Husband booked a holiday,I don't want to do,aibu?

[breadbreadwine]

My husband has booked a holiday for the half term.
I thought fab,just what we need...till he told me he has bought a 6 man tent and we are going away to Scotland for a week in a tent.
He's booked a parkdene tent holiday.
It was £155 for 4 of us and he has paid £700 for a tent.
He has bought sleeping bags,fridge etc
He said it's to save money.

Aibu here ?
A week in a tent in Scotland with 2 kids who don't sleep anyway.
I'm not high maintenance but I'm worried about the toilet /shower situation

I'm not happy

It will most definitely get really cold at night. You need really good sleeping bags, blankets and hot water bottles.
Self-inflating mattresses are much more comfortable than air beds to sleep on.
Does your pitch have an electric hook up? If it does,you'll need a proper camping outside adaptor / extension lead to use it. And it means you can take a kettle, slow cooker etc.
Head torches, a lamp for you table. An actually camping table, washing up bowl, plastic plates etc.
Cool box with ice packs for stuff that normally goes into the fridge.
A shit load of booze!!!

By the time you've got all the kit, got yourselves there, paid camp fees, dined in various pubs (which is a must!) It'll have cost a pretty penny, you could easily find you've spent 2 grand. I fail to see why you're going tbh but as you are I'd make sure he knows that all meals (when not in the pub!) are his responsibility and the cleaning up too.

And your DH absolutely has to do a practice run in the garden with the tent. Not only does he need to make sure he can pitch it properly, he also needs to make sure all the bits are there, that it's clean, not mouldy, no holes etc.

@breadbreadwine

The plan is to take 2 cars. Il take mine with youngest and he will take his car. Otherwise we would never fit it all in. Plus this way I get to stop half way at the services where he likes to drive straight there.

The pitch has space for two cars and a tent ? But hey, Himself cannot even compromise on the drive over, has to go all his way.

At least by taking 2 cars you can just leave him there . Make sure you take a first aid kit , I ended up with a very sceptic knee after tripping over in the night on a cub camp .

@breadbreadwine

The plan is to take 2 cars. Il take mine with youngest and he will take his car. Otherwise we would never fit it all in. Plus this way I get to stop half way at the services where he likes to drive straight there.

Why isn't he taking the children? And you stop when and where you want anyway?

You really need to put the tent up. I hope the bedroom compartment has blackout lining because if not you are going to be up really early.

That sounds absolutely hellish to me, I'd rather stay home. You're being much more patient and compliant going along with it all then I would have been! I think it's shocking he booked the "holiday" without checking with you first.

Jesus woman why are you doing all the shopping and planning for a trip you don't even want and that he considers his brilliant idea?

I agree with others that after you have done all the shopping for stuff that would make your stay maybe mildly less miserable, you could have just booked a lovely hotel..

This is sounding more like an expedition than a holiday by the minute.

Make sure to stop for a Happy Meal with the little one at the service station - that may turn out to be the only hot meal eaten in relative comfort of the entire trip .

I will leave aside that it is weird for him to book this without discussion since you have agreed to go.

You definitely need air beds (or camp beds if you have room in the car). Take pillows, fleecy pjs and blankets. Put layers under as well as over as the cold comes from the ground. Take chairs, sitting on the ground is tedious. Take lanterns and torches, a stove kettle and cups regardless of whether or not you plan to cook. If you can make warm drinks and snacks it makes the world of difference. If there is room in the car, throw in another blanket.

There will be a video on you tube showing how to put up the tent. Watch and rewatch. Make him watch and rewatch . Practice if you can. I have heard many couples falling out over putting up their tent. Single parent trips are noticeably calmer 😀

You might find the kids sleep great because of all the fresh air. Enjoy.

@osbertthesyrianhamster I didn't even think about that you know.
I just assumed there would be plenty of room being a field 🙈
I'm gonna have to ring parkdene and ask.

I would rather the youngest with me tbh.
I love a service stop for a mooch around.
One of my favs is Gretna services.

You could always join him there the day after, with the children, once he has set up the tent and made it all comfy for you.

I'm gonna have to ring parkdene and ask.

Why? Sit back and relax, tell him you will pack your own clothes, but as he's the camping enthusiast, he can do the rest.

I go camping at least once a year, I don’t love it but DH and kids do, and I love them so go along

Here’s my advice to make the most of it, first of all view it as a different holiday, you’ll eat more junk than normal but my kids view that as part of camping. If it makes you feel better, parkdean have very clean toilet/shower blocks so you’ll be ok there.

My top tip- leave the heater on all night and you’ll have a cosy sleep as temps drop so cold at night!

Take dressing gowns and layers for the bed. We have silver mats under our air beds for insulation, the blanket on the air bed as a sheet, sleep in sleeping bags then have a couple of blankets on top (and if it’s cold you can sleep in dressing gown).

Wear welly’s and take them off in the porch area of the tent, but they’re easy for slipping on to take kids to the loos.

Take a washing up bowl with cutlery/tin cups/plastic plates in and always keep these as a camping thing do you don’t have to remember to pack it each year.

Take camping chairs - cheap ones for the kids but spend a bit extra for comfy ones for you and H as it makes the evening much more present- even if it’s raining you can sit in them in the tent.

Torches- aldi do great kids torches that fasten to their heads which making going to the toilet easier at night- or ‘midnight’ walks more exciting!

Food;

Take ready made breakfast foods, like croissants/pancakes/brioche so you don’t have to worry about milk.

Pot noodles ( for snacks/lunches as you only need hot water)
Tinned soups (or cupa soup), easy to heat in one pan.

Get take outs/fish and chips/eat out so you don’t have to faff with too much cooking.

Pack loads of marshmallows, digestive biscuits and skewers- my teens happiest childhood memories are making s’mores every night while camping.

I hope you have a good time...although I will warn you, every time you go, you find more stuff to buy to add to the camping ‘store’, our attic if full of stuff and we still see items used by other people that look great so we buy them for the next camping trip

@Lweji

You could always join him there the day after, with the children, once he has set up the tent and made it all comfy for you.

Actually if you are taking 2 cars anyway this sounds like a great plan .

Also, check Pinterest for camping meals/one pot meals as there’s loads of ideas on there.

The fact that he's spent £700 on a second hand tent but thought you were all going to sleep directly on the ground, and hasn't purchased camping chairs, tells me a lot about how this is going to go.

Definitely get air beds for yourself and the kids, and get the kids chairs or they'll be stealing yours (I know you're getting the couch but just trust me, kids steal camp chairs)

I have a lot of experience trying to help novice campers set up camp, so my observations are based on many many families, not just my own!

Plenty of torches for everyone, batteries for said torches, blanket for snuggling under in addition to the sleeping bags, proper pillows (kids will be happy with anything but adults probably will want their normal pillows. I mean, you will; obviously the man shape is happy to be directly on the ground )

If you're going to try to cook at all, make sure you have some kind of table (or check the campsites website, they might have tables you can use)

Be careful with tent heaters. I would bring hot water bottles this time of year for your sleeping bags.

If you are bringing plates and cutlery etc, tell him he's doing the washing up. The cooking bit is the easier of the two chores. Remember a washing-up bucket for carrying it all around.

Whomever said this was such a thoughtful thing for him to do, so that you can just 'nip away whenever' in the future is probably not the person doing the drudgery of organising all the shit that isn't just making a one off purchase of a tent and a camping fridge.

Also: knit hats and extra blankets for all. I sleep in my hat this time of year if I'm camping, and I'm not even in Scotland.

I wouldn’t go. That is how much I hate camping. I’ve done it quite a bit and it all kinda of situations so it’s not like I came to this conclusion lightly.

So if it were me I would tell him he is welcome to take the kids on this holiday, but I will be enjoying a staycation solo. Otherwise he can return the tent and we can agree on a plan together.

OP the absolute worst bit about camping is getting home and washing and putting everything away . Make sure he knows he is doing that

Dear god, did I read "toilet block"? It sounds like a POW camp. I've never been camping so my perception is not based on reality. I think the whole thing sounds awful

the more I read those tips here, the more baffled I am why on earth would anyone put themselves through all this ordeal and claim at the end it was a holiday.

@G5000

the more I read those tips here, the more baffled I am why on earth would anyone put themselves through all this ordeal and claim at the end it was a holiday.

this!