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.

It's not for me. My basic theory is that I don't want to pay to stay somewhere that isn't as nice as my house.

I camped at a festival in my early 20's

Seeing a woman take a shit in the shower block was the final nail in the coffin!!!

I've never camped since and probably never will.

I hate camping. Just don’t get it.
I’m a bit confused about all the camping v AI stuff though, as if they were the only options. I don’t do either. There are lots of holidays which allow adventure/being outdoors/limited screen time which are not camping, and lots of holidays in hotels/guest houses/rentals which aren’t AI.

All the comments from the 'love camping' gang dissing "massive hotels" as the only viable alternative to a tent in a muddy field are making me laugh. Do people not realise there are other, in-between, options?! You can have a self-catering cottage in a gorgeous location, still make the most of nature, outdoors, away from screens etc. BUT also have lovely comfy beds, hot clean showers and toilets, a full functioning kitchen, a sofa to sit and chill with a book in front of a fire.....it's really not a "camp or face a massive faceless hotel" situation!

Ginyogarepeat of course we do. This year we did a walking tour in Croatia staying in lovely little b&bs. But this is the first year for very many that I haven't had even a weekend camping trip for various reasons and I have really missed it. It is perfectly possible to enjoy b&bs, small hotels, self catering AND camping. I only stay in larger hotels when work are paying and I can't find a smaller one on the approved list.

The concept is ridiculous. No private toilet/shower, silly blow up beds, needing an eye mask & earplugs to block out lights and noise. Cooking on a teeny stove.....

Get me into a Premier Inn ASAP.

My friend did camping, huge tent, tables, chairs, every thing for camping from Go Outdoors, then she found AI in Mexico. Fuck the camping lark, its for cheapskates!

Further to my eulogy to camping above I’m not sure why it has become a polarised issue by some. It’s not a case of one or the other !

I love camping and also love very beautiful hotels - have never experienced all inclusive nor package holidays. I love great hotel rooms and service and amenities. I also love sleeping and living outside and roughing it - as op said above camping is an adventure for some - a departure from the ‘norm’.

We love it. Recently did 2 weeks in southern France at a eurocamp with a water park etc on for £190 A week. It provides us holidays we could never afford otherwise.

I definitely invested in electric hook up and decent beds to sleep on though which makes the key difference

I would never go camping

I'd rather stay home in my house where I have a shower and a toilet and electricity. How is it a good thing to have no internet?! I'd hate it

Fresh Air
Simplicity
No screens
Off grid
Slower pace
Can take yiu to some amazing maxes

I think people were mentioning AI hotels because its something else that polarises opinions.

I loved camping when the DC were younger. We went with friends to start with and they'd get a little gang together in no time. They can have a lot of freedom and fresh air making their own adventures. No WiFi or gadgets (or noisy children's entertainment) .....just little rivers, ponds, boats and back to nature.

And it was a cheap way to visit lots different places every year.

BUT you need the right equipment which is an outlay initially. No one is happy if they can't sleep.

The kids are late teens now and priorities change. Hotels are still a no no (and AI/cruises would be a never 😁) but a cottage or apartment suits now.

I really miss camping (despite my username).
I loved the way everything slowed down to camping time, the fresh air, the beautiful scenery.
We used UK Campsites (don't know if that is still going) to select the sort of sites we like. Only made one mistake, when we ended up on a really noisy campsite in Pooley Bridge. I suspect it was the only one with vacancies, but I can't remember.
I really miss it, but DH said he wouldn't go after he was 60.

I need a super comfy bed to sleep in so camping is not for me.
My mum and her sisters all enjoy camping still (ages 78, 80 & 82)

We pretty much only had camping holidays when I was a kid. Hated it and would rather have stayed at home. Tried it as an adult and still hate it. Why be uncomfortable, wet, dirty and miserable when you have other options? DP loves it for some strange reason but I have told him he’s free to go on his own, I completely refuse.

We used to go for up to 10 days, usually in France when kids were younger but once we swapped to a caravan or mobile home they were less keen to go back to a tent! We still go for long w/e and camp, but only book if forcast is good. Even with caravans being on a campsite is a great holiday for us. Its safe for kids to ride their bikes around and also we have given them more independence to meet (newly made) friends or play out/go to the camp shop at an earlier age than we would at home. (Actually these are some of the arguments people on other threads have given about CP but its about 100x more expensive than camping!)

When I go away, I want to stay somewhere as nice or nicer than home. I don't want to have to schlepp through a field to a communal shower block or toilet block.

Just HORRENDOUS. Always makes me laugh when people are posting that they are hard up and someone suggests they go camping - pile misery on top of misery, why don't you?

Campers are very evangelical too, because they love spending their holidays in a field means the rest of us must too. Well no thanks. You keep your tent and camping stove. I don't spend my time convincing people about the merits of hotels or self-catering cottages so shut the fuck up about how marvellous camping is.

Camping is a middle class obsession where I live, I have lost track of how many people have asked me if I’ve been yet this summer (nope). Personally I hate it, I’m a poor sleeper and claustrophobic. It’s not for me.

I can't do tents. We tried the other week in order to go to a campsite we really fancied (normally take a caravan or campervan) but fuck me we all hated it. Even the kids. We all love campsites, the freedom of running around in a field etc but the tent itself was a big fat no.

So much so in fact that we spent a few days in a hotel at the end of the holiday, came home and the following weekend drove 300 miles and bought a new motorhome. Currently sat in it in a field, happy as Larry. 😂

You don’t have to be either AI resort or a camper - you can be both. I went to a large AI resort in Turkey at the start of the summer hols and I’m going camping in Yorkshire next week with friends. I like both holidays, but for different reasons. So do the dc and dh.

I hate it because you have to take soo much stuff, tent stove plates knives forks kettle air beds and sleeping bags that's minimum before towels clothes etc add in 3 kids in car seats you actually need a blimmin lorry! Yeah okay Kids loved it but for me it's just an endurance test, Harder work than being at home with a terrible sleep.

I don't want to have to schlepp through a field to a communal shower block or toilet block

The trick is to go to a campsite that is well organised and not in a field, has properly laid out pitches with shade and has paths to walk on.

@ginyogarepeat

You can have a self-catering cottage in a gorgeous location, still make the most of nature, outdoors, away from screens etc

True - but still expensive. Personally I like the sociability of camping and meeting and talking to people from other countries. You can't do that in a cottage that easily - and it's just me and DS so that's important.

Otherwise it would end up with similar shit but in a different place.

I love it! I’m a single mum & its a cheap fun holiday.

A beach / pool holiday would be my idea of absolute hell.

I think my love of camping started when I was in the Guides. In the middle of a field with a wood fire, canvas tents, Elsan lats and tripods for your washing bowl. Bedding rolls on gadgets. I loved the lot!

The trick is to go to a campsite that is well organised and not in a field, has properly laid out pitches with shade and has paths to walk on.

Spectacularly missing the point. the point is that something as basic and essential as a loo trip involves walking to the communal block which you share with everyone else. Yuk. And I'm not an "ewwww germs" person. I just prefer my toilet in the same four walls as me.

Ive stayed AI once and not enjoyed it but often stay in self catering places so its not camping is the be all and end all for me. My kuds are generally quite unsociable and wouldnt want to go to a kids club at a hotel or campsite but have made friends just being around the campsite.
But i completely get its not for everyone. And some parts are pretty annoying sometimes - hearing other people snore, unsociable folks playing loud music and hearing other peoples conversations! I can deal with walking to the toilet or shower, presuming they're nice (i check on the website and trip advisor if they are new/nice!) and on 10-14 day holidays i often lose a few pounds despite holiday eating which i think is a bonus!