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Family Camping for beginners – Why not give Camping in the garden a go?

Posted on April 16, 2020April 16, 2020 by Henry Elliss

With the UK in ‘lock down’ due to Corona virus and no end in sight, the prospect of taking a holiday seems like a long way off right now. Frankly, even getting out of the house can be tricky (or discouraged!) – so how do you stop yourself going stir crazy, especially when the weather is nice?

One idea that I’ve seen a few of my friends trying over the Easter holidays has been to set your tent up in the garden and have a mini ‘fake-ation’ with the family. It’s not just seasoned campers giving it a go either – one friend of mine is buying his first tent for this very reason!

When you think about it, camping in the garden is the IDEAL place to test out you camping chops – particularly for those who might not have tried camping in recent years. Aside from the fun it, there are numerous reasons why camping in the garden could be an easy fake holiday during lockdown. Here are a few I can think of:

My friends Ali and Helen, camping in an empty cow barn a few years back. If they can camp *there*, your garden is virtual luxury!
  • It’s completely free to do! Assuming you’ve got a tent, pretty much everything else can either be cobbled together from stuff in your house or fudged with replacements.
  • No need to queue for the shower block! You’ve got all the comforts of home within a few meters of the tent, meaning you won’t have to stand in a smelly toilet block waiting to take a cold shower.
  • You can camp in luxury for once! I don’t know about you, but our camping itinerary is usually limited to what we can fit in the car. Not now though – you can bring whatever you like to this campsite! Thick duvet? Mini fridge? Portable TV? All are within your sights now!
  • No need to worry about the neighbours! This could be the one camping trip you ‘go’ on where you don’t have to worry about who might pitch their tent next to yours…
  • Leave whenever you like! Not feeling the camping vibe after all? Or maybe you’ve discovered your sleeping bag is a bit worn out? No need to worry – you can just go home, and not worry about losing any money!
  • No pre-holiday traffic jams! Unless you’re camping inside the grounds of Buckingham Palace, your trip to the campsite should be hassle free – no sitting in the car for hours, no “are we nearly there yet?” – bliss!
  • No food going off in the cool box! You can just leave all your ‘holiday’ food in the fridge, ensuring none of it sits at the bottom of a slowly melting cool box.
  • Save your friends from your holiday snaps! Unlike an exciting camping trip to the seaside or abroad, you probably won’t take that many photos during this trip – it’s just your garden after all.
  • THE KIDS WILL LOVE IT! I’ve saved the most important one for last – let’s face it, even if you find the idea a bit naff, you kids are bound to have a whale of a time. And who doesn’t want that at the moment?!

The Easter holidays might be behind us now, but with May rapidly approaching (with the magical double bank holiday whammy!) and a few nice weather weekends forcasted, why not give camping in the garden a go for yourself? And don’t forget to let me know how it goes!

I’ll leave you with a photo from MP Jess Philips, which partially inspired this post – the caption below made me laugh especially!

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    henweb

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