by Emma Nuttall

Created on: July 19, 2007

I live in a seaside resort and regularly hear the wailing of children wanting more money for the slot machines. Parents spend an absolute fortune here and everywhere you turn there is either a flashing light, an ice-cream vendor or something else that has caught their eye. And it is not that big a resort either!
I take my nieces camping every year, which is something we have done for the last eight years, or so. They love it. I brought them camping to Cleethorpes once and whilst the youngest was quite content with the scary bear jumping around a room full of kids, the oldest was totally fed up! So was Auntie Emma! When we go out to the Yorkshire Moors, they can't get enough of it. There are trees to climb, sheep to chat with, walks, streams and waterfalls to stand underneath. We hold competitions to see who can stay under them the longest. Trips to the Lake District have resulted in a flooded tent, midnight walks, a broken down car engine and late night mile-long walks to the local pub. All things to tell Mum and Dad when they get home. They never remember the trip to the seaside but are more than happy to recall tales of big splodges of rain landing on the bacon sizzling in the frying pan, or being stuck in a field full of sheep hoping that the sheep would stick their heads in the tent, early in the morning.

Most of my childhood was spent in tents and caravans and they were the happiest times I have had. All we had, on one occasion, was a lorry tyre inner tube and a stream. Hours of fun were had splashing around and hunting adder snakes in the bracken, by the side of the stream. My Step Mum putting her foot in a pan of beans, whilst tripping out of the caravan, my Dad telling us to put shoes on before going to the toilets, only to stand on a bee because he had gone barefoot. These are the things that I remember and one day I hope to pass on to my own children. In the meantime, I will keep taking the girls and relish the fact that countryside camping is cheaper, more fun and the fresh air makes them go to sleep far quicker than they would if we were anywhere else!

Learn more about this author, Emma Nuttall.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.