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



Popular posts from this blog

Festival Trolley - The best and the worst thing ever

Image
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…
Read more

Review of the first ever Byline Festival

Image
As you will recall I was invited to the Byline festival as a guest, with the lovely DD, to review the festival and tell you all about it! So you'll be wondering if it lived up to the hype - or was it fake news!


Byline Festival was described on its own website as A RIOT OF FREE SPEECH
PROTEST AGAINST FAKE NEWS AND ALTERNATIVE FACTS something that rather worried the chaps at the local BBC radio station it seems.
Sussex festival criticized for "teaching people how to riot" @BylineFestpic.twitter.com/QeATONRaqC — BBC Sussex (@BBCSussex) June 2, 2017 But they needn't have worried, far from fields of violent rioting hooligans, the fields were in fact full of a diverse band of intelligent people, keen to learn how to spot truth from fiction, how to survive in a world so rich in information that it can be hard to spot the important bits, how to be their own journalists but also how to find journalists to trust...and why even today in a world of 'instant news' via so…
Read more

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

Image
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 …
Read more

Toilet Trouble at Festivals

Image
The world of pain that is the festival loo. Whenever I mention festivals to non festival goers I get the same response 'oh but the toilets!'

It seems that the thought of exposing your buttocks to the elements in a tiny plastic portable toilet is many people's biggest festival worry!


Will the toilet be clean? Will it be safe? Will it be leaning, or have gaps around the door? Will the door lock? Will there be a queue? Will there be toilet paper? How will I wash my hands? Will it smell? Will it be .. *retch* ... 'full'?

So calm down, take a deep breath...actually no, maybe not that...

Festivals toilets are usually cleaned at least daily, sometimes more often, they are emptied and washed down very thoroughly. The toilet paper is renewed too. Of course it does sometimes run out, but fear not, you just need a bit of tissue in your pocket.The toilets are supplied by companies that specialise, so they will be set on suitable ground, they shouldn't lean or wobble.The door…
Read more

How a new camping table has changed my (camping) life

Image
I was sent a table by Millets recently. They asked me to share with you what I thought of it and to see if it could make camping a real home from home.

Now as you will know if you are a regular reader, I am a 'bare minimum' sort of camper. No electric, not fussed about flushing toilets and shower blocks, happiest in a wood or a field just me, my tent, some beer and a book (and DD of course, my regular camping companion) so how would a table work for me?

Well I picked the rather super looking Eurohike Basecamp table with storage under it, and to say it changed our camping lives is not an understatement. One of the reasons Mr Tentsniffer doesn't camp with us (along side having a bad back, and preferring an evening in front of the TV to one trekking across a field to the loo,) is that he hates mess and when DD and I camp, we are messy.

I'm messy anyway, chucking things down and leaving them where they land, and in the tent that soon becomes a royal pain in the bum!
"…
Read more