Thursday 14 June 2007

I love my tent

I have been reading the Cool Camping Wales and Cool Camping England books this week and they have reminded me of some of the many reasons I love camping. How could you not want to pack up your tent and head for the hills with book covers as gorgeous as these?












I have always loved camping, which is a little odd as my parents loathe it as much as I love it. I never went camping as a child but I did ask for a tent for my birthday one year, when I was about 11. I would set it up in the garden each summer and play in it endlessly. I didn't sleep in it much as the sounds of foxes, hedgehogs, birds and other wildlife prowling around the garden at night was a bit spooky.

When I was at University preparing for my finals I packed up my tent, sleeping bag and books and went to camp by the sea for a week's solitary revision.

And when I found out that G enjoyed camping as much as I did, I knew I was in love. For our very first holiday together, when we had been dating for less than 6 months, we decided to walk part of the Pennine Way in County Durham with backpacks and a tent.

There are many reasons why I love camping:

  • The lack of electricity means we have a much slower pace of life - we all read more books, talk to one another more and just sit around in the sunshine soaking up the atmosphere.









  • I get to visit some of the most beautiful scenery in Britain - I will always want to live in London, but I will also always want to leave it sometimes for the fresh air and peace of the countryside.








  • Camping with friends means that you spend proper time with them - there is time to talk, drink at leisure and make up mad games and stories.







  • I love how everything you need for camping - beds, bags, chairs, food - fits into small, neat, pleasantly coloured packages.

  • I love waking up, lying warm in bed with the cool, fresh air of the new day around me while I drink coffee and look out at the view.
  • I love the feelings of freedom and solitude it gives me.

Most of all, I love how there is always another trip to plan.

1 comment:

  1. oh how i wish i loved tent camping. my few experiences have not been good ones. but i want to love it, really i do. your descriptions sound so relaxing!

    Ann

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