Why are people scared of camping?

[Cathycat]

I'm off tomorrow. I am sooo excited. But if I mention it to some people I get the "ooh, I've always wondered about camping but..." But what?! Am I missing something!? What are people so frightened of? I know that camping has risen in popularity recently probably due to the recession but there still seems to be a bunch of people who would rather do nothing but spend their money on day trips to theme parks all summer rather than go chilling and camping. Is the showers? Would they like to be in a posh hotel or nothing? Very strange! Can anyone clarify? They don't know what they're missing!

I'm afraid of having to go to the toilet in the middle of the night,and I dislike discomfort.Phew,there, I said it. I wouldn't admit it in public.

People are wusses. I am off tomorrow too to Swiss International in Henley on Thames. Going with the mother in law and 2 DCs. Haven't been camping since I was about 12 but I did live out of the back of a landrover on a campsite for 3 months while travelling.

I am really looking forward to it. Fresh air, kids running around in open spaces, the achievement of getting the tent up. We have this one so it is a bit tricky

www.worldofcamping.co.uk/shop/Sunncamp_Vista_800_large_4_person_tent__1201

DH refuses to go as he likes his creature comforts too much. In fact it seems to be more men than women that I know who dislike the idea which surprises me really (bit sexist but hey...)

NEWSFLASH: not everyone likes the same things as you.

not afraid so much as dislike not having my toilet close by and having to 'share' showers

HAving said that I am a recent convert now the dcs are older and do not need night time trips and I have discovered that I should shower immediately after the block has been cleaned

sorry - i hate camping, def not a wuss but i dislike (not in any particular order) ones small dcs waking at stupid o clock becuase of the light, v. uncomfy beds, random nature noises all night (and am very keen on nature), trying to cook for 6 on one ring, not having any food/drink properly chilled, being miles from loos/showers (or there not being any), having to wrestle with tent up and down in the rain, sweet fa to do when it's raining, trying to read by torchlight when dcs asleep, shall i go on.
I can get fresh air and have my kids running round in fresh air at home in spades without any of the above mentioned disavantages, oh and it's not particularly cheap either.

Perhaps that's why I'm ok about it. I camp but have every gadget - a flushable toilet, a twin ring hob and grill with cupboard, a fridge ... all mod cons. Every year our gadget list gets bigger! I go to campsites with family bathrooms or at least very decent showers!

I have to say I never ever thought I'd enjoy camping as I do love my creature comforts. But after a weekend in Bath on a campsite in not fantastic weather, I can honestly say I loved it. We had more money to spend on days out because you don't have to have an expensive campsite, the kids are happy running about and playing with all the other kids, I sat for hours reading. Bliss! I can't wait to go in 2 weeks time!!!

Maybe it's not so much that they are scared of it as that it's not very comfortable.

I'm not keen on shared toilets and showers and noise, for example, all of which are part and parcel with camping.

So, what bibbity said. Horses for courses.

I used to love it when I was younger, but now, with young children, to me it would just be a PITA.

So you're not so much camping as taking a portable home with you, Cathycat?

I dislike camping because I don't sleep very well - and yes, I've tried a range of v expensive sleeping bags/mats etc and have had to conclude that it's the 'being in a tent' thing that's the problem. My DC go to sleep late because it's all 'so exciting,' then wake early so they are tired grumps. After a few days all our stuff feels damp. Yuk. Loos/showers - there's something unpleasant about cleaning one's teeth 2m away from a stranger having a smelly poo.
And I really don't get all the back to nature business, as at the moment campsites seem to be really busy, so mainly I'm aware of being surrounded by other people!

I'm aware that that makes me sound a right old moaner - and I very probably am!
(We're off camping next week.....)

If we can't afford a self-catering lodge, we don't go.

For all the reasons Clenched mentioned.

Plus, our kids are still quite young. That whole tent shit would drive me round the twist.

Seriously, I'd have to smoke weed.

I don't think they're scared. They are more liekly to be thinking:

what a bummer in teh rain
no toilet at hand in teh night
all very cramped
far fewer options of how to while away the evening
can't take as much as nowhere to store it
they like to feel swish and chic on hol

Also, you need to spend quite a bit of money initially when you don't know if you;d like it or not so there's a reluctance to waste money.

We don't holiday in summer usually because we cannot afford it.

We tend to go for the October break up here in Scotland.

Toilet, kitchen, shower, walls that are a bit more soundproof between me and other people.

These are things that I enjoy having.

I'm not scared of going without them, but if there's a choice I would rather not.

rain = big slugs

I love camping, but the things that I dislike most when I'm there are the showers (and yes, the teeth brushing a couple of feet away from strangers pooing!). I see it as a necessary evil, but I do hate it.

I also dislike the way parents can sometimes get too relaxed whilst they're there. Unfortunately I can't say that I'm exempt from this myself

Ear-wigs hiding in every seam.

It's purely practical stuff that puts me off trying. I don't have a car, and there's only DD and I and I've no idea how I'd get a reasonable sized tent up with just us.

I also don't fancy the idea of having wet clothes lying about which is likely given the shit weather we have.

If the weather was guaranteed I'd be tempted to go to Loch Lomond which is taxiable with two 2 man tents (one for sleeping, one for storage), just for a couple of nights but of course it's not.

I;d need a site with plenty for DD too so we could just stay there.

I bought a cheapo tent to camp in the garden this summer, it's still in the box!

I'm not scared of camping, I just don't want the hassle of setting up/striking tents etc, especially in bad weather.

I will do eurocamping - where everything is set up for me, and there's even a fridge for my vino.

Just watching Holiday Showdown where one half was on Shell Island, which looks glorious but I do like at least a decent toilet and sink, ta very muchly.

what cat64 said. I'm not scared of camping exactly but the prospect doesn't fill me with glee. I don't like constantly feeling unclean, which I do when camping. You have dirt/sand on your feet all the timp. And you feel like all your clothes are slightly dirty and slightly damp. Yes, I am wimp.

I'm thinking now of all the poor bastards camping in the entire western side of scotland right now, including the Western Isles and Hebrides.

It's been pissing down rain all fucking day.

At least, in a lodge, there's a TV, you can bring your DVD player and Wii, there are sockets for your laptop and you can bring your dongle, you can soak in the bath, cook a nice hot meal and do the washing up, sit down and eat and be dry, fall asleep listening to the pleasant patter of the rain, knowing it won't penetrate the walls and the floor won't be full of water.

Bliss.

No lodge or caravan, no me. Simples.

It's the having to wear flip flops in scum soup showers that puts me off. We do overnight/festival camping and stay scuzzy until we get home.

also, camping in the west of scotland in teh rain with millions of midges would be utter hell. No escape.

We've just been 'glamping', which was great, but I only just managed to love a long weekend of it, with a proper bed and a loo etc.

I don't know if I could hack real camping. It's all so labour intensive and just not relaxing. My idea of fun is the antithesis of camping - I want lovely food and heat and luxury that i don't get at home.