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Subject Topic: Any advice to make it better?
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17/9/2009 at 6:24pm
 Location: Severn Valley
 Outfit: Aztec Galeria 4 Outwell Virginia 5
View FriendOfOwls's Profile View Profile   Reply to FriendOfOwls Reply   Quote FriendOfOwls Quote  
Joined: 22/8/2009

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Oh don't wait till August!  Do think of having another go in spring, and then if you decide it's good after all, you won't be right at the end of the season, and you'll be able to get a few more trips in!

I'm sure you'll discover your 'inner girlguide' again!  I did! 17

FoO



17/9/2009 at 7:17pm
 Location: Warrington
 Outfit: Vango Inspire 600 Outwell Iowa L
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I agree with everything that has been said and sympathise completely with the feeling that it is more hard work than relaxing. That is exactly how I felt last year and how I feel the first day or so of any holiday...(although I am getting better)

Like you are obviously doing I spent a lot of time thinking about what the problem was and how to alleviate the problem.

Yes Yes Yes to getting a decent airbed. We have a aerobed explorer, it's inflated in a minute and is so much more comfy than any other we have slept on.

We go for minimum effort unpacking. Our kitchen/food supplies travel in 2 big boxes with lids and we simply take them out and plonk in the tent, ditto our clothes and we just live out of the bags.

Getting towels dried we take pegs and the minute it stops raining we peg them to the windbreak.

Make sure you have comfy chairs and a sturdy table.

I also keep my toddlers mess in his pod and try not to get too anal about making him keep it tidy - it's impossible so I have given up - we're on holiday after all! I'll tidy it up before bedtime but I try to ignore it during the day.

We have a box by the front door to deposit shoes in and take flip flops to slip on to go to the loo etc.

I think the other thing is making sure your tent is big enough for your needs. There is nothing more stressful than not being able to move for knocking stuff over or banging into things.

Linny


17/9/2009 at 8:00pm
 Location: Zummerzet
 Outfit: Outwell Utah 6
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I would recommend going with friends, preferably hardened camping friends rather than those who are going to moan if the sun isn't shining the whole time. It makes a heap of a difference to be able to have a cider with a friend while watching our children play together, letting the sun go down, dealing with issues like damp towels as they happen (in an emergency there is usually a laundrette on bigger sites).

I'd also recommend going for a spring weekend break, wait till it's warmer weather by all means but find anywhere half decent locally (you don't want to go far as believe me it doesn't feel like you are 20 mins from home when you are in a tent!) and off you go. If it's horrible weather you can return for supplies, and you don't normally need to book till the last minute when you can see the weather forecast.

I hope the camping bug creeps up on you soon!!


17/9/2009 at 8:04pm
 Location: Essex
 Outfit: Bell Esvo Bedouin 280 Flagstaff 4ATC
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Personally I WOULD invest in an extension for you Montana, it is well worth it even for cooking under and like you said keeping the inside less dirty, It also adds to your living space - even if it does rain....

If you have long term camping plans then deffo invest in decent beds and sleeping bags ( i have known people to be put off the whole camping thing because they have bought an inferior quality/ incorrect season bag) I believe this to be one of the most important pieces of kit -next to the tent!!!)

To take the chill off in the evenings take a small fan heater with you (if you have EHU) and use it before you go to bed, make sure you have a warm drink as well....

To solve the problem of shoe storage, when you go to do your main shop grab one of those cardboard vegetable crates and keep it inside the door of the tent. At the end of your holiday you can recycle it with the other card...

I must admit the first day IS the most stressful and I can't wait to go to bed but after that is when the holiday begins...

As others have said it is always best to research the sites beforehand (even by driving to them if local-ish) and getting others opinions always helps with decision making,, The reviews on here are a good way of doing that.

Don't let the bad experiences out weigh the good as i'm sure when you really think about it, you probably will remember at least a few things that were positive about your other trips... Even if it was just the toilet humour

HAPPY CAMPING   


17/9/2009 at 8:51pm
 Location: Derbyshire
 Outfit: Gelert cabana 4 Gelert Stratus 4
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Joined: 04/9/2009

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The main thing is to keep a sense of humour.  ie

http://www.flickr.com/photos/derbydog1/3892546805/

Dont let on I posted this link, I walk a fine line as it is lol



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17/9/2009 at 9:13pm
 Location: West Midlands
 Outfit:  Karsten
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Try France, sites are fab, your kids would love it, pools are generally free and weather is warmer (we been 3 times now and hot every time! put us right off the uk now) and definitely get a heater, dont be cold and damp in a tent nothing worse!


17/9/2009 at 9:42pm
 Location: Oxford
 Outfit: Outwell Monty 6
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Joined: 26/7/2009

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Definetly get the extension! We have the Monty 6 and have the extension as well.

We use it to cook under and sit in the evenings. We also keep all the shoes there on a mat.

It has increased the size of the tent so much. All the cooking things etc are all outside so Harry (our 3 year old) can play inside and later when Archie is a bt older! Only 4 months at the moment!

Agree with no shoes in the tent!
Also baby wipes and anti bacterial wipes make things a lot easier!

Don't give up just yet, i never thought i would like camping, but now i love it! I find it really relaxing (once you are all set up!) You can sit in the evening with a glass of wine and not worry about housework, washing etc! Bliss


17/9/2009 at 11:00pm
 Location: swansea
 Outfit: Avondale corfu sunvalley 8
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Agree with all thats been said already although never tried the microfibre towels, I just take the oldest , thinnest towels rather than nice new big fluffy bath sheets.

When showering , dry yourself off with a flannel before drying with the towel , towel stays much drier so takes less time to dry .

If you have long hair try the turby towels from poundland. Tiny but effective , and saves getting a big bath towel soaked.

-------------
Debbie


18/9/2009 at 10:53am
 Location: Herts
 Outfit: Conway Classic Trio 2004
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Our 1st camping holiday was a disaster the 1st day.  We arrived in pouring rain which didn't stop until the next day.  We had a tt and my dh had practised putting it up a few times on his own but he kept putting holes in it each time so he thought he'd take the awning/tent/cover off the main frame.  So the beds got soaking wet when we opened it up and he put another hole in the tent (it was about 20 years old).  Once it was up we put the groundsheet down but it had tiny holes in it from where it had been folded up and we were pitched over a steadily increasing puddle.  So a huge puddle appears on top of the groundsheet.  Dh put gappa tape on it but that didnt make much difference.  So i laid newspapers over it each day and we managed for the week lol.  We hooked up the brand new ehu which promptly blew out the electrics (returned it when we got home) so we had to go to the hardware shop in the next town to get a new one.  Got back and got the heater on to dry out the beds and bedding, then went to pick up the keys to the static caravan that my parents had hired for the week.  I could have cried when we walked in to their lovely spacious home from home.  I got a good nights sleep that night but dh who was on the outside got soaking wet because we'd pegged the outer too close.  We repegged it and the sun came out so we dried the rest of the stuff and even though it rained pretty much from then on and we had the constant puddle we started to go from "never again and why would anyone actually choose to do this" to "we could do this". 

We went away again for one weekend and looked into replacing the awning, getting a new tent, getting another tt and in the end tried a very old basic caravan and realised that this was what we wanted.

We loved the camping way of life but needed more than the tent to live in.  Have you considered camping another way?

I hope you can work out a way to carry on as we have been to so many different places since getting our tt and caravans, places that we'd never been too because they were just too far too expect the kids to travel in the car too.  With the caravan we can stop overnight and then move on the next or a couple of days later.  And we now have 2 week holidays because the money we have saved on paying for hired accomadation means that we can go for longer! 



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18/9/2009 at 11:43am
 Location: None Entered
 Outfit: Outwell Montana 6 + Extension
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Another fan of the Montana front extention! it just completes the tent! gives you so much more living space.

We close around the front with windbreakers which keeps our 2 year old  contained and can play outside while we can keep an eye on him!17

As others have said the site you pick makes a big difference and some sites pitches are quite small for our set up, but we went to a site a couple of weekends ago and we had so much room it was fantastic and made a huge difference to the whole trip,

I too thought camping was hard work in the begining but I absolutly love it now!

Go on give it another go!17

 



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18/9/2009 at 5:50pm
 Location: Somerset
 Outfit:  Nordisk Asgard Bell Tent
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defo get a decent air bed.

Tent carpet hekps but blankets etc are as good, we always put a tarp down under the tent, it does seem to stop the damp and the carpet/blankets make it snug.

Before going to a site i read and read the reviews, have had some awful times and almost stopped me, but have had some really good times this year.

 




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