To wonder why people enjoy camping

[SirJamesTalbotAndHisSpeculum]

I can't think of anything worse. I know people enjoy it but I can't understand why anyone would want to be nowhere near a bathroom or kitchen. or anywhere comfortable to sit. Not only that, if the weather is awful you get cold. Or wet. Or far too hot. I just don't get it.

Tell me why I'm wrong.

I hated camping as a child in guides but love it as an adult.

Love the freedom to move about when & where we want & it's relatively cheap when you have all the stuff.

I don't compromise on sleeping though - we have comfy camp beds & cosy 3 season sleeping bags.

I love that the preteens are off devices for however long we go for & are happy playing at the beach or surroundings.

Why is it that if you like camping you must hate AI? I love both!

I hate both!!

I love it. The community spirit when you are camping you don't find anywhere else.

We had trouble with out tent on a recent trip, everyone on our field helped out, and then we had a massive campfire party that lasted all evening. It was fantastic.

Does it count if you "camp", in your mums big £70k static caravan, with ensuits and a dishwasher? If so then I absolutely love it!

Yanbu. I have IBS so need to be near a toilet.
I could tolerate one night but any more and my stomach would be a mess.

Yup YABU it's lovely

I wouldn’t be into it if i didn’t have a child, and they aren’t the only holidays we have, but it’s a brilliant holiday for kids. I have a bell tent, which is really easy to put up and big and light. Over the last 4 years, i’ve gathered the bits you need to make it comfortable and all the cooking stuff etc, and there’s nothing better than hearing my son playing outside all day, jumping in streams, climbing trees. I’m a single mum so go with other mums from school, or my sister, or friends with kids, and it’s really fun. We’ll go three times this summer. We have wine round the campfire while the kids play until they drop into bed. No tv, the dog comes, and because it takes ages to do things we take for granted at home, like the washing up or collecting water, you find pleasure in the little things. I guess i’m easily pleased though! I’m a fair weather camper so if the rain sets in then I go home, but there are lots of lovely campsites within 2 hours of my house in London. I just love it, and once he’s grown up, i reckon I’ll remember these holidays wistfully. But then i’ll do other things that aren’t child friendly.

It's the sense of freedom you don't get with other holidays

I don't like camping much. But I hate being at home and loving travelling.
We are on a low budget at the moment and camping means we can go on holiday.
£233 for 7 nights for 6 of us this summer (and that includes paying for an extra car as my DH came a day late, so it should have been less). No way we would get a self catering house for that. We might get a deal on a static van if we were really savvy I suppose. But I really don't like those sites, I'm never sure where you are allowed to sit or play outside the van, and we all get in each other's way.

Problems with hotels/S-C accomadation which mean I like camping: constant kid watching to check they don't accidentally damage furniture, knick-knacks etc. The need to enforce table manners. Absolute panic if they spill food or drink. Hotels have the added disadvantage of no space to move unless you are away from the accommodation and I have to split the family at night time and spend my holiday in a different bed to DH.

Other advantages of camping...no TV or laptop, or wi-fi. (I know you can bring these things, we let my kids bring Nintendo DS and tablet,) the kids had to be outside, because there is no 'inside'. By the end of the week I was actually getting conversation from my teen.

My parents love camping. They just love being outdoors. Mum is the kind who will eat her breakfast outside in her Pj's at home. They've just bought a new tent as they are now 70, and are thinking about what they'll be able to pitch and carry and live in as the get older.

Would I rather be in a large self catering house with private garden and pool? Hell yes, but we can't afford it.
Would I rather camp and have a holiday rather than being at home? Yes absolutely.

I love camping. We've built up a stock of kit over many years from 2 man backpacking tents to the 5 man for a comfortable family weekend to the 8 man for a week+. In the last couple of years, our backs have asked for camp beds, finished off by a particularly lumpy farm in Ireland, but our camp beds and inflatable matresses are more comfortable than the majority of hotel beds (I hate a soft bed!). The fold-up sofa is much better than the ergonomic hell that is 97% of sofas.

It is the slower pace of life and back to basics I enjoy. The DCs aren't distracted by tech and get into colouring, books and games far more readily than they do at home. It's refreshing doing something different rather than being in a mock version of home.

I really miss wild camping and look forwards to the DCs doing it at Scouts so we can all head off on a family misadventure

I did static caravans a couple of times when the DCs were very little. That kind of turns into the drawbacks of camping without the benefits. Same shit as home, blunter knives and undersized kitchenware. At least with camping, we know we have out own posessions and what works for us.

We've done a couple of AIs. OK for the daytime, but evenings are boring as we get stuck in the bedroom from 9:30pm. We're not big drinkers anyway, so it's far nicer sitting out by a fire than watching crap TV or hanging around bars.

I've done cottages with friends. The price tag to do it as a family makes me baulk, and I don't want to spend my holiday cleaning up a different house. Camping, you have to keep organised and there's little spare stuff to get in the way.

For the kids, the freedom and chance to team up with other children comes very naturally. Without other distractions, they get more involved in things like cooking and washing up.

I guess it's cheap, so you could do it several times a year for the same total cost as a week in a hotel or self catering. But I would rather have just one holiday a year and be comfortable and civilised.

But I would rather have just one holiday a year and be comfortable and civilised

Yup.

So would I, folks.

So would I, folk

Depends on how much money you have....

To those who think camping toilet blocks are grim may I just say don't assume your hotel rooms are clean. I spent a summer as a chambermaid while a student, and to this day have a deep suspicion of hotel rooms. Did you know that many chambermaids use the same cloths they use in the bathrooms to swill round and clean glasses and cups? Bleuchhh! OH thinks I'm mad to reject those toothbrush glasses. I don't think so!

No one uses the glasses and cups. Rookie mistake if you do.

I’ve just agreed to go next week.

What the fuck am I thinking? Already dreading it. I struggle with the communal showers at the naice sports club. Help. Send help.

@glueandstick

Help is on the way.

I have emailed this whole thread to your family and friends.

They will not make you go after reading it.

Kids love it..they help more do more eat what ever crazy concoction I make them. Make friends we all go feral...come bsck exhausted but some how it resets us all.

I find there is no need for comfort, running water and a full bathroom. I enjoy being outside with nature and enjoying the sun.

Animals don’t have all the modern comforts, we are no different.

My dog thinks that beds and couches are the best thing ever.

I find there is no need for comfort, running water and a full bathroom. I enjoy being outside with nature and enjoying the sun

Oh well.

Personally I cannot get enough of comfort and running water.

Feeling small in the face of nature. Staring up at the clear night sky filled with stars, with a beer in hand in a way I can't do at home. Sitting around and cooking by fire, jaw dropping views or mountains, beach or woodland, sunsets. S'mores. Several courses of breakfast al fresco. How well the kids sleep. All makes up for the hell on earth that is packing and unpacking from a camping trip.

Plus I always manage to have a shower while camping, even at festivals. Camping doesn't mean no running water .

I camped for years as part of doing weekend/week long dog shows and I can take or leave it. I can certainly do without the anxious sky-watching on departure day and wondering if we're going to be able to pack the tent away dry. I don't particularly like hotels either - I get bored. The sweet spot for me is glamping in a yurt with fixed beds and a toasty wood stove indoors and a camp fire outside. We return to the same place every year because we love it so much. Five yurts in a little woodland in Wales with a communal camp fire and log cabin. It's wonderful.

I LOVE camping! Go as often as possible. Always manage to shower daily and if you have the right kit, you're fine in most weather. I'm not a fan of recreating ones home so no blow up sofas or the like and really only use the tent for sleeping and keeping our stuff in. Being outdoors, cooking on an open fire and stargazing makes it a perfect trip for me. I try and always go for 3 nights minimum as it's a lot of setting up and packing up for less than that. In October and Feb we glamp but still spend most of our time outdoors 😀