Can a camping trip be labelled a complete and utter failure if you give up at 3.30am and retreat to your Mothers spare bedroom.

[Slubberdegullion]

I mean how hard can one night of camping be....in your parents back garden?

Honestly?

Lovely therm a rests I ordered on mon didn't turn up in time, so DC had to sleep on 300 blankets, and DH and I slept on the most ridiculously enormous 3 tiered air bed.

Burnt expensive sausages on bbq.

DC so excited and sugar pumped (by my mother who virtually gave them biscuits intravenously) while we put the tent up, that they didn't go to sleep until 9.45pm.
Is this normal?

DH shouted new phrase of rage:
"I'm so angry I'm going to shatter into a thousand pieces".

Rain.

Airbed leaked, causing buttocks to sink to the floor, and legs/ankles to rise up with head. Awoke to the sound of dd1 vomiting and was unable to free myself. Cue 5 mins of struggling/cursing to extricate myself from the blessed thing.

Vomit in new sleeping bag. dd1 coughing so hard also shat herself a bit.

beaker of water spilt.

Trod on glasses in the afray.

So I waved the white flag, and we gave up.

So, just remind me, Oh MN happy campers, this malarkey at some point becomes enjoyable does it?

[LittleB]

This is so funny and so familiar! dd (2) threw up in her ready bed on first night of camping, luckily had spare grobag, but not fun to clean though. Me & Dh tried to zip sleping bags together, unfortunately we've both grown width ways in the last 10 yrs since we last went camping and it was a bit squahed, gave up in night and unzipped, dh couldn't zip his up properly so froze(his toggles were tangled!) and also leaking airbed and feet higher than head, BBQ stand that collapsed and sent sausgaes everywhere, at least the dog had a good time! Did have a box of wine though (over 3 nights not all in one go) boxes easier than bottles camping, that was our excuse, but can say that a hangover on last morning after struggling to finish box so didin't have to waste it/pack it, was a bit rough! Off again Thursday if the weather improves.

[miljee]

Our first ever camping trip was when I was 4 and in the Lake District. Picked a very rural site in Borrowdale. Dad couldn't understand why all the other campers were clustered together at one side of the pitch, so we set up in glorious isolation the other side. The first night, the wind howled and the rain chucked so dad got up and slung a rope over the tent to try and assure it stayed anchored to the ground but unfortunately this, and the fact we didn't know not to have anything touching the sides of a canvas tent meant that, come the morning, it was actually raining INSIDE the tent, and there was a babbling mountain brook flowing THROUGH the tent.... We and everything inside it were drenched. HOWEVER, to mum's and dad's credit, they stuck it out (and we had glorious weather from then on) so we've been camping ever since, though a little wiser now!!

OFF topic here, but one thing that does annoy me a bit- my mother now in her 70's, takes the p* out of 'how much stuff' we now take camping compared with what they took BUT I'd say 90% of the 'extras' we take are things that make MY job as 'mum' easier! So I don't spend the whole trip doing house work, heating water to wash up, hand wash clothing (if at all necessary!), fetching fresh milk etc every 5 minutes. She also laughs uproariously at my desire for internet access BUT I find it SO helpful being able to look at an upto date weather forecast and rainfall radar!

[ArcticRoll]

Sorry to hear about your first experience of camping but hope you don't give up on the joys of canvas.
You are now fully paid up member of camping frternity as true campers have to have at least one tale of disaster and woe.
Last year whilst camping my ds son vommited in centre of Padstow as brass band was in full flow.
Then spent night vomitting in tent joined by dh.
I developed really bad vertigo and we had to try to pack up tent feeling really ill and poor dh had to drive six hours whilst still feeling ill.
Returned to same campsite this summer and exorcised the memories and had fab time!

[twinsetandpearls]

THe only reason kids go to bed early on a a camping trip is because you ahve made them walk for miles in the day - I don;t think a trek down the garden is quite enough!

Our first camping trip was a disaster as we were unprepared but once we got a proper tent, airbeds and decent sleeping bags we have loved it.

Our trip this week was a slight disaster as it took us 24 hours to find a campsite with a vacancy which meant sleeping in the car and dp managed to get our car stuck on the edge of a very windy uphill road with a drop behind our back wheel - we were stranded until morning. BUt as expat says as soon as you get back onto terra firma with a pint in your hand the disaster becomes an adventure.