Still hard work trying to work out menus and keeping food in a healthy state – lots of buying fresh stuff to be consumed within an hour or so.

A little electric coolbox helps for meat, milk, butter and beer. Our runs off mains (when at electric hookups) or off the car/leisure battery. Works as a normal coolbox too if camping off-grid.

Not hard to plan meals without it to be honest (pasta usually features heavily) but I love a proper fry up in the morning when camping.

Camping is great for a short time, a couple of nights or so, but then the novelty soon wears off.

I disagree. Packing, setting up and taking down is undoubtedly a pain, but takes exactly the same amount of time regardless of whether you go camping for a weekend or a fortnight. Make the most of your effort and have a longer holiday! I would caveat that by saying it’s best to head somewhere with reliable weather if you’re planning a longer stay. Ile de Re for us: great beaches, great cycles paths, great markets, great restaurants. Perfect.

Interesting topic. I generally really enjoy camping but it’s very weather/event dependent.. Me and my mates (and partners) used to go on an annual trip to the Lakes but it has rained EVERY time we go and because there’s a biggish group we have to schedule quite far in advance and can’t just follow the weather.. Last year it did not stop pissing down with rain the whole time we were there – we just went to pub and spent a fortune on food and drink. This years trip has been cancelled.

Camping at events is often the best way to stay IMO. Take Goodwood Festival for instance – you can just walk into the festival each day, no traffic getting from a hotel/B&B, etc.

In terms of keeping stuff cold when we went to Goodwood we managed to get to day 4 and still had cold beer on the last morning walking in. We just had 4 cool boxes with ice in them. We took frozen home made food (e.g. spag bol) as well for the later stages of the trip which nicely thawed so that it was fridge cool by the time we used it.

2 weeks under canvas (polyester) planned for August – we had a week last year in North Wales.

For us its the change of pace and routine that’s the fun. There’s a certain amount of physical work involved, but I love living outdoors (temporarily).

Physically it can be a lot of work – I think you need to be a little bit of a gear-head (i.e. loving the kit side of things) to enjoy it.

In these times of instant everything – its good to make it all a bit simpler.

Our more recent trips have been focused around large Geocaching events, so its been really social. Folks dropping around to the tent – impromptu drinks/meals, shared purpose on the campsite.

Its easy to focus on how hard it is to go for a wee, or how tired you get, or where the hell did I put the headtorch, but for me the enjoyment of just being outside all the time is fab

TM

Last year it did not stop pissing down with rain the whole time we were there – we just went to pub and spent a fortune on food and drink. This years trip has been cancelled.

What would you have done if you’d been staying in a B&B or hotel instead? Just sat in your room?

Also, don’t go camping on bank holidays.
French campsites are so much better, little hedges set apart the camping placements, with one tap between 2 placements. Clean and tidy and the toilets and wash blocks are usually outstanding compared to any UK campsite.

What would you have done if you’d been staying in a B&B or hotel instead? Just sat in your room?

I think that’s what you’re supposed to do. I went to a B&B about 6 years ago. It felt weird. As if living in someone else’s house with a timer counting down. I watched TV, lay on the bed. Went for a pint and pub meal. Returned to room. Had that funny sachet-coffee stuff. Lots of little plastic milk pots. Watched more TV. Never watch TV at home much so it was novel, but wouldn’t like to repeat too often! Breakfast was a sombre affair as well. I’m guessing that B&Bs (like campsites and tents) vary massively (?) – but in all honesty I can only remember less than a handful and they all seemed a bit

If feeling flush have much preferred self-catering. Except for that one time when the owners spent a lot of time relating the untimely recent death of a family how lonely it now was. “There’s only us now. Well…. and now you”. Was all a bit Ray Bradbury.

Good point Graham – We would have just gone to the pub either way I think! We were looking forward to a couple of walks, game of footy/rounders/frisby, BBQ and beers, etc. but it was just miserable.

Only camping I’m likely to do in the future will be last minute chasing nice weather or Goodwood FoS.. actually maybe IoM TT if I ever get my bike license!

*erratum:

relating the untimely recent death of a family member, and how lonely it now was.

Its easy to focus on how hard it is to go for a wee,

Being male FTW. Easier than being at home*

Chamber-pots in the awning for the more Victorian/prissy 😉

* Except for last but one camp when I got very drunk and about 3am thought had located the top of the bottle. A rapidly warming sleeping bag soon sobered me to the fact that it was actually the plastic handle I was peeing through. The warmth didn’t last long. Much cursing and tent-emptying shenanigans at 3:05am. Launderette at 7am. Not the best.

Oh, I forgot about the faff of going to group showers to sort the kids out, and taking all the stuff to give them a shower rather than leaving it in the bathroom like in a self catering place

I like the idea of minimalist camping, not moving house camping (with double gas burners, wind breaks, multiple pots/pans/cutlery, chairs, carpets etc)

Our holidays with kids and dogs are all in self catering/AirBnB places. They’re more expensive, but it’s easier and there’s LOADS more space.

Weather is a massive factor, if the weather is good you can live outside and leave stuff outside. If it’s torrential then you can’t, and a big tent is still a relatively small place for 6 beings to share!

The best way to be sure of enjoying camping with a family is to go to France / Spain.

The weather makes & breaks it .. but once they’ve bought in a bit (the kids) they will take the rainy days too. But sun out is always better.

A van also really helps, just to make carrying a few extra luxuries (loads of bedding for example) easier.

Bedding: we used to just take a duvet, but we recently invested in this double sleeping bag and it is seriously awesome:

http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/vango-ambience-double-sleeping-bag-p367501

Major selling point is that the top layer comes off to adjust the warmth, and the zip is in the middle*, which means my perma-cold wife can be nice and toasty without me lying in a pool of my own sweat. Which is nice.

* i.e. the dark green bit in that photo is the top of the two-season section. You sleep under it and can add the other layer on top for three-season warmth.

I’ve found that the things I dislike about camping are largely eliminated by i)going to adult only sites, so I don’t have to suffer other people children, and ii)not going during peak times.

Best way to make camping better.

If it’s torrential then you can’t, and a big tent is still a relatively small place for 6 beings to share!

Why does everyone seem to think you have to stay in one place on a camping holiday? If it’s raining, go out and do something surely?

I camped for the first time in 2 years (first time with the second child) for the XC race at Dalby this weekend.
SAturday – Pee’d it down.. once the tent was up the children had fun in the new den … for a little while until they wanted to go play outside on the grass muddy slop
Sunday – Sun shine – sat outside for breakfast and cup of tea.. children had free run of the drying grass muddy slop (parental oversight was only required to prevent young children from being run over by fast moving pedal bikes).
I kind of liked lying in the tent listening to the rain outside.
I didnt like trying to prevent all of the muddy slop from entering the tent..
oh and trying to two small boys from pressing the tent inner against the outer is an impossible task.

* Except for last but one camp when I got very drunk and about 3am thought had located the top of the bottle. A rapidly warming sleeping bag soon sobered me to the fact that it was actually the plastic handle I was peeing through. The warmth didn’t last long. Much cursing and tent-emptying shenanigans at 3:05am. Launderette at 7am. Not the best.

That’s a a great story – oh we can laugh now…

Someone I know was camping with a small baby and woke up desperate for a wee. Rather than get up they remembered a pack of nappies was next to them. Light Bulb! nappy opened and placed in the right place (whilst still in sleeping bag). Started ok but then the realisation hit that baby nappies don’t have that much capacity for liquid absorption…

TM

I was bikepacking last year, wet night, post bottle of red somewhere above Peebles. Needed a pee but it was cold. Got the old chap out the bag and also out the zippy bit of tent, only grass out there thought I and let go. Gurgling noise alerted me to me having brimmed a shoe ……

I quite like camping, only really got into it since we left the UK. The campsites we’ve visited over the years have all been really nice. Except one, an ex religious retreat that opened it’s doors to the general public so it wouldn’t be in breach of local laws or something, we got some funny looks and loud complaints as we *didn’t* go to the nightly service, or the sunday morning one. No idea what they thought of the bbq, beer and lycra (not at the same time). Not been back.

Our one camping trip to the UK was a disaster by comparison. Was 50/50 as to whether we’d even bother pitching up at the campsites we’d planned to stay at. The best one of the whole trip was found via a misunderstanding about directions. Ended up in a campsite that was pretty much the farmers back garden. Instead of the place that we were aiming for (no, the pictures and reviews did not show the fact that it was pretty much a housing estate for tents and caravans.)

So, while the other campsite were listening to the hits of the 80’s at volume in the all day disco, our kids were “helping” with the animals and learning about/watching farming stuff with about 6 or 8 other kids.
The BBQ was good, and cheap, as well. Despite the rain.

no, the pictures and reviews did not show the fact that it was pretty much a housing estate for tents and caravans.

Check on Google Earth and Google Streetview before you book.. invaluable tools!

Don’t even think they were things back then. Must have been 8 or 10 years ago now.

I love the outdoors. Spend as much time as possible out there. And I’m happy to get muddied up to the eyeballs riding.

But then I want to retire to a nice B&B/Small hotel for a proper clean-up, nice meal and half-decent nights sleep.

Camping was a right of passage for me.

I didnt like trying to prevent all of the muddy slop from entering the tent..
oh and trying to two small boys from pressing the tent inner against the outer is an impossible task.

Camping for just a weekend often confronts my control issues/OCD 😉 Give it a few more days and some fine plonk relaxing into festy mode…