Wild camping: would you?

 

I love camping, yes. I’m not sure though that I’d be comfortable doing any wild camping. It’s just that for me, I worry a lot. I worry that someone will steal our belongings if we leave the tent, I worry that the police will come along and tell us we’re not allowed to be there, I worry a farmer will show us his shotgun – even if we had all the relevant permissions (not that I’d know where to get them) I’d worry that somewhere along the line we’d get in trouble. Probably in the middle of the night.

None of that stopped my husband taking our eldest son wild camping last Summer. They spent just the one night out when Louis raised money for the RSPB  and I’m sure I got less sleep than they did as I sat at home worrying.

Naturally, I worried for no reason at all because bright and early the following morning, they arrived home filled with tales of adventure. To this day Louis talks about his wild camping with Daddy and I’m sure it’s a memory he will treasure for a long time to come.

While I can see the attraction where wild camping is concerned, it shouldn’t be done without considerable planning. In England, you must have the permission of the land owner. You don’t want to be in trouble for trespassing now, do you? There are opportunities to wild camp in England’s national parks, and you can find details of permitted sites at nationalparks.gov.uk. Their website also has a ‘Guide to good camping‘ which has some sound advice. If you need a comprehensive checklist for family camping, I have one here.

e’re on the lookout for some good campsites to visit this year now that the weather is due to improve a bit, and I think we’ll see some of Scotland this year. We haven’t been there since our honeymoon, when we toured the Scottish coast in a motorhome. This time we’ll have both kids with us and substantially less cash (comes with this parenting malarkey) but I’m hoping for a couple of weeks of stunning scenery and relaxed road trips.

I’m not sure any of it will be wild camping, but I did read that the rules are more relaxed in Scotland, (Visit Scotland told me so) but I’d still be lying awake waiting for someone to tell me to shift! The Visit Scotland website also has a handy guide  which wouldn’t hurt you to read before embarking on an adventure of your own.

Do you, or have you camped in the wild? I’d be really interested in reading about your experiences, and if you’d like me to I’d love to publish some of your stories here on the blog. You can email me or comment here – see the About Me page for all of my contact details.