This bank holiday weekend my husband and my children decided we should go camping. I must admit that I am a very reluctant camper. The weather however looked fine so I thought what the hell I don't want to ruin their fun. The thing is with camping I'm not sure it’s a holiday. First there is the organisation needed to go:
- Food list - breakfast cereals, bread, jam, marmite etc. that's only breakfast then there are snacks and cold food storage! Milk, butter etc...
- Camping equipment, chairs, tent, sleeping bags, inflatable mattress, pillows etc....
- Stove, logs for the campfire (as my husband thinks it’s not real camping if you can't have a fire - "man must make fire" and smell of smoke the whole time we are away!)
- Clothes preferably old clothes as they will come back stinking of the log fire. Swimming costumes for the plunge pool!
- MIDGE repellent (lots of this - we tend to use SMIDGEor Avon's Skin so soft), suntan lotion and first aid kit.
Gee just writing the list is exhausting. I must admit here that because my husband is so keen to camp he does do a lot of the organisation but still packing the car up does cause a bit of frustration but we wouldn't be going on holiday if it didn't.
On Friday when we left it was 23C here in Scotland. We went to Red Squirrel campsite in Glencoe. It is a beautiful glen in the middle of the mountains with shady trees and a lovely river running along the edge of the campsite that has a plunge pool.
This visit was beautiful. The weather was amazing. The hardest part was putting up the tent in a very hot unshaded spot which was tricky, mainly because Lee and I were hot and hungry, not a good combination so a few choice words later the tent was up. After lunch the atmosphere was a lot calmer.
The evenings are long and so relaxing sitting near an open fire and the night was warm. The sun didn't set until 11pm and was up again at 3.30am as the birds start chirping early but they then seem to quieten down so you can go back to sleep.
The thing is with camping you should expect to be a bit dirty and not get a lot of sleep but the negatives kind of balance the positives. Being outside all the time is amazing and makes you feel truly alive and the kids are free to run around and play with others until they're are totally worn out. There are no distractions from phones or technology and its peaceful. Most of my weekend was spent chatting and reading with Lee while the kids happily played. It was time out from our busy lives.
Coming home though is also a treat it makes you appreciate your bed and the fact a loo is just a stone’s throw away. Boiling the kettle is even exciting x
