Camping in my car?

[User76443998]

To cut a long story short….

My child will be away for a week in the summer on a music camp. My child wants to go but often struggles being away from home and there is a 50/50 chance I will need to visit during the week or take my child out for a night “off” midweek (I would book a local hotel for a night if this happens).

There is also the possibility that they will be fine and not need me!

I would LOVE a break while they are at camp. A night or two away by the sea. The camp is in Devon and I love Cornwall.

I don’t want to book anywhere because a) money is as tight as tight can be and b) I might need to cancel for the reasons above.

I know Cornwall really well. Is it crazy to think I could go down for a few nights and camp in my car? Just parking on quiet residential roads? There is a local leisure centre in the town I would stay in that I can use for showers and I’d be swimming in the sea every day anyway. THIS IS JUST FOR ME, I ABSOLUTELY WOULD NOT CAR CAMP WITH MY CHILD.

Is it safe? I’d curl up on the back seat with a window open a crack and be covered with a duvet…

AIBU? I’m sure I’ll get some interesting replies. Off to sleep now so hope for some wisdom in the morning!

The campsites I know wouldn’t allow sleeping in a car (I have checked) and are expensive in the summer anyway. And the problem remains that if I can’t make it down I’d lose the money…

I’ve only slept in my car once when there was an accident and the road was closed so I had no option! But it was surprisingly ok and not too uncomfortable!

Not sure you read my first post accurately 😂

@chocoluv
”FWIW one of my DC is ND and suffers from anxiety.
If they know that I can pick them up anytime, then they’d be fine.
If they think I’m hours away and stuck there, then they’d really panic.
And so I can absolutely see why you’re doing this.
And if you were that much of a helicopter parent, then you’d be demanding to stay at the same place or not even letting them go.
You are helping your child build their resilience and independence, which is great!”

Thank you so much. You definitely understand our family dynamic! Xx

Get on the Facebook groups for camping for under £10 a night. They will have cheap and free places. Some pubs will let you use their carpark as long as you’ve had a dinner there.

Definitely safer to be somewhere you are allowed to be than just a residential street.

About the car alarm, this is how I get round it:open a front door, lock the car then close the door and manually click the lock. It stopped the alarm going off.

It'll be absolutely fine OP. I had a camper van for a while and I parked in residential streets in Cambridge for a week. I chose the ends of roads on an estate, so next to a hedge rather than directly in front of someone's house.

Just don't stay in the same place for more than one night and arrive later in the evening. If you're uncomfortable, move as soon as you wake up and get yourself ready somewhere else. Wee in a jug and tip down drain. Puppy pads and dog poo bags for emergency poo situations.

Look at It's Van Life on YouTube. She has a tiny van with no facilities and she's travelled all round Europe. Oh you can also get the Park 4 Night app and also some pubs will let you park in their car parks if you buy something to eat.

its really not that deep!
do it!! Dont listen to anyone else- like you say- if your car broke down you’d have to sleep in the back of your car- treat it like that!
theres a girl on TikTok who is forever sleeping in the back of her little jeep in Random places and festivals and people think she’s brilliant! Do it! Grab that freedom while you have the chance! Hope you have a fab time and enjoy yourself :)

Could you look at ‘Host a Sister’?

There are loads of restrictions about the length of stay, with cameras and hefty fines. Ideal if not!

Do it. Have a plan to move fast if you need to. E.g. keys where you can grab them.
Only question is if there are any really cheap campsites where you can car camp. Watch out for the fines in car parks.

Maybe some help on these sites: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2322605511132678/posts/7996786873714485/

They are going on a music camp, they can't be particularly young.

A friend of mine does it in a Citroen C3 Picasso. Normally up in the lakes for the occasional night.

I think she has some curtains/method of blocking the windows.

If you were to do it a lot then a stealth camper might be your next car. A white van that looks like a van from the outside but kitted out with a bed inside.

No windows or heavily tinted and a curtain blocking the front from the back.

You could have just a mattress in the back right up to a fully fitted camper..... kitchen, heater, fold out bed, storage.

This is such a weird post. Surely going to a music camp US working on this child’s anxiety? What better way of pushing against separation anxiety could their bed than this sort of exercise?

@Laurmolonlabe

I’m glad you’re here to give advice, not just for me but for anyone else on this thread who doesn’t know what the precise “age where going away from home for a few nights should not be a problem.”

So please tell me. What is the specific age when children can be away from home with no problem? It’s clearly a blanket age for all children. Some children must just be a bit crap if they reach this mythical age and are not 100% ok being away from home. Either that or it’s their parents fault. Specifically probably the mothers. It’s normally the mother’s fault, right? 🫣

Yeah. The majority of children away at camp are a bit anxious occasionally or a bit homesick. Totally normal. The important thing (I think) is that children only go if they really want to and that the parents then do what is necessary to support their child while they are away.

I’ll look at this, thank you. Interested in helping other people out too where we live (really popular place for visitors but inland!)

Battery pack or I can charge my phone from my car.

Do it OP,it'll be fine,take warm bedding though as it gets chilly in cars . Also look for a personal urinal in case you get caught short.

id find an area where people are parking up their camper vans. You can get a collapsible camping loo off amazon which solidifies any urine that you then throw away in the bag. I’m you can get a small back packing tent for under £100. You’re likely to run into issues on a residential street. Look for overnight parking

Look up Brit stop app. There are plenty of pubs across the uk where you can park your camper in their car park overnight so long as you spend some money in the pub in the evening. May be an option? Have fun!

Well no one thinks they will lose their phone, or have it stolen but these things happen a lot. I live in the SW and my DH is in the police force here. There’s a lot of moving people on. Residents get really annoyed with tourists at the best of times. There’s plenty of cheaper campsites in both Devon and Cornwall inland/farmers field - one we use in Cornwall is £17 per night. That’s not going be too dissimilar to overnight parking charges You could give the camp site details to your child’s camp leaders

Really? By following them in your car so that if they have a meltdown you are close by- these camps must be swarming with parents then. What is the point of going away if the parents go too?
Anxiety issomething we all struggle with at some stage- but this is not the way of getting over, it is just a way of avoiding it.

Go for it ,if you don’t like it you can always drive home .

I’m not following my child in my car. I live in the south east. The camp is in Devon. I’d like to go to Cornwall for a couple of nights. The bonus is that if my child DOES need me, I’m not that far away. I’m not planning to camp out at the drive to his music camp with my face pressed to the glass, weeping and hoping for a glimpse of my poor baby… 😂

I didn’t use the word meltdown. No meltdowns expected.

I am encouraging my child to push himself and go to a camp he has been to before and loved. He doesn’t know that I’ll be going to Cornwall (I’ll still be a good two hours away from him!). I’m keeping it very flexible.

He DOES know that if he really needs me I will be there. As do the camp leaders. When I have gone to see him before this has been a decision made jointly by me and the leaders.

No one will be more delighted than me if he doesn’t need to see me and if he gets absorbed in camp and has a wonderful week. He managed the whole week once before but had a sibling with him. He’s on his own this year but will have plenty of friends there. So I’m hopeful!

But I do think that all children need to know that if they really, really need their mum or dad, we will be there. That’s not wet or pathetic. It’s actually the opposite.

As @hishy said
”Sounds like you know exactly what you're doing with respect to fostering your children's independence and resilience. They'll jump higher from a secure base.”

My last post was in response to you. Captain Empathy 🫣

I say do it, I do it as a lone female along Northumberland coast it's beautiful and so peaceful alone with no kids or family, might sound selfish to some but we all need some alone time sometimes. Embrace your few days of freedom 🤗