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    Cool Camping: Sleeping, Eating, and Enjoying Life Under Canvas
    Cool Camping: Sleeping, Eating, and Enjoying Life Under Canvas
    Cool Camping: Sleeping, Eating, and Enjoying Life Under Canvas
    Ebook231 pages1 hour

    Cool Camping: Sleeping, Eating, and Enjoying Life Under Canvas

    By Laura James

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    “Don’t even think about setting foot in a tent without this book. It shows just how stylish outdoor life can be.” Jodie Kidd

    With celebrity contributions from cool campers Hugh-Fearnley Whittingstall, Jodie Kidd, Alex James, Mitch Tonks, Emily Eavis, Kim Wilde, Kevin McCloud, Tom Norrington Davies, Rafaella Barker, and Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones.

    Before you have nightmares about being trapped in a field with a bus-load of boy scouts, swatting your way through a cloud of midges with your Ordnance Survey map the wrong way ‘round, rest assured that camping is officially cool again. Today’s camping is about style, comfort and a sprinkling of glamour – think Sienna Miller at Glastonbury, silk-swathed tipis, Cath Kidston tents, and designer (yes, designer) caravans. Oh, and great gadgets.

    Cool Camping is the ultimate guide to the perfect outdoor lifestyle. Illustrated throughout with stylish photographs of the latest and coolest gear, camping couture and locations, Cool Camping is packed full of suggestions for the most scenic and unusual camping spots and music festivals around the world, suggestions for music playlists to complement your holiday under canvas, gourmet campfire recipes with celebrity contributions, and a trip down memory lane with classic campfire stories. Plus, exciting and creative suggestions for what to do once you're there. The great outdoors never looked so good!

    Contents include:

    Introduction
    The Great Escape
    Canvas and Kit
    Camping in Style
    Around the Campfire
    Directory

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins UK
    Release dateApr 18, 2019
    ISBN9780007547463
    Cool Camping: Sleeping, Eating, and Enjoying Life Under Canvas
    Author

    Laura James

    Laura James is an author and journalist and the owner of a communications agency. Her writing has appeared in many national and international newspapers and magazines. When not frantically fighting deadlines, she can generally be found hiding under a duvet with a stack of good books and lots of chocolate. She is the mother of four adult children and lives with her husband their dogs and cat in North Norfolk. Since her autism diagnosis she has campaigned for autism awareness and acceptance and written Odd Girl Out, a powerful memoir about dealing with a diagnosis of autism in womanhood.

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      Book preview

      Cool Camping - Laura James

      intro

      whycampingiscool

      It’s fun, fashionable and easy to do with great style. It offers an unparalleled sense of freedom and allows you to let your imagination run wild.

      Camping is officially cool again. But before you start having nightmares about being trapped in a field with a bus-load of boy scouts, let me explain. Camping has changed a lot. Gone are the days of being stuck next to the couple from hell who can’t wait to get you under their awning so they can subject you to two hours of mind-numbing conversation about double-entry book keeping.

      Today it’s about style, comfort and a sprinkling of glamour. Think Kate Moss at Glastonbury, Airstreams and T@b caravans. Drift off into a fantasy of vintage VW campers, bright white tipis stretching skywards and pretty tents peppered with flowers. Arguably, it was Cath Kidston’s delicious floral tent which kicked off the latest camping craze.

      Imagine sitting round the campfire, eating delicious food and telling ghost stories. Think boys in feather headdresses and girls with fairy wings. This is today’s camping experience.

      Cool camping is also about congregating around the campfire to share stories, sing songs, cook supper, toast marshmallows, or to simply enjoy the hypnotic effect of staring into the flames.

      I didn’t always think like this; the first time I went camping I lasted precisely two-and-a-half hours before booking into the nearest hotel. I wrote the whole thing off as a hideous, never-to-be-repeated experience and refused even to think about it.

      Then one evening at dinner the conversation turned to camping and, listening to the stories around the table, I realised that the reason I hated camping was because I had been doing it all wrong.

      Used to my creature comforts, I had imagined that camping should be an experience of deprivation and that – a little like an endurance test – it was something one simply, well, endured. The thrill of camping, I’d thought, was in living to tell the tale. A few months later I decided to try again. This time, though, I aimed to make it a luxury experience and set about truly thinking of my tent as a home from home.

      Picture credit: Fired Earth

      Rather than settling for a standard, modern nylon model, I chose a tipi instead. From the moment I stepped inside, the experience was completely different. A compulsive nester at home, I made sure that I had lots of comforting things with me and sleeping in my tent this time was a truly magical experience. There are, of course, many different types of camping and many different reasons for doing it. Maybe you’re so in love that the idea of the two of you being entirely cut off from the word in a field all alone under the stars is the motivation that will fuel your trip.

      Perhaps you and a crowd of friends are looking for a cheap fun break, or maybe you have small children and can’t face the idea of a long-haul flight and a stuffy hotel, or are off to a festival. Whatever the reason, you couldn’t have picked a better time as camping’s never been so cool.

      Camping is a brilliant way to recharge your batteries and escape from modern life. It’s a back-to-nature experience that allows you to forget about the phone and email, to be utterly free to do what you want and to enjoy the elements. One of the real thrills of camping is the act of setting up camp itself. Of making your space beautiful and taking some time off from your life. It should be an experience that appeals to all your senses and one that makes you feel truly alive. When you’re camping, you tend to spend a lot of time thinking about what you’re going to eat and drink next. What the weather’s going to do and how you’d never noticed before how dark it really is at night.

      What you don’t do is worry about real life and that, I suppose, is one of the real joys of camping. It allows you to experience things you haven’t since childhood. The day stretches before you in a way that’s unusual even on other kinds of holidays.

      For children, camping is sheer bliss. In a world in which they’re forced to grow up far too quickly, camping holidays offer them an utterly childlike adventure. And, like many grown-ups, they love the kit associated with camping.

      There are so many different adventures to be had. From doing it alone – in a one-man hike tent, somewhere utterly remote – to camping in a tipi field full of people, each one is different. But the thrill of spending nights outside is the same however you do it.

      This book is not designed to be an instruction manual; it’s more a celebration of the art of camping. After all, sleeping outdoors under canvas is one of the few truly childish pleasures afforded to grown-ups and it’s not often that one gets to play ‘house’ any more.

      Picture credit: Swiftsilver Caravans

      Camping is a brilliant way to recharge your batteries and escape from modern life… forget about the phone and email, to be utterly free to do what you want and to enjoy the elements

      Picture credit: Leatherman

      essentials

      Having the right kit is vitally important to your camping trip. Without it you might be cold, miserable and, perhaps worst of all, the least stylish in the field. So, don’t leave home without planning ahead and deciding exactly what you need to take.

      tents

      tipis

      yurts

      bolt-holes

      kit guide

      Picture credit: Pia Tryde with kind permission of Cath Kidston and Millets

      essentials tents

      loitering within tent

      Technology and design have moved on massively and leaky, cold tents are a thing of the past. Tents are now pretty cool places in which to hang out.

      Tents come in all shapes and sizes, from the very small and inexpensive to luxury versions with multiple bedrooms and space for everything, including the kitchen sink. Tents offer a compact and cost-effective means of camping. It’s important, though, that you choose a tent that best serves your needs and that you put it up properly. The weather can change really quickly and you need to ensure your tent offers you proper protection and will withstand the elements.

      With tents, as with many things in life, you get what you pay for. Having said that, it makes no sense to spend a fortune on a tent if you’re not sure if you’re going to like camping. Larger camping shops have a good selection and staff who will be able to advise on the right tent for you. Whichever tent you go for, it’s a good idea to practice putting it up at home before you take it away for the first time. Manufacturers’ instructions can be a bit of a nightmare to follow and forget about trying to put it up for the first time on site and in the dark or bad weather.

      Second-hand tents can be a good idea if you’re on a tight budget or are unsure if you’ll enjoy camping. Local papers, eBay and army surplus stores are good places to hunt out bargains. If you can get hold of an old-fashioned Scouts or army tent made from proper canvas, then you’ll have loads of space.

      When you get to a temporary oasis, choose where you think you want to pitch your tent and sit on the grass for ten minutes. This is a useful exercise as it ensures it is indeed a good place to camp. Lie on the grass, too, and make sure it’s flat, even and comfortable.

      The next step is to pitch your tent. If you’re a girl alone, you can always

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