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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to shut down the idea of a camping holiday?

92 replies

SayNoToCamping · 03/08/2023 14:38

A friend wants to go away with me on a U.K break. I'm more than happy to go alone but I don't mind going as a pair. The trouble is that she'll only ever sleep under canvas on holiday and I'd sooner be flayed alive. She's already looking at camping grounds and I said I'll be in a hotel/BnB but She still keeps sending me details of camping grounds. AIBU to say that I won't be going at all if it involves camping.

I've no intention of stopping her from camping, we could meet up but I camped once and despised it and have vowed never again so I'm certainly not doing it for a second time.

AIBU to suggest that we just meet up during the day or go our separate ways?

OP posts:
AlisonDonut · 03/08/2023 16:06

I don't do camping or glamping either.

I camped in the 90s and ended up with a big plastic bottle of cider wrapped in my jeans as a pillow.

I tried glamping in the Dordogne. I booked a hotel in Paris at 2am on the third night, after the temperature in the woods being so hot I couldn't breathe in the mini kitchen (a shed with no electricity), having to walk 200 steps up the hill to use the loo, and having a beast snaffling round the tent all night long...which is when I googled 'air conditioned hotels Paris' and just booked it. I started packing at 4 am and was almost done wheny OH finally woke up at 6.

So I'm with you. I'd just tell her make sure there is a campsite near your hotel if she wants you to meet up in the day.

ViviPru · 03/08/2023 16:11

We are regular campers, I love it but I would never insist a friend who is as violently opposed to it as you are come along. We all know it’s a marmite thing. Not to mention the fact that accumulating the volume and standard of gear required to elevate it from a tent in a field to a genuinely enjoyable experience takes a while and is very personal - she couldn’t just expect to share her gear with you and that be adequate IMO.

If you enjoy her company and are keen on the idea of a holiday together then as others have said, you should keep an open mind about holiday cabins co-located with a touring site. They can be extremely luxurious and are completely weathertight. She can pitch her tent in the vicinity. It could be a nice way for you to both enjoy your own styles of accommodation concurrently.

Yellowlegobrick · 03/08/2023 16:11

Some campsites have chalet type accommodation as well as tent pitches. Could you look for something like that so you're in the same site but both get what you like?

ViviPru · 03/08/2023 16:12

It seems a lot of people on this thread think glamping begins and ends at a damp yurt in a field a mile from a long drop composting toilet…

WickedSerious · 03/08/2023 16:13

CalistoNoSolo · 03/08/2023 14:41

Not in the slightest bit unreasonable. How bizarre that she only does camping holidays though.

We have a friend who will only do camping holidays,I've never seen the appeal of them.

I reckon I'd need two weeks next to a pool with a cocktail in each hand to get over a weekend in one of those £4.00 a night for a shit and a shower camp sites.

DappledThings · 03/08/2023 16:19

I love camping. Been for three nights last week and already sad I won't get to go again till next year. But there's no point going if you'll hate it. We have friends who love it and some who wouldn't dream of trying it. Never tried to convince the latter to join us, what's the point?

Your friend is being somewhat single-minded. Maybe she has nobody she can camp with and is really hoping you'll indulge her but she'll have to accept it's not going to happen.

JenniferBarkley · 03/08/2023 16:22

YANBU. If I don't have a) an en suite and b) a bedroom at least as nice as my own at home then it's not a holiday.

Quitelikeacatslife · 03/08/2023 16:28

We only go camping in large groups with other families, it's good fun and kids can run feral. But DH hates it and now refuses, so he books himself in to local luxurious hostel and sleeps there, I can give you details if you like as is near nice campsite and decent pubs in the middle to meet with your friend

Quitelikeacatslife · 03/08/2023 16:29

Saying that, we have stayed here, is genuinely luxurious, en-suite, hot tub proper bed etc

www.catgillfarm.co.uk/timber-pods.html

SlightlygrumpyBettyswaitress · 03/08/2023 16:35

I detest camping. Literally the only time I went as a grown up was to Glastonbury.
I have a holiday rule that anywhere I stay has to be as nice as home.
Tell her you don't want to go on holiday with her cos you like different things

SlightlygrumpyBettyswaitress · 03/08/2023 16:36

See me and @JenniferBarkley would get along fine

MoserRothOrangeandAlmond · 03/08/2023 16:41

The closest I've came to camping was in a camping pod, that had a real bed, shower and toilet inside and a kitchenette!
The owners of the glamping site brought a cooked breakfast to your door. All I had to do was toast my toast! 😊 brilliant!

Anything else I would hate! I go on holiday to not work hard and stay in comfortable surroundings. If I can't do that I'd go on a day trip and stay at home!

Mydustymonstera · 03/08/2023 16:46

but glamping does have solid walls & a roof!

ReviewingTheSituation · 03/08/2023 16:48

Quitelikeacatslife · 03/08/2023 16:29

Saying that, we have stayed here, is genuinely luxurious, en-suite, hot tub proper bed etc

www.catgillfarm.co.uk/timber-pods.html

Those pods look lovely, but I struggle to see how they are 'glamping'. I guess they have the 'glam' part, but no link to the camping part of glamping whatsoever! They're basically a very small holiday cottage. And £225 per night too...

I'm a big fan of camping (4 nights MAX), and partial to a spot of glamping too. But for that money I'm in a nice boutique hotel/B&B somewhere.

CornedBeef451 · 03/08/2023 16:49

Not unreasonable at all. I won't camp for anything now, no chance.

Just be very firm and make it clear she can do what she wants but you'll be booking a nice B&B or hotel nearby.

maddening · 03/08/2023 16:53

I can send you details of 2 places with glamping pods that are £30-60 per night even in peak summer if you want - compromise that might work for you both. One is on Ulleswater in the Lakes and the other in the formerly named "Brecon Beacons "

ThinWomansBrain · 03/08/2023 16:54

I'm off to a nice cottage tomorrow on a smallholding - there are shepherds huts and camping in the same place.
somewhere like that might be an option?

I went to a festival last month, friends glamped, I headed for the nearest Premier Inn.

TruthThatsHardAsSteel · 03/08/2023 16:55

whumpthereitis · 03/08/2023 15:21

You don’t actually have to do something to know you’ll hate it. I’ve never shot myself in the face, but I can reasonably assume that I’m not going to find it an enjoyable leisure activity.

YANBU OP, fuck that.

Was that really a necessary reference? Very poor taste.

whumpthereitis · 03/08/2023 17:11

TruthThatsHardAsSteel · 03/08/2023 16:55

Was that really a necessary reference? Very poor taste.

Show quote history

Yes.
And thank you.

pictoosh · 03/08/2023 17:17

I love camping, I really do. Nothing is sure to spoil it for me than going with someone who hates it, therefore it's not something I'd ever try to push on another person. Yanbu. She is being stubborn.

TwoPots13Pans · 03/08/2023 17:19

Why would think that you are being U to dictate how you spend your money? Do you have broader self-esteem issues OP? You're certainly quite forthright about your distaste for camping on this thread.

Look at this way. SHE has decided that she doesn't want anything else other than camping. Why would you be U and not her?

boatyardblues · 03/08/2023 17:21

YANBU. Shame you didn’t add a vote. I find camping mystifying as a concept and would love to know if I’m in the majority or minority. A proper bed and a flushing toilet, or I’d rather stay at home. Log cabin in the woods? 👍 It’s not nature I object to, it’s discomfort.

iolaus · 03/08/2023 17:26

Why did you agree?

clearly holiday wise the two of you are not compatible

drpet49 · 03/08/2023 17:43

CalistoNoSolo · 03/08/2023 14:41

Not in the slightest bit unreasonable. How bizarre that she only does camping holidays though.

This. Sounds like hell.

IncompleteSenten · 03/08/2023 17:47

Yanbu.
If you don't like it, there's no reason for you to do it.

Next time she sends camping site info maybe reply looks like a nice area. I'll have a look and see what hotels are nearby so we can meet up during the day.