A: Sneaking off to Glastonbury with one tiny wee tent between the four of us excited 16 year olds. Each one convinced Julian Cope would spot us and fall in love.
or
B: Trying to impress your first love, and still niave enough to think that a night under canvass with your gorgeous boyfriend would be blissful?
So, maybe in retrospect my motivation for camping was not quite what it should have been. I may have missed the point of camping in my teenage years and now that I'm a proper grown up, I am curious to revisit the experience. A desire to get back to nature and away from the rush of modern life may be reason enough to seek shelter under canvas. And with the dawn of "glamping" this break from the hustle and bustle of life can, it seems, be comfortable. Dare I say even luxurious.
Camping has changed. It may be that our concerns over carbon footprints and global warming have given us a yearning for the natural life. This has for some transformed camping into a positive choice, rather than a last resort. Or the continued popularity of music festivals may be influencing the growth of glamping. Many festivals are now full of people like me who are old enough to remember the hellish reality of a tiny wet tent and wafer thin bed rolls and know their old backs could simply not survive it again. Media interest in celebrities enjoying time in tents and books about how cool camping can be have all helped to transform the experience into something verging on the glamorous.
Glamping is an exciting mix of glamour and the great outdoors. The challenge of going back to nature has been cushioned with some strategically placed rugs and feather duvets. The evenings filled with woodsmoke and the sound of sausages sizzling can for glampers be enjoyed with more than a sachet of tomato sauce. Now champagne is at hand in chilled boxes, and the whole evening can be illuminated by tea-light chandeliers and Jo Malone candles. When it's time for your beauty sleep there is no sign of stiff little bed rolls and static filled sleeping bags, now silk and muslin strewn gazebos, full size beds with Egyptian-cotton sheets are all part of the glamping experience.
Will I be going camping? I think so, but I want to try glamping. The romance of candlelight and nature has seduced me out of my hotel room and into that green field. Glamping does sound like a time to truly relax with a little luxury too. And if I'm honest the thought of shopping for all those glamping essentials like sexy wellies and Cath Kidston mac is too much to resist!
Do you want to go and enjoy the great outdoors? .. Its up to you to glamp it up!
