by Dominic Clacy

Created on: October 15, 2009

For me this is an easy question to answer. I would live in a tent if it were practical. I love the outdoors, I love getting away from everything and just focusing on 'getting by'. It is really rewarding and helps you appreciate what you have back at home.

Camping offers you complete freedom of choice as to where you camp, what you do and how you do it. Camping in the UK is great because there are such a variety of locations on offer. You can camp in a basic field at a festival, in a forest, near the coast, near the beach, near mountains (or halfway up a mountain!) or just outside a city's perimeter. Available activities include walking, hiking, cycling, swimming, lazing on the beach, cooking, every sport that you can bring with you and activities unique to your location. An added benefit of camping is that if your location begins to bore you, pack up and move on. One trip of mine actually ended up being a tour of Scotland!

You find when you go away camping that you get yourself back into what would be your natural rhythm. Clocks and the time become irrelevant. When the sun comes up you wake up, when the sun goes down you go to bed. It is a really healthy way to unwind and release any built up stress. It is really great for families too as children can help out with day to day activities, socialize with other children and learn to appreciate the natural world.

Camping won't hurt your bank balance either. As an example, camping at a site in North Devon for two people costs 15.00 per night. For a 7 night holiday this is 52.50 each on effectively a self catering basis. The accommodation can be as basic or as special as you like (depending on your tent) and the amenities tend to vary with the price. Compared to a basic self catering holiday abroad you are at least looking at 150 to 200 per person, a near 4 fold increase!

The benefits of camping are endless but as a final comment picture sitting in the front of your tent, on a gorgeous summer evening, watching the sunset over the sea. Surely you can't get better than that. Getting outdoors and getting yourself in tune with nature is what camping is all about. You will come back to your day job refreshed and motivated.

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