When i leave for a weekend with all i need in a rucksack , i get strange looks from son (9) . A similar look is most likely to be on display from myself while i am cramming camping gear into the car for family break.
I think camping has certainly changed with the times, it is a big industry now and appeals to a wider market.
I don't think there is anything wrong with taking creature comforts, since being outdoors for most of the day and sleeping under canvas (or synthetic ) is still camping and, for most of us, a change from the norm. We usually do take a lot of kit, then always analyse on the way home what we used that worked well, what we could do without next time and what we could do with that we didn't have. It's just about working out what works for you really isn't it?
That said, I do think camping works for us because it simplifies things and whittles down the things we think of as 'must haves' in everyday life, and it really is about spending quality time with the family, rather than recreating a home from home. Things I will always remember are getting the airbeds outside and laying on them with the kids to look at the stars; huddling up and listening to a thunderstorm and rain on canvas; overhearing our kids singing whilst washing the pots; running back from the showers in the rain; the sheep who ate our son's breakfast cereal...I could go on and on.
It maybe ain't about what you take but about who you take with you, and what you make of it when you're there...
I remember when I was 16 going camping in The Lakes with an old army canvas tent. Wooden poles, sides that didn't quite reach the ground and plastic sheeting for a groundsheet. It was freezing, wet and not something I would ever want to repeat.
The days we have a moderately large tent and quite a bit of gear, but it still feels like an adventure and is the best way I know to forget about work, money etc.
Camping means different things to different people, the amount of gear matters not to me, but I do think RESPECT for those camped alongside is paramount.
Loud music/TVs, screeching kids and constantly barking dogs are just not fair and the offenders ought to be aware of how they can spoil others' trips... you know who you are, or do you?
Been camping all my life (now 29) and they way in which we camp is still the same as it used to be 4 us. No EHU, No Toilet block, No washing up area and No showers. Just a cold water tap on site and somewhere to throw the porta potti waste. We still shower using a watering can in a paddling pool in the toilet tents, still use a porta potti, still cook on a bbq which we turn in to a campfire every night ready for hot chocs and squirty cream on top once the kids have gone to bed. There are many of my family that make this trip every year age varies from my son 5mts old up to my nan and grandad about 30 of us in total.
We love it and just hope the don't change the site.
Bunny & Bumble - I admire your back to nature style (but give you 20 years and maybe you'll succumb to some more creature comforts!). That said, I agree with Caster and co and the good ol days minus TVs, fridges and kettles. This is a post I thought of putting up myself - what is camping and why do people want to camp? Is it to get away from it all, a spot of escaspism without everyday trappiings and being in touch with nature: or a cheap holiday? I think my family originally did the latter but it rapidly became the former - and that's why I've returned to it. I never look at TV or read a newspaper on holiday abroad and want that same separation when camping. I want to eat under the stars, hear the birds and enjoy the fresh restorative air and talk.
------------- Camping - emotional resilience in action, a triumph of hope over adversity and antidote to virtual reality.
Quote: Originally posted by mrneillees on 05/3/2009
Camping means different things to different people, the amount of gear matters not to me, but I do think RESPECT for those camped alongside is paramount.
Loud music/TVs, screeching kids and constantly barking dogs are just not fair
Agree completely. Mind you, I was once reprimanded by a site owner for playing a boardgame too loudly, so it's easy to offend others without meaning to.
------------- * You never know where you're going 'til you get there...
Quote: Originally posted by mrneillees on 05/3/2009
I remember when I was 16 going camping in The Lakes with an old army canvas tent. Wooden poles, sides that didn't quite reach the ground and plastic sheeting for a groundsheet. It was freezing, wet and not something I would ever want to repeat.
The days we have a moderately large tent and quite a bit of gear, but it still feels like an adventure and is the best way I know to forget about work, money etc.
Camping means different things to different people, the amount of gear matters not to me, but I do think RESPECT for those camped alongside is paramount.
Loud music/TVs, screeching kids and constantly barking dogs are just not fair and the offenders ought to be aware of how they can spoil others' trips... you know who you are, or do you?
I did the same thing, at around the same age, in a similar tent, but on the North Yorkhire Moors! One lucky member of our group had a camp bed, the rest of us slept directly on the makeshift groundsheet, in not-too-great sleeping bags but covered by afghan coats!
Those were the days!
I echo the sentiment in the rest of your post (there seem to be several threads running at the mo on this).
Quote: Originally posted by bridgeywidge on 05/3/2009
Whatever were you playing? Mr and Mrs?
Now that's a whole other noise altogether
LOL!
Actually it was "Boggle", in which you shake up a load of lettered "dice" in a hard plastic container. It does make a bit of a racket, to be fair, but we didn't realise just how loud it was on a quiet, still campsite (we were tent camping at the time).
------------- * You never know where you're going 'til you get there...
Sorry, but the mind 'boggles'.... We used to play endless games of 'Sorry': do they still sell it? Wonderful box covered with Japenese ladies all saying 'wy oo roo she tay' or whateve, which supposedly means 'sorry' in Japenese. Anyone remember this? And Coppit?
On the equipment front, Dad made a stove stannd with wood and aluminiium, and a folding table that closed like a suitcase, and we had tarpaulin groundsheets in a fetching shade of turquoise. He always wanted a proper camp kitchen. Still, we had fabulours holidays even if lighting the gas mantle used to give me nightmares. Wanting to emulate those carefree escapist days - even my 83 year old mum says she used to enjoy camping because of the freedom (and we used to wash up in the tent - none of the mod cons sites have now: c1970).
------------- Camping - emotional resilience in action, a triumph of hope over adversity and antidote to virtual reality.
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
Topic: camping ?????
) is still camping and, for most of us, a change from the norm. We usually do take a lot of kit, then always analyse on the way home what we used that worked well, what we could do without next time and what we could do with that we didn't have. It's just about working out what works for you really isn't it?
