Summer vacation! Here it is again. With you too? After more than 25 years I went camping again in a tent. With my family. Really and truly. And if I liked it…. ?
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Mobile homes are everything! In recent years we have opted for a mobile home as a holiday home. Such a luxury mobile home on a campsite. The best of both worlds. In my view. Camping, but with a little more luxury than camping in a tent. My family thinks otherwise. You only really camp if you bring your accommodation with you.
As I wrote before, my family persuaded me to camp for a few nights this summer. The four of us in a borrowed tent. After having celebrated two weeks of vacation in a beloved mobile home in warm Italy, the time had come.
We exchanged our mobile home with air conditioning, two bathrooms and TV for a camping spot at another campsite. Also in Italy. The plan was to stay for five nights. That is, if we get the tent set up and if I can keep going camping in a tent.
A friend pointed me to a list a few days before departure. You know it. Such a list of camping annoyances. Why you should never camp in a tent. I couldn't have said it better myself. The closer we got to the campsite, the more I began to visualize those annoyances. I believed the author of this list! Is camping really hell on earth or the true paradise, as my family has me believe?
Read on if you are curious how I defied the top five of these camping annoyances and what my experiences are with camping in a tent (safari style or not) compared to staying in a mobile home.
Well, the number one reason not to go camping in a tent. I couldn't imagine walking to such a toilet block with a toilet roll under my arm. Peeing is one thing. But do your big message…. And I haven't even talked about showering yet. I hated it. I already saw it. Going to my bathroom on a skid-tracked toilet and showering while making a wig from hairs that float on the shower drain.
To be honest, I had to cross a threshold. But I had to. And what did I like. Okay, I wasn't very relaxed with a book on the pot, but it went quite easily. And that shower? Fine. It was very clean and you have the space. In a mobile home you can hardly turn your butt in the bathroom. The only advantage of the mobile home is that you are on the toilet within seconds at night. Now I was walking around the campsite at night with a flashlight and toilet roll. Two seconds turned into one minute, but then I could pee in peace at night, without being afraid that I would wake up the whole mobile home clattering.
After air conditioning, a refrigerator is the most luxurious device in a mobile home. In the fridge you can easily store the bottles of milk, beer and prosecco in addition to the water, spreads and butter. In a tent that is quite an adjustment if you ask me. You can rent refrigerators at some campsites. But if this is not the case, then you have to make do with a small camping fridge. Then you have to get creative. Or you will eat every meal outside the door, which I do listen to. Another, somewhat cheaper option is to buy small portions of food and drinks and to do your shopping more often.
Still sleeping on an air mattress with my 40+? I seem crazy. Well, one thing I can tell you. The bed in our mobile home was tight. We were in a pit and I slept badly for two weeks. So I was really looking forward to the mattress when camping in a tent. Our borrowed mattress didn't quite like it either. In the meantime, I've been doing some testing here and there. There is a wide range of mattresses and air mattresses. It takes some investment, but then a good night's sleep in the tent is also guaranteed.
In a mobile home you have just that little bit more privacy. Snoring, a good lovemaking or a fart are simply not heard as well here. The walls of the mobile home block more noise than the delicate tent canvas. A good pair of earplugs is very useful in a tent.
To wash up. I never do that. Everything at home goes in the dishwasher. So nice! But on vacation I have to believe it. In the mobile home I take my dishes from the kitchen cupboard and wash up quickly. At the campsite, the dirty dishes must be put in a tub. Then you can with your whole have and hew to the central washing point. This seemed like a lot of hassle.
What seems? It's great fun! First, the children regularly washed themselves. And that time I was the loser, I came back to the tent with great tips for sights or the latest camping gossip.
Camping in a tent. I loved it! Who would have thought that! Not me. It started with setting up. It's a bit of a job, which we did with the four of us. I enjoyed setting up our own holiday home with the family. I liked the outdoors even more. Of course with a good dose of sun.
And no. The mobile home has not been written off. That's just lovely too. But apart from the fact that the costs of a camping spot are a lot lower than the rent of a mobile home, it is the freedom that appeals to me so much. If the weather continues to be bad, you tear down the mess and drive on to the sun. Is the campsite not nice, or is the sanitary facilities too rancid? Get out and on to the perfect campsite. Booking from Saturday to Saturday (which is often necessary when renting a mobile home) is a thing of the past. Finally, the choice of camping with a tent is huge. Not all campsites have mobile homes.
But the best thing about camping in a tent was that I saw my family enjoying it so much. The men in particular were completely in their element. While my daughter and I had to get used to camping life in the beginning, our men turned out to be true campers.
Have I not experienced any disadvantages of camping in a tent? Certainly. I especially missed cupboard and storage space and when you get home you have so many things that you have to store. In my case, these disadvantages do not outweigh the advantages and they are easy to solve, provided you buy the right stuff. But yes, what will we do next year?
You have to forge iron when it's hot, my family has thought. Because of my enthusiasm, my family took me on a tent hunt right after the holiday. The sale was done quickly. It has become a very big one. Because that was one of my conditions. It will not be a pop up tent from Fresh and Black. In bad weather we have to be able to sit inside. I also got an extra sleeping cabin. Not for sleeping, but my "walk-in closet" is now a fact. There will be storage cupboards and a good refrigerator. Because let's face it, strolling across the campsite in wrinkle-free clothing and sitting in front of your tent with a cool glass of wine, makes camping in a tent really paradise.
