AIBU to think camping is f*cking shit, it’s not cheap and it’s not fun

[Pumkinfailure]

I’m currently a week into a 3 week camping tour of Europe and I’m ready to jack it in. I surely can’t be the only one to find this whole malarkey fucking hideous. Sleeping on a sloping bed in a tent hotter than the devils furnace, kids screaming day and night, neighbours who hate our wellbehaved Placid lab and have instructed us to keep him near to us at all times, never feeling clean, marriage hanging by a thread, no personal space or time alone. Not even wine is helping. And 50 bloody euros a night for the privilege!!
Please tell me I’m not alone on my detest for this form of holiday and share your tips to help me survive the rest of the holiday!

Love camping but 5 nights max. Weekends away are great as I just forget about showering and hairwash etc. Three weeks is way too long😱

Oh dear OP! about at least the wifi is ok or you'd not be posting? 😬

Jesus, i can't imagine why anyone would agree to do three weeks of camping. I'd rather eat my own left foot.

I camped last year at a festival. First time camping ever. Was proper shit, pissing with rain and having to put the tent up whilst getting soaked.

This year we are glamping. 🤣

Find a hotel or a Airbnb op, and save your marriage and sanity.

the sound of the zip

Camping on campsite sucks major shitty arse.
Camping wild in the middle of nowhere just the tent and the stars and the woods.. much better.

1000% this ^

Camping is far more enjoyable when there are no other people nearby.

YANBU

You couldn't pay me enough to go camping. It's the lack of privacy that would do for me.

Hopefully you'll find somewhere more private and hotel-y soon. Even if it is just for you and your lab.

3 weeks? Are you insane, woman?

Successful camping is dependent on 3 things :

The weather
Your neighbours
Flat ground

3 weeks?! 3 nights is my absolute limit. You deserve all the wine.

(I fucking hate B&Bs too. I’m on night two of a 4 night stay and already I’m feeling like tomorrow I’ll going to be hitting my limit for polite breakfast chitchat with our host 😫)

Hang on, I don't camp (can just about cope with a premier inn) so I have no idea, but where do you poo? Is there no shower/toilet block?

Whatever you do, don't go canoeing. Unless you want your divorce attorney on speed dial.

I’m like showofhands there - I absolutely love camping and could easily do an extended trip. I think the longest we’ve done in the tent is a fortnight but I could have gone longer.
I love the sound of the zip and cooking outside too.

I love camping, but not for three weeks, and not on a big overcrowded commercial site.

@ShowOfHands are you the original named showofhands that posted the shopping for a dress thread that ended up in classics many years ago?

I also refuse to pitch up more than once per holiday, so if we need to go to more than one site then one will have to be glamping

I would hate it too.

It's all inclusive or nothing with a kids on holiday.

The best thing about camping is returning home.

I would rather have no holiday than camp tbh. I don't understand the reasoning of spending a holiday with fewer facilities and luxuries than if you were at home? I love seeing he great outdoors safe in the knowledge that I'm going back to accommodation at least equivalent to my own home.

We once went camping for a week (in Orkney) with two teenagers and a toddler. We had bought a new tent and all new gear so that we could have loads of holidays and weekends away in the future.

The rain was coming down in sheets from the moment we left home until we got to the campsite. It was blowing a gale and took literally hours to get the tent up. The teenagers were only interested in where they could get internet access and the toddler, supposedly sleeping between dh and myself, wouldn't bloody sleep at all.

We lasted two nights, came home and sold all the gear. Never again!

The thing that spoils camping for me is noisy people on the campsite, so picking your campsite / spot is pretty key. Otherwise its just really stressful.

YABU, but I'll forgive you for the "I’m mean, surely you just need to poo and a room with no one else in it."

I fucking love camping and feel as though I am a genius this year as we can't afford to go away but have secured a pitch which has private onsite facilities including coffee machine, bath, shower and toilet, washing machine, electric plugs, fridge etc within 40 ft. It is secure and there is no one else around.

Our tent is up in our back garden

The DC love it, DH who loathes camping with a burning hatred gets our bed to himself and I get to sleep in the fresh air - win! On the downside, I'm ready to sedate the neighbour's fucking barking dog and the kitchen floor is covered in grass, plus all the neighbours think I'm a bit barking myself but I don't give a fuck, to be honest. The weather has been glorious and the DC can watch Netflix on their phones in the tent using our WiFi

I very much recommend it! I'll be sad to move back inside

Oh yes. And midge repellant. Remember that. I didn't last time I went...I don't think I've ever gotten dressed fast enough...

Last time i went camping in france, it pissed down, my DDs tent leaked, my airbed kept deflating and to top it all, a dutch family moved in on the next pitch and had a screaming baby that awoke every hour on the hour, it was fucking hell.
We stayed 2 nights and then booked a nearby hotel, which turned out to be only 10 euros a night more and inc breakfast!!!
ALL the camping kit was skipped in the dustbins as we drove out of the site.

I d rather saw my leg off with a rusty knife than ever go camping again.

Blooming love it - personal best is 42 nights

I've been camping twice in my life.

Experience 1: Me, then Husband, daughter, loads of friends (back in the day when I had some), 2 nights. Was fabulous. Lots of fun, drink, food, loads of children for daughter to play with (who she already knew- relevant!) 2 downsides- squeaky swing nearby, cold. However, the whole weekend was so much fun that this happened:

Experience 2: me, then husband, daughter, 1 week Eurocamp, France. Shit the bed it was awful. Booked a pre-erected (fnar) tent with all mod cons. If by mod you mean early prehistoric man. Swampy floor covered by what seemed to be cling film, teeny beds with flimsy rustly sleeping bags, a rusty kettle and toilet facilities in the next province. I hated it. Hated.It. It was cold, I had stupid hair the whole time (I don't do anything to it as a rule, it's long and curly, but this environment just did nothing for it) oh, and daughter had nits. My schoolgirl french is passable but I struggled, I can tell you.

We spent many a night in the husband's 4 X 4 watching daughter's dvds on the back of the headrests while I swilled the nights away with boxed rose from the overpriced on site supermarche. Daughter is an introvert and wasn't happy joining the children's club but did make friends with a goat.

I booked us into the only available hotel nearby for the last night. Michelin starred, dontcha know, except the restaurant was closed and there was a sommelier in the room the whole time we were enjoying an evening tipple and I could see in his eyes that he was furious at the rate he had to top up my glass.

TL:DR- I hate camping. And having my wine topped up for me.

I can't think of anything fun about camping in a campsite with all those people around. I'd happily spend a night or two wild camping as long as there are no kids, no mosquitoes, and I can have a pub lunch.