/2014 22:27

Chocolate has it right!
We camp. It's cheap and we can have relaxed time together. We can also afford several holidays and lots of days out whilst away.
Kids love the freedom. We see parts of the country we wouldn't normally see. We love it!

Fannydabbydozey · 10/07/2014 22:42

Love love love camping. We go every year several times a year and have a fab time. I read so many books and so do my kids. We don't do EHU so they can't charge their electronics stuff so they play, read... They get way more freedom.

The first few years we went to France which is great as we were coastal (two islands: Noirmoutier and the Ile de Re) or near lakes and pools. Last year we were near the sea in norflok, this year we are so close to the beach you can hear the waves and the tent is mm from dunes... (Dry run in June)

We wander about, drink lots of wine, visit different beaches and towns, eat tons of fish n chips or moules depending on the country... I have a nice camping stove and I cook very basic stuff which somehow tastes wonderful in the open air.

I find it very relaxing.

Packing up the tent though is utter, utter shite. And if the tent is wet I'm inconsolable (wet canvas is totally shite)

ThePinkOcelot · 10/07/2014 23:02

Been camping twice in my life. Never again, not for me.

Permanentlyexhausted · 10/07/2014 23:20

I love camping! We go with friends but the real trick is never to stay on the campsite during the day. We go to various different beaches, on walks, to museums, out on our bikes, to castles and other local attractions, lots! We cook breakfast in the morning, take a packed lunch out with us, and then either cook tea when we get home (on the gas stove or barbecue) or go out to a local restaurant/pub or get a takeaway. We probably only cook our own tea about 50% of the time, if that! Then the kids reappear when it's dark and go to bed and we sit out under the stars drinking wine (unless it's raining in which case we sit inside drinking wine).

Original poster
BalconyBill · 10/07/2014 23:25

It really doesn't help that I'm on my own with 3 teens and am a lazy bugger does it?!?!

OP posts:
postcardofagoldenretriever · 10/07/2014 23:49

Used to love it as a kid and young teen (girl guides, camping in France etc.) but I feel sadly never again. Would be fine if it was like it was when I was a kid - marshmallows on sticks, singsongs around the campfire, lovely fresh air, corned beef hash made in an enamel pot...

Now, however, I have bad joints and back, need a proper bed, a shower every morning, can't bear being cold or wet, post-baby need to make innumerable trips to the loo in the night so getting up to go to a loo block or chemical toilet over and over again would be awful. I would absolutely hate it, find it not relaxing at all. I reckon it only really suits people who are physically fit and low-maintenance (I mean that in a good way, eg. don't require a bucket of espresso served in bed and a 30 min hot shower just to function in the morning...) and also people who know for whatever reason they aren't going up be getting their period during it

Original poster
BalconyBill · 11/07/2014 00:00

Thanks postcard, now feel no need to ever experience it Grin!!

OP posts:
PancakesAndMapleSyrup · 11/07/2014 00:01

Ahhh plenty of things to do when camping!! As everyone has mentioned above! Alternatley you could try glamping if you prefer or with youngs dcs featherdown is fab, i still class it as camping....sort of!

Morloth · 11/07/2014 00:03

I don't understand camping, at all, ever, anywhere.

Beds and en-suites were invented for a reason.

The apocalypse will have to happen before I go camping again.

Yuck.

80sMum · 11/07/2014 00:08

You have to be prepared to rough it a bit. Once you've got over the loss of home comforts, it's great fun.

You can get over the many nighttime trips to the loo across the field by the simple addition of a sturdy black plastic buiders' bucket to your essential equipment list.

Oblomov · 11/07/2014 00:09

oh I love glamping. set up the caravan, king size duvets on both beds. BBQ steak and Chips. fill the wine fridge with beer and 3 bottles of wine.
sit back and enjoy. pour yourself another glass of wine. my friends come over to chat. the boys are riding their bikes with their friends, or playing clash-of-titans, on minecraft, or whatever, on their tablets.

what's not to enjoy?

Morloth · 11/07/2014 00:10

'You have to be prepared to rough it a bit. Once you've got over the loss of home comforts, it's great fun. '

It really isn't.

Like I said, I will rough it when I have absolutely no other choice.

Anything less than 3 stars is camping.

Downamongtherednecks · 11/07/2014 00:15

I assume people only go camping so that they appreciate the little things in life (like water in taps, and not peeing in buckets) when they get home. Last time I camped we were woken up by the tent next door going up in flames (they were smoking weed), and then later by some drunk teenage girl weeing on our tent, then tripping over our guy ropes and knocking herself out. Mankind has spent a lot of time, effort and innovation trying to avoid sleeping outside on damp ground and eating half-raw, half-charred lumps of meat. Never again! (Thanks to the Scouts though, for taking DS so I don't have to.)