Why Camping Is The Best

WHY CAMPING IS THE BEST

Up until last week, I had never ever ever been camping in my whole entire life. Aside from camping out in my best friend's garden for her birthday one time, way back in primary school, and a camping trip in year 7 where we stayed in a bunker, I had never done the whole camping thing. Family holidays were always spent sleeping in some kind of hotel or B&B or caravan or villa or hostel, and usually involved getting as far away from Blighty as possible, hence my whole entire childhood was a camping-free zone. Woo. Some of my friends used to go every summer, and obviously there were those who did camping as part of the good ol' festival ritual, but apart from that, no-one I knew really did it. Mum and Dad never owned a tent or anything camping related, bar a sleeping bag, and they never once said 'come on kids, we're going camping in Wales/ Derbyshire/ Devon/ The Middle of Nowhere!'. So by some miracle, when it came to camping, I guess you could say I had a get out of jail free card.

For most of my life, I considered this to be a very good thing indeed. The thought of camping in a tent, at complete mercy to the liberties of the great outdoors, namely the British weather system, didn't really appeal to me. I was relieved that I'd never had to do it. Never had to stick my feet in the ground and protest, as my parents tried to drag me out into the car whilst trying to convince me that this would absolutely be the best holiday of my whole entire life. Never had to endure being at one with nature. Lucky me. I always thought I wasn't missing out on anything special. I always thought I'd got off scot-free. My brain just couldn't fathom why camping would be anything special,something worth doing and continually doing. What was the point? Why would you willingly subject yourself to camping when you could do a package holiday in Majorca, save up and have a gander in New York City, stay in a hostel on Scarborough coastline? Why would you live in a field, surrounded by cows and sheep and nothingness?

Obviously, as I usually am with most things, I was wrong, as I found out last week twenty years too late when I went camping in my beloved Derbyshire with the charity Derby Kids Camp. My recent first introduction to camping has completely changed my perspective and opinions on the whole matter. I'm not lying here when I say that I have completely, 100% fallen in love with it. Hello number one fan over here. Give me tent poles and canvas and a mallet and I'll be over the moon. Give me a portable loo and I'll be on my way. Give me some wood and a lighter and by George I'll be on it with that bonfire and toasted marshmallows and campfire songs. Stick me in a field in the middle of nowhere and I'll cry with happiness. The camping bug, that nifty little thing I looked down on and opposed for so long, has caught me well and truly. There's just something about camping that has undoubtedly changed me for the better, and now I just want to spend every free moment pitching up in random fields and spending my days and nights immersed in the simple beauty of the world around me.

So with that, I'd love to share with you my top reasons for why I am now considering investing in an 'I <3 CAMPING' t-shirt, in the hopes that it makes you think twice about camping too, and join me in purchasing said t-shirt too.

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MY REASONS:

001. Being able to watch the morning sunrise and sunset over the architecture of the countryside, and marvelling as all the pretty lil colours flood the sky.

002. On a clear night, the whole entire sky is filled with stars, and they all shine so clearly and brightly. It's definitely worth looking like a tit as you walk around everywhere with your had at a -90 degree angle. Oh and you can actually see shooting stars too! 

003. Bonfires in the evening are a lovely way to spend time with people, as are campfire songs a great way to raise spirits. 'Honk honk round and round and crash beep beep' is a personal favourite.

004. NO WIFI OR 3G/4G= NO COMPULSIVELY CHECKING EMAILS OR SOCIAL MEDIA OR CONNECTING WITH THE REAL WORLD= REALISING THAT NONE OF IT MATTERS!!!

005. It's incredibly cathartic and cleansing for the soul. Hello  Miss Revitalisation.

006. You actually communicate with the people around you, and have proper decent and real conversations with facial expressions and everything.

007. You eat three nice, sizeable meals a day, meaning no desire to snack and anyways, camp food in my opinion is super delicious.

008. Every day feels like an adventure.

009. You can literally go anywhere and everywhere. There are no limits. The world is your oyster.

010. You can set up home in the most stunning places of natural beauty and be immersed right within it, instead of just visiting them in passing.

011. Being able to really enjoy and appreciate and live in the moment.

012. Getting back to basics (eg. portaloos, no showers, no washing machine, washing hair over the sink, not having a kitchen, no TV), makes you realise what really matters, as do you appreciate these things a whole lot more.

013. Being at mercy to the elements is actually not so bad, because you already feel somewhat at one with nature. So you realise that things will pass, and even this super heavy rain which you swear is actually a tornado which will blow the whole world into pieces, will pass too. 

014. Dressing up in super cosy clothes and wrapping up super warm before bedtime, then lying there contentedly, snug as a bug.

015. IT'S SO CHEAP AND EASY TO DO. HELLO 365 DAY HOLIDAY.

016. It teaches you a lot about yourself, who you are as a person, what matters to you most and what you want in life.

017. Going on long walks in amazing parts of the countryside and coming back with a relaxed mind and body, and sleeping like a baby come night time.

018. Spending quality time with people, and laughing and bonding lots as you moan about your camping experience, eg. how you fell over in the rain last night as you nipped out for an emergency pee and that time you crouched under the hand dryer to dry your hair.

019. Becoming at one with nature. That means getting over any bug related fears and gaining a new opinion on cows and roosters, especially when they wake you up at 6am in the morning for no apparent reason at all.

020. You live your days to the full (again, mostly thanks to those cows, sheep and roosters)

021. It's actually quite nice to sleep in a tent, even when your tent is the size of a cupboard and everyone else's tent is 10 x bigger complete with double bed and living area, and you have to deflate your airbed so you can even fit inside the tent. 

022. It's also kind of nice, knowing that it's all that separates you from the great outdoors is that tent canvas.

023. When you eventually make your way home, you feel a bit like Bear Grylls, or an evicted contestant from I'm A Celeb, and that first cup of hot tea tastes like God prepared it for you himself.

024. You actually feel like you've been on a holiday, like an actual holiday where you completely leave your everyday life behind and just focus on relaxing your mind and body and enjoying the simple pleasures in life.

025. You do lots of exercise = keeping fit.

026. It's a great time to get out the Adele and Beyonce and practice your singing talents= hello future record contract

027. YOU ACTUALLY GET MORE TANNED THAN WHEN YOU GO ABROAD AND EVERYONE WILL NOTICE. THIS IS A LEGIT FACT.

028. You're completely aloud to slob out and be lazy and sleep and be wined and dined and live in your pjs and have that 10 hour bath complete with Lush bath bomb when you get back, because you survived the elements, you clever clogs you. Best tell Bear Grylls to watch out.