Camping seems to be one of those things that divides people..you could say into two camps. Ha! Oh, I'm so funny. Anyway, camping seems to divide opinion. Like Marmite, it seems most people either love it or would rather eat glass than spend a night out in the cold.
Perhaps my view of camping is a little rose-tinted, but personally I really don't think you can beat the feeling of sitting around a camp fire on a balmy summer's night with a good drink and good friends. That said, one of my all time favourite memories is being stuck in the tent, lying on the bed with the front of the tent open, reading a good book and listening to the rain hit the canvas.
Yes a camping weekend can be ruined by non-stop heavy rain and the way the mud covers EVERYTHING (Glastonbury) and there are moments that make you want to scream, for example if the tent nearly blows away while you're trying to erect it (Isle of Wight) or forgetting something important like the outer canvas or the tent poles (again, Isle of Wight and Glastonbury).
But for me, the thing I love most about camping is the simplicity of it all. You take the essentials and leave the rest at home. You're supposed to rough it a bit. As I get older, I confess though that I don't rough like I used to. I sleep on camping mats. Now it has to be an air bed or I'm going home. But for me there really is nothing like it and I need to go again soon. REAL soon!
sorry dude, i am in the other camp. i absolutely hate camping. i get claustrophobic in a tent, i hate sleeping bags and air beds and not being able to stand up when i am putting on my knickers. i am too much of a showpony, i'm afraid;)
ReplyDeleteI LOVE camping, I can't wait to go either. Only ever been camping in Kent, only about an hour from where I live, but heading to Devon in July and I'm stoked. I agree, the barbecues, friends, wine, and sometimes even the rain and mud.
ReplyDeleteWe always rough it, I feel a little angry when campers come along with their electrical hook up and mini tv's, disgraceful and not the point of camping!
@oise Good on yer girl! I think I might have jinxed the weather with that post though. I don't know what it's like up your way, but it's pretty cloudy down this end. Bugger.
ReplyDelete@La The thought of you struggling to put your knickers on while kneeling in a tent is making me chuckle into my coffee!
It's fairly sunny, but not much heat to go with it. But probably a couple degrees warmer, what with global warming keeping us South-East Londoners that little bit warmer!
ReplyDeletehehe i'm definitely in your camp! i love camping. soo much. i used to despise it though. once, a few years ago, i walked 4 miles to a train station and took a train home from camping with my friends after one night. i was so silly!
ReplyDeleteIt definitely took me a little while to get into it too, maybe camping is like that?
ReplyDeleteAnd then when the bug has bitten you, there's no going back!