Experience

A Dip into Camping Thumbnail

A Dip into Camping

There is a place in the Swiss Alps at 1400 meters of altitude with a lake surrounded by foresty hills and cliffs, Lac Taney. This lake is freezing cold, but after hiking up a very steep mountain for 40 minutes, the first thing we did after putting our camping equipment down was change into our bathing suits and jump into that lake. Our changing room was the backside of a rock that had a 270° view

Continue Reading
When Nature Calls Thumbnail

When Nature Calls

I don't know if you know what a 'SheWee' is, and I'm not quite sure if I have recovered enough to tell you! Try breaking the two syllables down and using a bit of imagination. Well, I can barely bring myself to say this... It was my second morning of trekking in the Indian Himalayas. About twenty four hours since I'd last seen a proper toilet, and I don't know what I had been thinking, but I’d

Continue Reading
Eight Legged Creeps Thumbnail

Eight Legged Creeps

When I was a little girl, I loved going to camp. There was nothing better than spending a week away from home, sleeping out under the stars, refusing to take a shower, and feeling like an adult without the parents. My mom would send me on my way with my sleeping bag, pillow, and a couple pairs of jeans and t-shirts, and I would come back a week later covered in last Sunday's dirt and good memories

Continue Reading
Oceanside Camping Trip Thumbnail

Oceanside Camping Trip

My family of 5 are avid campers. We go at least five times every summer to the beautiful mountains of North Carolina for a mountain getaway from school and work. This year I had my oldest daughter graduate high school on the same day that my baby girl turned 13 and I wanted to do something special for this auspicious occasion. I made the mistake of asking the family what they wanted to do to cele

Continue Reading
Camping Alphabet Thumbnail

Camping Alphabet

Camping for some can just seem like too much bother, so much to do and the worry that it will not be done in the right way!... Well if I can do it then anyone can! Check out my 'camping alphabet' below for some great tips, ideas and articles that will help you get the best from your camptrips. Happy camping! A is for ACTIVITIES! There is so much to do during a camping trip, trust me, ther

Continue Reading
The Not So Great Outdoors Thumbnail

The Not So Great Outdoors

A few years ago, my girlfriend Sally and I decided to go on a weekend camping break to the the Forest of Dean. We had seen it featured in the film 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' and thought it seemed like somewhere we would enjoy exploring. Our trip started well. The late summer weather was beautiful, the early morning drive down to Gloucestershire was straightforward and the campsite �

Continue Reading
In The Rain Thumbnail

In The Rain

I am not a camping person. That is not surprising seeing that I am much closer now to senility than I am to adolescence. The trouble is, I never was a camping person. That however, did not deter me from joining a group of 'friends' who were attending a Fleadh Cheoil in Gorey, Co. Wexford at a time when I had as much money as sense -which was none of either! We arrived in the town on a wet, clam

Continue Reading
Tips for Lightweight Camping Thumbnail

Tips for Lightweight Camping

I recently completed a four day solo camping trip in Finnish Lapland, just north of the Arctic Circle. My complete outfit weighed twenty-nine pounds. I know there are ultralight campers who carry even less, but in my experience, most people take far too much and there really is no need to. Here are some tips for lightweight camping which come from my own personal experience. Get a modern tent.�

Continue Reading