Top Tips For Happy Glamping
Not everyone enjoys roughing it when they take to their tent for an outdoor adventure. If a rusty billy can, a one-man tent and your threadbare old sleeping bag from 1985 don’t appeal, then it’s time to tailor your camping experience to provide a little more comfort. Your fellow campers might call you a cop-out, but who’s going to be laughing when you wake up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for a spot of yoga and they haven’t slept a wink? Experiencing the great outdoors can be a relaxing spiritual experience and for many of us that involves a certain level of comfort. Why not visit a specialised yoga “glamping” retreat and meet like-minded people?
Raise your sights
Everyone knows that sleeping on the ground is one of the least comfortable aspects of camping. A double-high airbed is a great solution to the roots and rocks that can disturb an intrepid adventurer’s sleep. If your idea of the best use of a camping mat is a Salute to the Sun at dawn, so be it. Sleeping on a mat is all well and good, but they still don’t provide the real cushioning that us more sensitive souls require to get properly settled for the night.
Snug as a bug
With advances in modern technology, there are now some versatile camping blankets on the market which use hollow fiber synthetic insulation to keep you warm all year round – inside or outside your tent. Not only this, but they’re often waterproof too, meaning you’re sorted for sudden showers.
Size up
Even a four-man tent can be cramped for a couple, if you’ve brought a lot of luggage along with you. Nobody’s stopping you from going all out if you can afford it, so why not invest in something big and luxurious? A large tent is like a home from home, and it’s ideal for use as a “party tent” that everyone can crowd into. Just make sure they agree to leave when it’s time for bed…
Fire in your belly
Camping doesn’t have to mean baked beans and burnt marshmallows. You can be creative about your cooking even without a kitchen and an oven. Take an ice box with you if you’re only camping for a couple of days – and grab yourself a decent glamping stove if that billy can still doesn’t appeal. You’ll be everyone’s favorite person and the free beers are guaranteed to flow.
Skip the tent!
If you really can’t deal with camping, of course, you can go and stay in a hostel. You’ll be away from the evening camaraderie, but you’ll have a real bed, a real roof and a shower. Your friends will probably forgive you, even if you’re the laughing stock of the campfire for a bit.