Sleeping under the stars - glamping inspiration

This article was written for The Gardener magazine’s Spring/Summer 2012 issue.

I am not a natural outdoorsy person. I love concrete under my feet and all mod cons. My love of the outdoors, the countryside and fresh air has only recently been acquired.

I grew up in the very last street in Brighton, where the town meets the South Downs. You had two choices: look towards the town or over the back garden towards the beautiful Sussex countryside. I wanted both.

Like many other families in those days, we didn’t travel much. Our holidays were a Hillman Minx, packed to the gills with tinned and packaged food, a tent and the bare necessities of civilised life. We set off with no particular plan. The map of Europe was opened up on the Formica table of the Newhaven to Dieppe ferry with the magical words, “Well, kids, where shall we go?” Over the years our travels took us to Barcelona, Venice and the French Riviera.

None of this really entered my mind until decades later, when I was a self-employed working mother living
in the city. I was lucky: I had some latitude to arrange my time but the long school summer holidays flummoxed me. How on earth do you fill the time in a relatively economical and flexible way?

Then I had an idea. Let’s go permanent camping. Find a nice site an hour from home with a kindly owner, pitch the tent, blow up the air beds and create your own poor man’s holiday home and beat a path there whenever work allowed and the sun shone. Of course, a large garden would work, too.

This is when the ‘glamping’ bug took hold and, a year later, a guilty pleasure overcame me. I saw an old mustard and brown caravan. It looked like a little loaf of bread but I bought it anyway. I replaced the pale blue fitted carpet with cork tiles and added authentic 1970s vinyl wallpaper.

And that was the seedbed for My Cool Caravan: true-life stories and pictures of people and their vintage caravans. My Cool Campervan came next and I learned the joy of the journey – the packed lunch, taking
the slow road. Later this year comes My Cool Shed I think you get the picture.

I adore the idea of escape, especially when it is stylish and inexpensive. Whether it is in a tent, a vintage caravan or a shed, a yurt or a tepee, your local park or your own back garden, it doesn’t matter. All can provide that precious sense of escape.

Later in the week I’ll post my top glamping tips!

The Gardener magazine is available from The Garden Centre Group at http://www.thegardencentregroup.co.uk/