Spring has Sprung, We're off Camping!

 Spring has finally sprung, and we are enjoying a period of warm and sunny weather, all be it with an east wind which sometimes makes it feel a bit cooler. I'm pretty thankful, to be honest, as this weekend we're off camping.

For those of you that know my wife and me, you might be raising an eyebrow and thinking, 'Really'? 

Yes, ye of little faith, we are going camping or rather 'glamping' to be precise. After spending some time in Cornwall camping with my wife's family last year, we decided to make the bold move to get our own tent and gear and go it alone in the camping field.

Earlier this year, we ordered a Kampa Hayling 4 Air Tent, footprint and carpet (there, I told you it was glamping). This purchase is a far cry from the canvas blue ridge tent that my parents bought in the early 1970s. Life was a bit leaner back then, it was the 1970s. Dad was a Postman and Mum had the three of us to bring up. They were thinking about taking me, my brother and my sister on camping holidays to make things cheaper for them. However, the austerity of camping back then must have put Mum off a bit as our holidays, from then on, consisted of caravans and the tent was rarely seen again.

Camping certainly isn't cheap (is anything these days?). Still, we are very fortunate to be able to fit out our tent with kitchen and storage units, cookers, tables, chairs and, most essentially, an electric hookup. I say essential, as my wife needs to have somewhere to plug her hairdryer in, that was the deal breaker, and we all need something to charge our phones and my MacBook.

On Friday morning, I shall be busy loading the car and top box with all our camping gear for the first time, trusting that I will have everything to hand when we arrive at the campsite to enable a quick start to the assembly process. We're going relatively local to us. We will be pretty close if we must return to base and get whatever we've left behind.

The Hayling 4 Air Tent is a long way from my days of a two-man bivvy with a G1098 fighting order, large pack and rifle or, in my case, a GPMG

(here, lofty, you're a big lad. You can carry this) on a snowy Dartmoor night. The Hayling is an Air Tent; you peg it down, blow it up, and 'bob's your uncle'…hopefully.

We're starting to feel excited. We've got the weather (I knew this was the best weekend three months ago when I booked the pitch), and we won't be alone. Our family guests will be at the campsite early to set up and sit back with a glass of wine and laugh at us setting our tent up!

Watch out on my socials; I'm sure I'll be sharing some photos over the weekend.