I bloody love camping it is cheap * it is fun and im going tomorrow

[LEMtheoriginal]

Up until three years ago holidays were what other people did. We had taken dd2 on 3 holidays in her ten years. One was a sun holiday the other paid gor with tesco clubcard vouchers in budget caravans. Then she went to school and holidays were even more out of the question due to holiday companies cashing in on draconian rules regarding absence from school.

Fast forward to now and ok our financial situation has improved and we go on holiday at least twice a year. Next year we are planning a trip abroad.

Why? Because one Sunday we were bored and decided to just look around the local camping shop. We bought a tent! £250 and we have a holiday home dont mention the hundreds since spent on stuff we probably don't need and we set off on our first adventure. 3 nights an hours drive away. DD was either 9 or 10 and she cried all the way there because she was scared of sleeping in a tent. Within ten minutes of setting up she was off exploring and made friends and that was it!

We are very British and often return to the same place but tomorrow we are being adventurous and going to north devon instead of south We are taking our bastard dogs who i wont leave with anyone because one is a little gobshite and i dont trust him not to bite someone else if they piss him off and we will set up our little holiday home. Its a last minute booking and im a tad dubious but come evening I'll have had enough gin not to care if we are huddled in our tent in the pouring rain, playing cards or god help us, board games.

The next day we'll put on our waterproofs and head off to explore. We'll clock up a few miles i daresay and visit alot of pubs. My diet and liver wont thank me if the weather improves dd will go swimming itherwise we'll find some dramatic coastline and look for interesting stones. If the rain clears well sit around the campfire and roast marsh mallows and ill read my kindle because my phone battery will have died. Dd may be a bit sulky about hers but i wont care because work wont be able to call me because someone has screwed up in the lab

Dd will be hoping to spend time in the play area and meet other kids her age (doesnt always happen) there a river/stream to paddle in.

The dogs will be alternately ecstatic and muserable.

I will be happy as larry because my holiday during peak summer time will have cost £223 for a whole week. My anxiety after about day two will cut me some slack and I'll be able to face whatever shit life throws st me on our return.

Whats not to love?

And I should say...you are very likely to be able to buy a tent second hand. There are many, many people who buy tents, go once and hate it. I got my 8 person with all the extras for £100 from eBay. Gumtree will also be laden with equipment!
It can be very cheap all round.

Loopytiles

Sorry but your just talking nonsense
We have literally just come back from France Eurocamp

And you pay on arrival after a small deposit

Not sure about some place in a random felid but that is wild camping

Most five star campsites that have spas and swimming pools ect donor work in the way you describe and as for space we took my husbands Toney hatchback to France and took everything we have a outsell extr large tent

We used space hoover bags for anything fabric like towels

And you can just go their are currently spaces at just so festival so you could literally book this minute and go next week I really think you don’t know much about camping at al well at least Morden camping

@beepbeep321. Can I share some space saving hacks

Use hoover space saving bags for towels duvets clothing

Is/was loads of camping gear at Aldi.

Have a great time Op but it sounds like my idea of hell. We did one night once in a borrowed tent with the kids and vowed never again, and never have. Midges, cold, uncomfortable...plus you can get an Air B andB for the cost of some camp sites and you don't have to build it. I do like the idea of staying in a shallot though

Using straws for spices saves space and the likely hood of leaks

Burn one end of a clear large straw the add spices burn the other end and write on with a sharpie

Then just stand in a cup when you get to wear your going

As a child I longed to go camping. My parents always refused.

Then I went. Sadly it proved to be one of those things where your mother is always right!

Still, I tried, and they say you should try everything in life once, except incest and Morris dancing, right?!

LEM the campsite in West Yorkshire mentioned in the Guardian website link is about 5 minutes away from me in a stunning, unspoilt location - highly recommend it!

Camped right by ilfracome a couple of years ago @lemtheoriginal. It was fantastic. I wonder if it's the same place.

Def go to woolacombe beach but go early. The big sheep park might be too young for your dc but we enjoyed it.

I love camping.

I do avoid the 5 star camp site places though and anywhere frequented with people who aren't 'proper campers'. So if it's got a club, children's entertainment, a games room, laundry, manicured lawns and neatly marked pitches... etc I won't even consider it.

I like a field. Preferably with a wooded area and a stream. A small play area is acceptable along with a small shop that sells the essentials and/or a freezer for ice packs. I do like showers/toilets but am happy with compost toilets and solar powered showers. It needs to allow open fires.

We take solar powered fairy lights as our light source and a firepit for warmth and cooking. We have a single burner stove for boiling kettles. The only luxury we take nowadays is the inflatable airbed because my bones don't like sleeping on the floor anymore.

Nowadays, with my marrige over and my son having grown up and doing his own thing, it's just my 12 year old daughter and me that go camping on our own.

We bloody love it.

OP you have no idea how much I needed to read this. I've just opened mumsnet and your post was the first to pop up.
I impulse bought a tent yesterday plus accessories - (spending more than I'd ever dream on a tent) and have booked a last minute trip to Brighton.
It's just me and 2 dc. I've been worrying all night.
I've got the car packed up and all I can think is perhaps I should return it all to the shop.
However, your post has given me hope that it will be fun, even with our nutty dog in tow.
The kids are ridiculously excited.
Wish us luck!

We love camping and do it through choice rather than financial necessity. But we don't rough it, we take everything including the kitchen sink. We're both ex scout leaders so it's in our blood.

I'm going today as well (total novice) and at a loss what you eat? Other than sausages?! God this is going to be shit eh.

Can anyone tell me easy cook meals? Please?

I want to camp but I worry the damp in the tent would cause my son all sorts of ills with his respiratory problems.
I brought a rent off a mumsnetter years ago and its lived in the loft after my sister borrowed it and it never went back into the bag again!
I used to camp a lot though when younger and always loved it.

Good luck veryhigh - its all about the mindset. We love it but i can see its not for everyone

Camping stew! Grew up eating this! Tinned meatballs, tinned potatoes, tinned carrots and peas, all in the same pan...heated up, served with bread and butter....absolutely perfect camping food

@ThomasShelbysBunnet depends on your cooking set up.

Breakfast is always bacon pancakes with maple syrup. Cooked on tiny portable gas stove.

Lunch is always eaten out

Dinner - best weve had is salmon cooked over an open fire in foil woth cous cous and salad. Steak cooked over open fire . Hot dogs. Stuffed peppers cooked in foil over fire.

I eat better csmping than at home

Titsalina you don't have to have a damp tent, canvas doesn't give you that, it's much better at regulating temperature too, only down side is it's heavier. We have a bell tent with a wood burner stove inside, too lush, I love it and will always be a camper.

I tried so hard to like it. I fancy myself as an outdoor type.

But the uncomfortable sleep, everyone knackered and grumpy, feeling grubby, campsite toilets and showers....I can't do it.

@theveryhighlife
Good luck and you will have such a great time!

We are staying in my mums caravan at Trecco Bay at the moment and I am lying in my bed listening to the rain! Not quite the camping we did as kids with our family tent but we still enjoy it.

ThomasShelby if you search on Mumsnet, there’s a current thread about camping meals with some great ideas.

I love camping!
The camping for its own sake: just like you OP. The change of routine, the unplugged fun, the cooking over flame with foil packages etc. The teens do have a 36 hour hump when the batteries die, and then get over themselves and relax into it!

I love camping too - the car is packed and I’m off for a long weekend with my Dsis and our 5 teenagers and 2 dogs.

We used to go at least 3 times a year, but DH decided a few years ago that it was no longer for him so we don’t go as often now.

But I’m a cub leader , so I also get my fix that way, we have a cub camp at least twice a year - my favourite times are cooking on an open fire, while singing silly camp fire songs.

We love camping, luckily we have only had one wet holiday that we had to abandon due to the amount of mud on site and lack of help from the staff, but dsd 11 loves it too. We have quite a bit of kit now I like to plan for as many eventualities as possible go outdoors know us by name we are going away on 3 weeks for a belated honeymoon and early anniversary with dog and can't wait.