Where do campers go in winter?

Well I'm sure some of us fly south and continue camping...a bit like swallows, but with more tent poles. Some stay in chilly UK and still camp - after all, you can get all season tents and sleeping bags! (top of my bucket list is snow camping)

But I suspect more of us do what I do, pack up the kit until spring and just snuggle down by a fire to read their camping and caravanning magazines and plan next years camping.

I have already booked a few festivals too, nothing like reliving last summer and dreaming of the next to warm you up.

So far I'm going to a local (to me) and early Festival (in May) called Elderflower Fields, I've never been to this festival before, and it hasn't been going long. I'm hoping it's big enough to be fun but small enough to be friendly. It bills itself as a family festival,



and I have to admit it does look amazing! Rather glad to see that the theme will fit in rather nicely with another festival I'm off to Wilderness! I've been to wilderness a few times now after winning tickets some years ago and getting hooked.

Wilderness is a festival for older folk, but families still attend and it has a friendly feel. DD enjoys it as it's a bit cooler at her age.

See more about Wilderness on their Youtube Channel, including the now infamous Secret (naked) Swim.

And of course I hope to be off to Camp Bestival next year too - a perfect family festival, you have a baby? toddlers? This festival gives you no excuse not to attend, it's designed around children, with plenty of things for adults to enjoy too. Not least the fact that your kids are entertained, and then are tired at bedtime! This years theme is GO WILD so I'm especially excited for fancy dress ideas - can I recycle my green ballgown for a third year? Well yes, I think I can! Watch this space!

Camping in the last last week of october has taught me....

1. It is not darkest just before the dawn, but it is coldest.
2. Baked beans are amazing for breakfast and warm your very soul.
3. The best way to get warm is to get dressed & do the washing up.
4. A sleeping bag, a duvet, pjs, a hat & bed socks can make a subzero night toasty warm.
5. Taking extra gas is a good idea.
6. Instant porridge is the invention of a genius.
7. Showering is over-rated.
8. 2 girls aged 10&11 can amuse themselves for hours at a time in the countryside.
9. I can still read a book in 3 days when I have time!
10. Caravan's are for wimps :-)
11. The English countryside is gorgeous in the sun, not always warm, but always beautiful.
12. Birdwatching is fun (tawny owl, buzzard, kestrel, spotted woodpecker, green woodpecker, crows)

Have you camped in a tent this late in the year?
Did you enjoy it?
Would you consider doing it?