Newbie Camping Guide

A few people come to this blog to find advice and info when they are new to camping. I realised that finding relevant things (as opposed to me waffling on about my love of nature or the noises at a festival) might take a while so I thought I'd add some links here to posts I feel would be helpful to a new camper. Of course they are useful to us all! Even I find I use the site as a aide memoire at times. So without further ado:

 Choosing a tent You might think that for 2 people a 2 man tent is what you need, but don't be fooled! That is how many people can lay down and sleep in a tent and may not include any living space at all. Fine for a festival, not so fine for a week away if it rains for two days! Always check a plan diagram of the tent and allow some extra space if you plan to be in the tent for more than just sleeping. An extra bedroom makes a great storage area too.

My (never ending) List of things you need to take is here.

Beds and sleep. Another post about sleeping - at festivals, and another about kids and sleep at festivals

The mysteries of EHU - Electric Hook up!

Cooking when camping - your options

More to be added - feel free to let me know subjects you'd like covered, either on my Twitter or Facebook page



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Top 5 Tips for Camping at Download Festival - Guest Post from Tattooed Tealady

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Today on the blog, a beauty blogger gets down and dirty at Download festival and gives us the benefit of her experience. Much of her advice applies to all festivals, not just Download

Camping isn’t my usual topic when it comes to writing blog features, instead opting for beauty, lifestyle and parenting features over on my blog, Tattooed Tealady, but today I’m quite looking forward to being able to share something different, and what better place than here!

Today I’m going to run you through my Top 5 Tips for Camping at Download Festival, a metal festival held in the East Midlands at Donnington Park and the festival I have frequented the most over the past 8 years.

First things first, plan where you’re going to camp. Of course, you can’t guarantee you’ll end up in the camp site you want, but Download Festival does have a handy map which shows all the campsites and the earlier you get there, the more likely you are to land the spot you want. There’s different areas for different campers …
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Festival Trolley - The best and the worst thing ever

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I own a festival trolley. I don't even have the excuse that I have a toddler (or toddlers) that may need to rest their legs. I didn't buy it until DD was well past the toddler stage but it's a great investment...and I love my festival trolley.

But I also hate festival trolleys. They are large and cumbersome and while once maybe 10% of families at family festivals had one, I think that it's now closer to 80% and not everyone seems aware of any trolley etiquette.

I tend to see myself in 'trolley-mummy-mode' as one of the lucky ones, I have a built in sofa if I stop, somewhere to store all the stuff I need day to day, and at the start and end of a festival I can get my camping stuff to and from the car without too much effort, and without queueing for (or paying for) a hire trolley.

So let's look at the positives and negatives of owning a festival trolley. And also let's think about the responsibility trolley use (either your own or a hired one) brings wit…
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Camp Bestival 2018 review of (probably) the best family festival on Earth

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Hello! I am back from one of the best family festivals on earth, Camp Bestival,  and I'm not only saying that because they gifted me a ticket!
This year the festival was sadly cut short by horrendous storms and wind, but no one wants doom and gloom so here are the fun bits!

First off, we hired a camper van this year! So minimal tentsniffing for me, but the joy of a cute pink VW camper instead.(more of her soon)

Day one was Thursday. Hot and sunny we drove (slowly in the elderly camper) to the site. Parked high on the hill and gazed down over the festival. Thursday evening we spent lazing about because we assumed we had so much time...note to self, seize the moment! (rules for life and festivals) do not assume you have days and days left..)


Day two. The festival begins. There is much prowling and getting orientated, and this is because with Bestival being held on the same site one week later the layout had changed slightly. Initially (like many people I'm sure) I hated the chang…
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Packing for Iceland and the cold outdoors

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I booked the bucket list holiday of my dreams this year and at the beginning of September my teen daughter (DD) and I set off for Iceland for 6 days. I had decided to not bother with the Northern lights or the Blue Lagoon as neither really attracted me. I did want to see all the usual touristy things near Reykjavik (where we would be based) though, and I lazily didn't want to hire a car.

So our holiday was a relaxed affair, with tourist buses, no camping, no hiking, and a fair bit of city walking. We did squeeze in a whale watching trip.

With that in mind I looked at weather forecasts and made clothing plans. Because as we all know, there is no bad weather, only inappropriate clothing.

Icelandic weather in September isn't cold, but it can feel that way due to wind chill (very strong winds) and lots of rain. So I looked for wind and waterproof clothing and some new walking boots. I also made sure I'd got enough pairs of Heat Holders socks because if I know one thing about t…
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EHU - The mysteries of Electric Hook Up

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I'm not sure how long I'd been camping before I realised what EHU stood for. I'd been mostly camping at festivals to start with so it wasn't an issue and what ever the mysterious EHU I saw when booking campsites was, it cost more, so I didn't want it.

So while I don't remember when, there was obviously a day when something clicked (switch? Light bulb? haha) and I realised that some people have electricity when they camp!

If I wanted electricity I'd book a cottage or a camper van I think. If I'm in a tent then solar power is the best option, a natural way to charge my mobile and provide evening light for reading (and finding the corkscrew)

But I thought I'd blog my reasons and my pros and cons of electricity in you tent.

Plus points
You can charge phones and have light regardless of the state of the sunYou can have a fridgeYou can use a George Foreman Grill (other electric cooking appliances are available)You can have a TVYou can have an electric heate…
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