The Joys of Camping

For Ben, the most important thing is to find a cheap and affordable option during the busy school holidays. 'Because I have to go away during the peak season when all the schools are on holiday it's often difficult to find cheap hotel deals or holiday flats for rent,' he explains. In addition to this, he enjoys the flexibility camping offers. 'I'm not that good at planning ahead and like to be spontaneous with my travel plans. The fact that it's not usually necessary to pre-book to stay at a campsite suits me very well. I also like that I can go away to more obscure and remote places and get away from the students I spend all year in the classroom with.'

Cathy is looking for a contrast from her stressful working life when she goes on holiday. She says, 'I love being outside and the freedom camping offers. I spend all day in the office when I'm at work and have to be very organised to meet tight deadlines, so when I'm on holiday I like to be in the fresh air and be able to do exactly what I want when I want; camping is perfect for that. Of course, there are some rules you have to respect like you're not allowed to make noise after 11 or 12 at night but I like that. I love going to sleep listening to the insects in the trees or the waves on the beach.'

Matt likes to spend his holiday seeing lots of different places. 'I'm a restless person so when I go away on holiday I don't like to be tied down to one place; camping means you can stay for two nights in one place then pack up the tent, jump in the car and stay somewhere else for the next night or two and so on with no need to book ahead. It's a great way to see lots of different places in a short period of time.' He also points out that, 'You obviously need a car to really be able to make the most of your time and make sure you have a good map and a good up-to-date campsite guide with clear directions to help you find the different campsites. Campsites are often not well signposted and there is nothing more frustrating than driving around for hours looking for a campsite when you'd rather be relaxing on the beach.'

Eli and Catriona explain why camping is the perfect holiday for families. 'We used to go camping when we were much younger before we had children and loved it but now we have the boys it makes even more sense. There are so many child-friendly campsites with swimming pools and special activities for kids. It's so nice for them to have lots of space to run around in and other children to play with. It also means we have time to ourselves to really relax. We've actually been to the same campsite for 2 years in a row now as we all had such a good time there the first year. The boys are still in touch with friends they made there last year so we might well go back again this year.'

For Melissa and Stefano it's the friendly atmosphere that means they keep going back to campsites year after year. 'We've travelled around the whole of Europe in our campervan and every year we meet so many interesting people and make friends with people from all over the world. Everyone is always so helpful when you stay on a campsite. If you need to borrow something like matches your neighbours will always help you out. One year we got the back wheels of the campervan stuck in the sand and it took ten of our new neighbours to help push it out. Everyone came rushing over to help as soon as they saw there was a problem and most of us didn't even speak the same language. It was a wonderful feeling; you don't get that in hotels.'