Trailer tent

[Aug12]

Hi there,

We have just bought a trailer tent! I am completely new to this.. we go on camping holidays regularly but always stay in a residential on site so this is new territory. It comes with a cooker and bottle of gas but I will need to buy everything else.

I am currently 6month pregnant and have an 18month old and a 5yr old on the ASD spectrum. I am hoping to book pitches with electric hook ups, is this usually allowed or are they for campers/caravans only?

Any camping hacks/tips with kids or best buys.. basically, any advice from seasoned campers welcome! Thanks

We always booked electronic hook up with our trailer tent. We bought a cable so we could power a little electric chiller, chargers and a little portable DVD player we had. It was brilliant having electricity with our trailer tent, now long gone, after previously just having tents.

We have EHU with our tent, lots of sites offer nice grass pitches with EHU.

We read a lot of reviews before booking a d don't just rely on the rating review. For instance I've seen people give 5* reviews because they let them have BBQs till 1am and didn't enforce the rules, that would be a nightmare for us, we like it quiet after 11pm

Oh and I don't know if you want to ask on the SN Children Section for tips on camping with a DC with ASD. My top tips would be to give them their own bedroom, we take a favourite throw to make it more comfy, sun hat abs sunglasses for when they're outside a quiet campsites.

We loved our trailer tent, our dds were 3 and 7 months when we first got it.

It can take a while to set up - depending on size of awning, so always make sure you have an easy meal planned for the first night.

Also after a long drive getting to site you don't need everything in place within the first hour - see above point about taking time to set up.

Definitely use electric hook-up. We had a little fridge and led light steps that we hang through the awning - great for the adults once the kids are in bed.

Get a portable toilet for kids and night time wees, it's not bad cleaning them and they're worth their weight in gold.

Our trailer tent had storage built in so we left plastic plates, cups, glasses, cutlery, kettle and pans in the there - so just needed food and we're good to go.

Don't forget games and wine!

Welcome to trailer tent ownership! We upgraded from a tent 2 years ago after many years of camping, and love it. As others have said, yes to getting EHU, but the biggest bonus is being able to choose between grass and hardstanding pitches depending on the weather/time of year (in a tent you are limited to grass). Being able to store most stuff in it between trips has made packing much quicker and my loft a bit emptier too!

My only thought is do you have a DH/DP coming with you? The awning will be a 2 person job even once you are well versed in putting it up IME. After 2 yrs (and quite a few trips) DH can now manage it with the help of our 7 & 9yo DCs once I've helped him get it zipped onto the main tent, which frees me up to set up more inside.

Getting bits for it will take time. I am still adding little items each trip that I've worked out will make life easier, despite already having a lot of gear from camping I could transfer straight into it - stuff like the metal storage baskets that hook over undersink cupboard doors are great for hanging over the top bars of the frame to store wash bags, washing up stuff etc. Other extras that are now permanently stored in there are things like skipping ropes, a frisby, Uno, a box of Lego bricks, and colouring books & pencils. Don't forget a mini fire extinguisher!

For the east food fir the first night, I usually cook and freeze a chilli and we have it with those tortilla chips from Lidl. It's a bit of a tradition now and it only needs warming up

Some great advice above, only things I can think of are
If you can set up and camp in the garden, practice setting up it does seem mad but once on site you will be set up in no time with no stress and should have all you need.
Some ideas
Medication
Head Torch
Wellies
Cheap Crocs for showers
We leave phone chargers, leads and a fully charged power bank in our camper van.
If each child has something they are responsible for they will have ownership and a job to do whilst setting up, our youngest was tent peg knocker inner.