Bambino Goodies Goes Camping
July 26, 2010 by Kat · 3 Comments
This week on Bambino Goodies we’re bringing you some camping love. From tents to tipis, basics to glamping we’ll be shining our torch on the hottest products and places for camping. While we won’t let it get in the way of hot finds or sizzling sales we will be camping it up all week.
To kick it all off I’m declaring this an open post. Leave us your tips, tricks, advice and funny stories in the comment section. What do we need to know when camping with young children? What essentials should you have? How do you survive festival camping with children? What disasters await? Tell us everything. Later in the week there will be another open post for your hot destinations. Happy camping!
Posts So Far:
Glamping: The North & Scotland
Chiconomy Buy: Folding Camping Chair
Photo credit: Seattle Municipal Archives.
DON’T DO IT!
That’s the best advice that I can offer, at least not in the rain anyway. We spent this weekend, correction, just under 24 hours, north of Loch Lomond, dodging the rain drops. It was a rather spur of the moment thing, after a phone call from friends who were obviously at a loose end, and therefore not meticulously planned – which, admittedly, is often the best way – but not on this occasion.
Beautiful campsite, spectacular scenery, but just overwhelmingly damp. We had several pop up tents between us which are fantastic and convenient, but generally not large enough to stand up in. We also have a 1964 VW split screen campervan and husband almost required the defibrillators as, not only was his pride and joy out in the rain, but there were children in it with muddy, grass covered wellingtons eating Petit Filou and drinking chocolate milk. His hands were a blur as he couldn’t move fast enough with those wet wipes!
I even spotted the dog making big sad eyes at the family with the poshest tent, as if he wanted to be adopted.
The children will have a ball regardless of the weather, so don’t worry about it, but personally I couldn’t wait to get home to dry out, and husband spent the afternoon and evening powdering the nose of his campervan! Ah, the memories.
Jaysus, I snorted with laughter a lot when I read this. The bit with your dog mooning at the other tent had me clutching my sides! Personally I could only see me camping without the rain. Despite spending my summers as a teen camping at Brittas Bay (Ireland) by the sand dunes, I do like my comforts. I have seen some glamping hot spots that are right up my street though. Think boyf not keen on camping as thinks I will moan a lot. But yes, everyone I know that has camped has had a great time except for the rain and kids that won’t settle…
Camping with the family can be loads of fun (but seriously, only when sunny and dry as per previous comment) and nothing beats seeing the kids enjoying themselves with the novelty of it all. But… it’s loads of work too. First the packing: you literally have to pack half the house (regardless of how old the kids are) and make sure you have tons of clothes for all weathers because everything gets filthy/damp in about 20 seconds. It’s bound to be both boiling hot and freezing cold at some point during the trip so even in good weather definitely pack lots of warm stuff as it gets very cold at night.
Of the five years we’ve been camping we’ve only had one trip in decent weather. One time, we managed to book a weeks camping break during the worst storms the West Country had seen in ten years. We lasted the obligatory 24 hours.
You also can’t be too prissy about how you look either – forget straightners (god, you miss them) and makeup. I’ve had the misfortune of bumping into our children’s headmaster (who happened to be staying on the same campsite… chances of that?) on my way to the toilet block one morning with shockingly bad (vertical) hair. He actually stepped back in shock.
But all that said, we still love it. The kids get tons of fresh air, sleep like logs and enjoy good old fashioned games and you can always have a laugh at any traumas when you get home (but they’re definitely not amusing at the time, of course). In other words, it’s the kind of stuff that makes for treasured holiday memories and with good weather, military organisational skills and a ruddy good sense of humour, it’s the best.