When I was a child, we went camping for two weeks every summer to the same place on the NSW South Coast. I have the fondest memories of our free range summers and am still in touch with some of my summer friends.
I do understand that there are some people out there who really don’t like camping, and I think if you are brought up camping then it is more likely to be something you enjoy as an adult. For that reason I really pushed to get us into the car and onto the coast for a week under canvas (nylon really but it doesn’t have quite the same ring). I recommend you at least give it a try – the kids will love it!
I think camping is the perfect holiday for young families, and this is why:
- It brings you closer to nature – you can feel the wind, hear the storm and feel the grass without leaving bed! Not to mention spending all day in the great outdoors with the TV, the toys and technology firmly forgotten.
- It brings you closer together as a family – When we arrived home from our camping trip I was immediately shocked by how big our house felt – spending all our time in such close quarters was nice. We were not so physically distant from each other during the day and we were able to have so many fantastic experiences together.
- The house work takes much less time – don’t get me wrong, camping is hard work, but sweeping out a 2×8 tent and washing 1 bowl per family member takes a lot less effort than cleaning a four bedroom house.
- The awesome feeling of community – our first night camping the kids were up way past their normal bedtime blowing bubbles with the next-tent-neighbours. Every time people walked too and from the amenities they stopped for a quick chat, there were offers of games nights and tips on how to improve our set up. We got to know so many people that we ordinarily might not have hung out with.
- You get back to basics – we took limited clothes, toys, food and other assorted goods. We didn’t have a million choices to offer and the kids didn’t even ask for three types of jam for their toast. We worked together to make our small tent comfortable and didn’t need lots of ‘things’ to entertain us.
- We spent lots of quality time together – in 7 days the whole family only left the campground twice. We spent all our time at the beach, the park and chilling in the shade. We were able to connect, sit and watch life pass us by and just forget about real life.
My brother and I were just reminiscing about our awesome super relaxing, do nothing camping holidays as kids. I wish now that I could go back and thank Mum for giving us those memories, cause this week sure wasn’t easy or relaxing for me.
Camping with small people (especially a crawling Baby) is hard work. The Baby spent the whole week crawling through mud and grass, eating heaven knows what and generally having a ball. But from my perspective there were issues I had never considered and that worried me and made me work hard… Everything from packing the trailer for a week before we left so I didn’t forget anything to bathing the baby (laundry sink), showering 2 wriggling big kids, washing swimmers, keeping everyone fed, clothed and clean to cooking with limited supplies was hard work.
Would I trade it? Not for anything!
Blue Tree Life 