Anna Posyniak‑Dutka Family Camping Holidays Don’t Have To Be a Catastrophe Any More!

Do you remember Hermione Granger? The smart witch, Harry Potter’s loyal companion? Do you recall the episode in which she carried a handbag with her in which she had a whole array ofarray ofarray of unexpected items. The one that is of special interest to us is the charmed tent. As a result of the Undetectable Extension Charm it was much more spaciousspaciousspacious on the inside than it seemed to be on the outside. The bad news is that the Charm is not yet commercially available. Not to worry though, as something equally good is broadly reachable. Well, under a few conditions… Welcome to the world of glampingglampingglamping which provides the experience of camping without having to compromise your comfort.

It is said that the essence of glamping is not that far away from its poor cousin, camping, and it’s still about being close to nature. Nevertheless, that’s about where the similarities between your childhood family holidays and glamping finish. Just as the name impliesimplies [imply]implies, if you opt for the glamorous version of the tent holidays, you can experience the great outdoors without sacrificing the luxuryexperience the great outdoors without sacrificing the luxuryexperience the great outdoors without sacrificing the luxury. Obviously, if your wallet is thick enough.

Think about all those things which made camping so uncool when you were growing up. Roughing itroughing it [rough it]Roughing it did sound appealing until you realised that all creepy‑crawliescreepy‑crawlies [creepy‑crawly]creepy‑crawlies in the neighbourhood felt invited to the same party. Then a storm started and you remembered that you had prioritisedprioritised [prioritise]prioritised something else over fixing the leaky tentleaky tentleaky tent that was now your only accommodation option. No matter how cold your sleeping bagsleeping bagsleeping bag was, getting out of it in the chilly morning was a challenge comparable to admitting to having failed a class to your parents. Erase all those inconveniences no matter how deep they are etched in your memoryetched in your memory [etch in someone’s memory]etched in your memory. Here are 5 differences between camping and glamping:

1. Glamping is not only about tents. The types of dwellingsdwellings [dwelling]dwellings include barnsbarnbarns and other farm building conversionsfarm building conversions [farm building conversion]farm building conversions, log cabinslog cabins [log cabin]log cabins, treehouses, solar powered yurtssolar powered yurts [solar powered yurt]solar powered yurts, and waggonswaggons [waggon]waggons. The most important thing is that there is no need to pitch a tentno need to pitch a tentno need to pitch a tent. Easy access to electricityaccess to electricityaccess to electricity and running wateraccess to running waterrunning water is a staplestaplestaple. It’s camping with amenitiescamping with amenitiescamping with amenities which are all in place ready for you to move in and enjoy your time. A wide selection of luxurious camping accomodationluxurious camping accommodation luxurious camping accomodation will cater forcater forcater for the most demanding holidaymakers’ needs.

2. Forget a roll‑up sleeping mat or an air mattress which makes you dizzy from trying to inflateinflateinflate them every evening only to find out in the middle of the night that you are actually sleeping on the ground. Don’t even mention humidhumidhumid and smelly sleeping bags. If you decide to become a glamperglamperglamper, expect a comfy bedcomfy bedcomfy bed with a spring mattressspring mattressspring mattress and fresh and crisp beddingcrisp beddingcrisp bedding to snuggle intosnuggle intosnuggle into after a day full of adventures.

3. Even the best and most modern campsites offer only communal toilets and showerscommunal toilets and showers [communal toilet and shower]communal toilets and showers. Although it might be fun to chat with other outdoor lovers while queuing to get to one, nothing can substitute the comfort of your own bathroom with hot water. As in many cases, you will have a multiple room tentmultiple room tentmultiple room tent at your disposalat your disposalat your disposal, you won’t even need flip‑flopsflip‑flopsflip‑flops to walk from the shower to your bed. Luxurious tent living has got undeniable advantages.

4. Self‑cateringself‑cateringSelf‑catering is an indispensableindispensableindispensable part of being in the wild. Instant soups, pasta, and canned food all constitute the taste of camping. You don’t have to give up on that but, in the case of glamping, there is no need to build fire, as it will be done for you or your dwelling will be equipped with a butane hobbutane hobbutane hob or a wood burning stovewood burning stovewood burning stove. Of course, premium options offer menus and exclusive dishes delivered to your table.

5. HeatingheatingHeating is always a big challenge when it comes to camping. Layers upon layers upon layers is probably how you tried to prevent yourself from freezing to death if your sleeping bag turned out to be too cold. Glamping accommodations provide some kind of source of heat, usually a wood burning stove. You will be able to enjoy many traditional activities while living in the lap of luxuryliving in the lap of luxury [live in the lap of luxury]living in the lap of luxury.

Nowadays, being in the wildbeing in the wild [be in the wild]being in the wild does not mean stripping life down to the bare essentialsstripping life down to the base essentials [strip life down to the base essentials]stripping life down to the bare essentials. You don’t have to give up on your creature comfortscreature comfortscreature comforts to feel close to nature. Depending on the amount of money you are ready to splash out, you can make some trade‑offstrade‑offs [trade‑off]trade‑offs between the crudecrudecrude and rudimentaryrudimentaryrudimentary camping and the luxurious tent‑living. You can still let your friends believe that you are tough.

1 Źródło: Anna Posyniak‑Dutka, licencja: CC BY-SA 3.0.