Camping! A few months ago we were invited to two festivals over the Summer and camping is usually a "thing" when it comes to festivals. I think I underestimated how much harder a 6 man tent is to put up in comparison to a tiny pop-up 2 people tent we'd been bringing to festivals in the past. We also used to have a VERY different kind of festival experience and were usually intoxicated putting up the tent too.
I have found I don't LOVE camping as much as I thought I would BUT then again we didn't have a great experience on the Isle Of Wight and I'm hoping that just maybe when we head to our next festival at the end of the month thing run a little more smoothly and it isn't as bad!
Our last trip was full of mistakes and forgetfulness so here are a few things we have learnt to do better next time and a few things we found worked well.
The festival we went to was 'Festival Of Heroes' and we booked to stay at Ninham Country Holidays as it was nearby and cheap for a night at £30.
We purchased a trespass 6 person tent and an airbed and sleeping bags and off we went, kind of.
We knew it wasn't going to be a super soggy floor so we put as much as we could in a big suitcase and the littles stuff went in their individual backpacks and I had all my electricals and camera bits and bobs in my bag... I say all, but we'll get back to that.
I mentioned in my festival of heroes post and on my Instagram but when I arrived at the ferry port I took my camera out and guess what? MY CAMERA BATTERY WAS MISSING! I did a kind of backwards that's so raven and there it was by the side of the sofa on charge, fully charged, happy as Larry... me? FREAKING OUT. Now, of course, this isn't an essential camping piece of equipment but this does have a point; I promise.
So strike one of bad luck had hit, and after my bank balance had also taken a hit in travelling across the island to an Argos and a new battery purchased we were on our way.
Day at the festival done, it was amazing, you can read about it HERE if you want. Anyway, we were ready for our night of camping as a family of five and well I think the only time any of the littles had camped too.
We arrived at Ninham at 5:30pm, checked in and headed to our pitch. We started to put the tent up and I was signing divorce papers. Jeeeez, it's a task, isn't it? Haha. Thankfully the VERY kind lady opposite offered us her hammer, her electric pump for our airbed and the man next to us decided to give Brad a hand; Thankfully!
Brad is now convinced he could put it up again with my help so we'll see whether at Victorious Fest we can do it or if we'll be divorced by our second wedding anniversary.
We finally got the tent up and we headed to the heated swimming pool! It was a little chillier than we anticipated but it was actually quite lovely really and we did really enjoy it, even if we did get the shivers coming out and I had to squeeze on Brad's underwear as I had forgotten to bring mine over and I was wearing a dress. AWKWARD.
Whilst sitting at the park I noticed my power bank was no longer charging my phone. There was a very huge urge to yell a four-letter word beginning with F and ending in UCK. I had 8% battery and Brad had 5% and we desperately needed mine for travelling home the next day. Off our phones went and we instantly lost all sense of time and you know what? Apart from the fear of not getting to the ferry in time and also not having enough battery to use our E-Tickets to travel home, we sat and played with the kid's pots of slime they'd got at the festival and chat as the sunset.
The littles slept reasonably well, Iris woke up at one point screaming "I NEED TO GET OUT, I CAN'T GET OUT" as she was walking into a tent wall and Rufus stirred a few times but that was probably because he was in the carrycot of the pram and it's quite small.
So sleep-wise, not awful!
AND thankfully the next morning I could charge my phone in the reception cabin! YAY.
O U R D O N T ' S O F C A M P I N G
- DON'T FORGET YOUR CHARGERS: if you want/need them. I was there to do a job so it was a bit stressful forgetting a vital piece of equipment. I blame the 5am start and the 1am bedtime the night before. Same for power banks, if you rely on your phone for the camera, E-Tickets or anything, check your power banks work.
- DON'T FORGET PILLOWS: We didn't pack pillows and brad used a jumper and I used Roo's pram suit and it was super uncomfortable.
- DON'T GO WITHOUT KNOWING HOW TO PUT UP YOUR TENT: Honestly, learn how to put it up as a team because otherwise, it is VERY stressful.
- DON'T FORGET YOUR HAMMER: It's a vital piece of equipment.
O U R D O ' S O F C A M P I N G
- DO BRING BABY WIPES OR REUSABLE BABY WIPES: Children or not, you can give your pits a freshen up (although I use the washrooms) and also just great for many things!
- DO BRING SNACKS: Bring breakfast, as it's easier than heading out, croissants, brioche's they're all great and snacks, crisps, raisins, mini biscuit packs, all of it! Save money and whining children and husbands.
- DO USE READY BEDS FOR LITTLE ONES: Lucas and Iris have those "ready beds" and they are amazing! pump them up and they're ready to go. We put the littles in onesies to make sure they were warm overnight too. They're so space-saving and easy compared to single airbeds and sleeping bags.
- DO ENJOY IT: Switch off your phones, even if you have power banks, take in your surroundings, enjoy each others company and switch off from the outside world.
- GO GLAMPING: Basically, just go glamping, the experience of camping but all done for you.
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