Camper’s chat, gather round the campfire!

[BoudiccaOfSuburbia]

Are you camping now? I’m not, but will go next week I think, and have been once last month.

What do you love best about camping?

For me I love the sound of rain on my tent (a cotton canvas Dutch pyramid), being cosy.. but outdoors in the fresh air at the same time, late nights by the campfire, a peaceful dawn drinking coffee with a great view!

I like ‘wild style’ type sites with loads of space, and no music or amplified sound allowed. No EHU.

What’s your camping style?

im snugging up in my bear fur knowing theres nothing else i want right now. my cheeks are frozen and i hide under the blanket a little. outside my tent is snow and ice for miles, i've been waiting for this moment all day.

Wow! That sounds fab @newmyname !

I know we have dodgy unseasonal weather, but are you in the Northern Hemisphere ?

it's right up in the mountains anyway. i come here for peace, and that comfort you can only get being warm surrounded by ice and blizzards, if only for a sleep.

Nowhere near as far from the world and gloriously isolated as @newmyname , though that sounds wonderful!

Ours is massive tent with room to shelter from the rain, big open site with campfires and bbqs, loads of space between freely chosen pitches, enough room for kids to play cricket without disturbing anyone. I want loos (sawdust is fine) and hot showers, and like it if there’s a freezer for ice packs and somewhere to charge a power pack every now and again. I like to set up house and potter around the site, sitting outside the tent and eating wrapped up warm with views of the horizon and the stars at night. No music, though if someone has something faintly playing a good way away, and I can hear indistinct convivial chatter, that’s nice.

@BoudiccaOfSuburbia will you join me .ill push my fingertip here you do the same, go to th hollow betweeen here and yuou

I’m right there @newmyname

And that sounds a perfect site @Talipesmum .

I can look at the horizon and the night sky for hours.

Anyone camping for the meteor shower in August?

We go by motorcycle so small tent! We tend to meet up with other bikers (private events) and like a to party

We were camping for it last year - at least, a good few days before the peak, but we saw a few, was glorious! I found a clear night was more important than it being exactly on the peak of the perseids. So for anyone camping around the date, def look out if the sky is clear.

Bike rallies?

We have a canvas touraeg tent and awning with a wood burning stove. Only the two of us and so we have lots of room. We camp on a very small adult only site with views over the hills, buzzards and red kites overhead and beautiful dark skies at night. We have EHU for the fridge and charging phones, water and elsan point. There are no toilets or showers so we take our own en-suite in a utility tent (pump up shower and a paddling pool and a chemical toilet). We have camped in 30C, -5C with snow, torrential rain, gales and storms and absolutely loved every second. I sleep very badly at home, but camping seems to regulate my sleep.

I love those Touareg tents .

And would love a wood burner, but camping in autumn and early spring is an issue because with the damp air and a canvas tent I have to live with my tent propped over the step ladders in my only livjng space if I have a damp / wet pack up.

My campfire cooking equipment includes a grill that goes over the fire, a Dutch Pot and a pie iron. The actual cooking can be a bit hit and miss 😂

Sounds great 👍 where do you live?

EHU but no toilets?
Is it predominantly a caravan site?

I often go to sites with no EHU (never use it myself) and that have compost toilets, that site sounds idyllic, but I’m not ready to add a camping toilet to my kit list.

Solo caravanning, anyone do ir or am I weird?

I know people who go campervanning solo.

Solo caravanning doesn’t sound weird at all to me! I often camp (tent) solo.

What adventures do you have @Polomuncher ?

My solo trips tend to be 2 - 4 nights and involve walks I want to do, or visiting parts of the country where friends live.

OH will go away alone in the MoHo if I don't feel like it or he wants to go somewhere I am not bothered about.
Done it for years, never thought there was anything strange about it.

The only reason I am not tempted to go alone is that I don't have C1 on my license so I cannot drive our moho (over 3.5t).

I have never towed and feel sure I would never get the hang of it. Except in a straight line. And given the number of times I have headed into a small cut de sac or even a farm gate which is 5m before the road I should turn into, this could be disastrous .

All credit to you @Polomuncher

I love a very peaceful site. Last month we stayed at one where the toilet was in a very spidery shed! But hardly anyone else was camped there and it was bliss. I do also quite like a little bit of atmosphere so we change it up sometimes. Sitting outside with DH and a bottle of red wine listening to chatter from other tents is really relaxing to me. I prefer a more wild site though. We have 3 more camping trips this summer - one where we’re designated a pitch and the other two we’ll just find a spot.

We get spoilt with food vans when we camp now though. They’re everywhere and even on the most basic sites! So we need to up our game with camp-cookery because it’s made us lazy. Nothing beats a cooked breakfast on the gas stove though.

You guys are all hard-core. We're off tomorrow to the Lake District. Can't wait to sit with my first tea of the day and watch the world go by. You can sit out and there's no midges! DH looking forward to our customary evening walk around the campsite admiring tents, caravans and campervans.

I love the Lakes, but usually get a cottage there.

Please let this weather improve, I haven’t planned anything but I need to take off the weekend after next and get some sea swimming in.

Ive just come back from 10 days in Cornwall - a commercial campsite with EHU, facilities and suchlike but very quiet and about 1/4 mile walk to the beach. It was amazing. I was in my GoPod caravan with awning - two adult children joined for 5 of the 10 days which was lovely but I really enjoyed the time I spent on my own. And now I've towed, pitched and put up and down the awning on my own I'm raring for the next trip! Thinking of South Wales or maybe a long weekend to the New Forest.

Oooh @blobby10 that sounds amazing! Well done!

Was it a bit quieter because the school hols are not yet in full swing?

My next trip will be first half of August, I need to be in an area handy for Dungeness. Anyone been to any quiet / natural / wild style / back to basics tent sits in Kent or Kent / E Sussex borders?

Oh, and it’s camping week in Aldi. Not much caught my eye though. Luckily.

@BoudiccaOfSuburbia yes it very quiet as only Scotland, Leicestershire and some north western counties break up early July! From 26th the site will be rammed apparently ☺️☺️x

It will! I haven’t managed to get in enough camping this year before the school hol watershed!

Just reading another thread about what is needed for camping.. I wonder if we could have a MN announcement at the start of camping threads? Something like “You may well think it witty and original to suggest ‘a hotel’ when anyone asks what they need… but it isn’t. It’s a Bingo! Moment on every thread. So please save our bandwidth”