Camping...be honest...do you really enjoy it?

[OrkneyGirl]

I'm typing this in a field in Cornwall. I love the idea of camping but, honestly, is it really a holiday? My neighbour is snoring. I've got to wash up at a sink area with no roof. The tent is starting to ming because it's been so wet. I could go on! And the one thing I never seem to get right is sleeping comfortably. I've tried blow up mattress, camp bed, blow up mattress on camp bed - all just a bit uncomfortable and making me want the comfort of a double bed with a cosy duvet!

my ex used to rave about camping, one of the many reasons he is an ex. I dont know what was worse; sitting in this kind of bubble made of dark material with plastic windows you could not see out of. shower blocks packed with screaming kids water than varied from scalding to freezing, floor of showers full of grass bits and god knows what, toilets which were good or bad depending on the users. people keeping you awake talking radios or whatever dogs barking or people getting passionate! no matter what bed it was cold and uncomfy.
going back to toilets some places were posh custom built some were just like a rather rickety garden sheds with dubious toilets.
i like my own company can spend hours reading etc but my god I was bored very quickly. meals were dire and trekking miles to wash up in someone else's gunge in freezing cold nope
luckily now my partner likes chalets or caravans at the least

Can think of nothing worse, I like holidays to be better than home 😂

Very grateful for my DSIS who has just taken my boys for 3 nights camping, because they love it

Campervan “camping” is bloody uncomfortable too. No space once the bed is down. Even with a mattress topper bed is like concrete. Everything gets damp. Guaranteed to rain. Have to use the bloody thing though as I insisted we buy one and that it would be such fun. £19000 for, so far, 3 nights away in 2 years. Could’ve spent a few weeks travelling the world for that 🙄Camping in any for is not fun

Camping in any form

Camping is so much more enjoying when you are properly 'set up'. We are currently on day 10 in France and none of us are ready to come home!! The campsite facilities are very important. Make sure you find a place with clean toilets and showers!

No I hate camping and will never do it again.

Hate camping in this country as, for me, the whole thing hinges on good weather, so we always went to France. The set-up/breakdown was a pain but once done I loved the simplicity of camping and the feeling of always being outside - but you need good weather for it.

What finally killed it for me was a holiday during COVID where our usual overnight stops on the way home had to be in a campsite rather than a hotel - ordinarily too much faff to put up the tent for one night- and it rained each time. Packing away a wet tent three days running, plus the feeling of cold/damp in a wet tent and nowhere to hang anything made me realise after 40+ years of camping that I'd probably had enough. We bought a 2 berth caravan instead. It's great, bed is sooo much more comfortable and has served us well in wet weather (Pyrenees last year) - BUT I still miss that element of simplicity you get from camping. Not sure what the answer is.

Agree with all of this - we camped with friends in France on a beautiful site which was privately owned for many years, lovely peaceful atmosphere, great restaurant and pool, dh liked to cook on the gas bbq and we usually prepped meals with friends so it was very sociable. Really great holidays that we all have very fond memories of.

I enjoy it but we have a decent set up 10 man huge tent. Carpet, electric cool box, 10cm SIMs. It’s by no means roughing it and it’s nice being outside. We go every year for a week

I swore I'd never, ever go camping. Until I did. And I loved it!

Always an electric hookup though and I took all the essentials like a TV and mini fridge 😆

When it was just me and my boyfriend it was brilliant. Easy to throw up small tent, airbeds and sleeping bags. That was it. We tended to tour and would only stay at each campsite for one or two nights. If the weather was rubbish we’d find a B&B. I’ve never enjoyed it with children though. The amount of stuff you seem to need boggles my mind!

Just back from 16 nights camping in Cornwall. We are spoilt as we have a camper van and a massive tent with awning. We also have travel solar panels for electricity for the fridge etc.

For the first time I didn't want to come home, it was just so relaxing and beautiful. Good weather and good equipment makes all the difference. Plus a well run site. Our place didn't tolerate late night noise or amplified music - offenders were either told they would be banned from future bookings or asked to leave. Loos and showers were kept clean.

I listen to audio books on headphones while doing the washing up and we have a good camping cookbook.

I don’t understand camping, never have, never will. My idea of hell.

I love it. Love sleeping in a tent. Love being away from all the pressures of everyday life. Love it.

I enjoy it but we have a similar set up to this!

I like the freedom and simplicity that it gives the kids and they love it.

I also find I sleep really well and feel very content while camping. I think it's something to do with the circadian rhythms!

I do remember a trip when ds2 was a baby and got an ear infection that was absolutely miserable and we came home!

I like it in theory but in reality, need another break after a camping trip! Damp, smelly, walking miles to the loos, freezing at night despite decent bedding etc. Better abroad
maybe but not in the UK!

I love camping! Been going for years. We have folding camp beds that are as high as a normal bed (2 singles we cable tie together), SIMs on top then a king size fitted sheet, duvets and pillows. Just like being at home. Loads of room underneath for stuff too. We also have folding bedside tables.

Once sleep is sorted, then the rest is easier. Fairy lights on a remote for nighttime, rug in living area, wind break around the front....we upgrade or improve something each year.

The back to basics is why we go. Never get EHU. I think you like it or you don't, but getting the basic right like sleep is critical.

I can see it being enjoyable if weather is in our favour but it is just all too unpredictable.

Took kids for first time recently with another family and went to a campsite that rents out tents (didn’t want to fork out for equipment then discover it’s not for us). The company made the time fun for us and then but weather was typical unpredictable British rain, unseasonably cold so trekking across fields to wash up, use toilet and shower was awful.

I can see it would have been so much more fun if temperature had been closer to average for time of year and it hadn’t kept on raining (despite not being forecast to) but it was not a holiday. It was more work than being at home and the washing when we got back was relentless! Will probably go with company again for sake of kids but definitely not on regular basis

I absolutely despise it and I'm constantly amazed at how many people seem to love it. I'd rather not have a holiday.

Someone else described it as "gorgeous" on another thread so I guess some people do 🤷‍♀️ you couldn't pay me to do it, never mind see it as a 'holiday'.

I'm lying in a comfortable double bed in an airbnb. With a huge ensuite. £65 a night for 2.
Why camp??

I like the view from the tent in the morning!

But I couldn't do it more than 2-3 nights, as I just can't seem to use public toilets with other people coming in and out of the toilet block; even when I think I'm alone for a few minutes, my insides won't co-operate. And then after a day or two, it becomes impossible. Not keen on the showers either where everything is vaguely wet, trying to balance towel and clothes and glasses etc on the tiny area/hooks outside the curtain. Or having to walk in the dark to find the toilet at night.

I find getting up off the ground or sleeping on the ground difficult now. I think a bigger mattress would help - I am a restless sleeper and always roll off a single onto the hard ground, or lie half on, half off, both which are very uncomfortable. And not being able to stand up. But those could possibly be sorted with different equipment. Everything constantly slightly damp and clammy from condensation, stuffiness if you don't leave vents open but mosquitoes if you do, maybe a better tent would help those but not sure.

The faff of cooking, even if it's just breakfast, burners and fuel, is a pain.

But it is cheaper than a lot of other accommodation, so more to spend on eating out or doing other things, so definitely a bonus there. And often less likely to book up, so more amenable to last minute holidays.

DH and I have a tiny micro caravan that we fit in our garage. It has a canvas pop top so we still get that 'sleeping under canvas' experience, along with a bed, electricity, heating, a fridge, washroom with toilet and 2 gas rings.

Just at the end of a 2 week trip, we've not eaten out once and have made some great 1 or 2 pan meals.

Examples:

Cook pasta in one pan, stir in pesto, pine nuts and parmesan. Do veg in another pan (we've done sautéed fennel but also some mixed boiled veg this trip).

Chorizo and bean stew. One pan meal, fry onion and garlic, add tinned tomatoes, butter beans, smoked paprika, any chopped veg and cook for a while. Serve with bread for anyone who wants it.

We also have a Kampa electric griddle which we cook outside on when it's warm and dry. We've done sausages with mushrooms, peppers and tomatoes, vege burgers with salad, haloumi with pitta bread and salad, pizza type things with flatbread, passata, grated cheese, olives and chorizo.

We eat well every day using 1 or 2 hob rings and the griddle sometimes.

I like being out in nature but I cannot stand camping. That's why we stay in mobile houses With eurocamp. Best of both worlds.

I love camping, really missing it this year ( high risk pregnancy so taking a year out)
But I have a full cotton tent = no damp mornings
A SIM to sleep on very comfy
And a tarp over the tent door so even in the rain I can sit out.

We have a small tent but can still stand up.

The only parts I don't like are drying the tent out afterwards, but that is because my house has no external access to the rear garden so the tent must be dragged through multiple doors and around furniture.

And packing the car up. Car tetris is not fun in a rush.

Husband hates it, though, so refuses to come.