Wild camping is it worth it any more

anskyber

Guest
Wild camping is it worth it any more

Nothing against this site, in fact I wish more people would put more input into it.

I have been wild camping for years; I have had good times and bad. I just feel I can’t do it any more.

1 the cost: I have spent ages driving around in circles using lots of fuel trying to find a nice quite spot. Then ended up parking next to a noisy road. For just a few pounds I could have used a Certificated Sites and saved money.

2 Peace of mind: I always lie there trying to get to sleep wondering who will be the first to wake me up. Someone ripping out my door locks, pc plod just checking me out, noisy yobs having a laugh “where is pc plod when you need him” or the sad man that lives half a mile down the road that says “you cant park here”

3 Safety: due to recent illness I just don’t feel safe any more.

Next time I go camping I will join either the camping and caravanning club or the Caravan Club. I am not sure which will suit me as I have a self built van.
 
Hi Anskyber. Just surfed in as I'm back motorhoming. I know what you're saying, but surely those moments when you find an idyllic spot with no one else around, more than make up for the times spent next to roads.

We spent 18 months wild camping around Europe and had a fantastic time, last weekend taking the new van out locally we booked into a nearby site, within half an hour than concentration camp feeling had set in. It is a lovely site, but sometimes the essence of motorhoming is the freedom it brings rather than being penned into a couple of square feet, competing for a view and comparing camping furniture!

cheers

Ewanmac
 
I for one will continue to wild camp.

I won't join the clubs mentioned as they are very anti wild camp, they think its down to cost. Cost has nothing to do with it. I live in the middle of nowhere, why should I pay to spend the night on a 'housing estate' with loads of noise etc. Let alone everyone wanting to know our business?
 
I have spent all my life living in the countryside and wake up to peace and quite and beautiful views every morning.
My longest wild camping trip was seven months, however due to my ill health I can no do without any hassle.
There is now way I would want to camp on a crowded site but to pay just a few pounds on a quiet site would be worth it. I took a photo of this one near me this morning.
Also wild camping would be a lot easier if more people would put more input into this site.

feild1.jpg
 
Hi Folks,
I live in Dublin and I have wild camped a few times on the West coast. I would not wild camp
in a town or city for obvious reasons although you would probably be OK if you were discrete but I would
never get to sleep worrying.
If you are in Ireland try West Cork . (I spent a peaceful night in the Gougane Barra National park.)
Further north parts of Donegal are remote and beautifully rugged . Unfortunately a lot of areas in Ireland prohibit wild camping due to itinerant travellers in caravans who tend to travel in large groups and often
park at the side of main roads . The politics of this are to complex to go into here but the upshot of it for
motorhome owners means height restrictions at car aparks and No Overnight Camping signs at many beauty spots. Fo the same reason I can not see 'aire de service' facilities being provide in Ireland for the forseeable future.
 
Try wild camping on the west coast of Scotland[not all at once please]We have stayed in nicer places than money can buy.Most spots we would definitely return to,only occasionally do we stay somewhere we would not want to go back to.The peace and quiet and not having neighbours is well worth looking for .
 
I can understand many of your feelings but for me the solution to life is wildcamping
1; not crammed in to a small tatty field not good for anything but sheep and campers
2; not having to pay silly money to park overnight means that I can have several weeks holiday instead of a few days
3; no neighbours

I don't often use towns except to overnight when there is a particular reason. roadside laybys are another I use when on route from a to b but not for general use
I find out of the way places with scenery and peace and quiet where I and family can enjoy both.
My health is also on the decline and that is often an excuse I use should plod knock on the door at 2 am. With severe osteo arthritis I need to rest and take pain killers and lie down.; wagon drivers are required to do it by law and have fully equipped cabs with bunks and cookers, so do we. What's the difference. I usually have the kettle on by now and the plods are always sympathetic and helpful. they have even given me a few places that are better than where I'm at.
I would love to spend more time wildcamping on the continent as I believe they have more relaxed ideas on the subject there. at least so far no one has bothered me on the couple of trips I have been able to make.
I look forward to the youngest leaving school so I can spend 7 months on the road you lucky so and so.
My favorite places are in the west highlands of scotland. they also have a "traveller" problem. some of those travellers are now very good friends of mine so my feelings are mixed. I have seen the state of some places after the travellers have left but they are not all like that.
 
Well I have just got a Motorhome and plan the wander around Europe before heading south to my favourite Greek Island. I am fed up with having to look for a place to stay as I travel alone and take my dog with me too. So it seemed a good idea to take my home with me and be independent of peoples predjudices.

I did speak to a few people I met abroad to see if their experiences were good and if they got much aggro from locals were they stopped and all that I met seemed to have good experiences. So any more tips on the dos and dont of wild camping would be appreciated.

Liz & Guy (woof, woof)
 
the benefits of wildcamping;-
1 no noisy neighbours
2 fresh scenery whenever you want it
3 no silly parking charges
4 silence,solitude or company if you want it
5 i make loads of new friends everywhere i go

the disadvantages;-
1 the chance that plod will wake u early hours
2 the chance some moron will make a target of you

both of these can be dealt with fairly easily
the benefits outweigh the bad side for me.
and because of the cost of wildcamping it means i can be out on the road for a lot longer than if i was paying for campsites. plus i would be stuck with the same view when i open the curtains in a morning. and usually with several other campers parked within 12 feet of my van
 
Look on the bright side. Freedom and with the wind in our hair, that’s our sort of free camping. However, I have not wild camped many times because finding a quiet spot is difficult to find, to say the least in the UK, and then there is the security. I have most of the security measures in place but still I would be a little worried about who is going to break in and take our useful things. Security is a big issue while free camping and one that I take seriously, so I pay for it very cheaply as I see it.

I am content to stop off en route at some magic point and take in the vista or even park up just for lunch for an hour or so. Everything that we need is to hand in the camper. If I’m a little jaded after a laborious sector, I just lie down and take ten minutes. There’s no hurry and would prefer to amble along and take in the views.

The way I do my camping is to take a second form of perfect transport. Sometimes, it is on the carrier or other times if I want the bigger model this goes in the trailer. Soon we arrive at our destination with more than a little help from my navigators. Mostly, she is looking up the next port of call and when there is an attractive site i.e. CL or Hideaway where there are usually one or two campers, or if providential, none. If we need water, we can top up at the garage but this is more the exception rather than the rule as there is always fresh water available. On the continent there are more and more motor camper friendly garages that provide fresh and grey water services for when we are on a longer stint.

We usually choose camp site somewhere within thirty of forty miles of where we want to explore which gives us a good scope for finding a nice secure quiet site. We are pretty self contained and usually only want water every four days so we can stay there without moving the camper too often. The toilet is every two or three days so we may invest in another cassette. So we do this by booking in to a small site most nights while travelling.

If we want to go up a narrow track, or down a narrow lane to some natural scenic place, no problem. If I want to visit a church, Cathedral or Minster I park right by the front door, no parking charges usually wherever we go. We also like walking but sometimes ride to where it is convenient. If it is meandering along a back lane to experience the freshness of the country side, or just wandering along looking at the sleepy villages or just looking at mother nature, then it is just the job. Then there is the magic of finding that out of the way place that is difficult to find in a motor and therefore usually peaceful. Turn on the GPS and ride there easily whether it is food and drink, attractions i.e. landmarks, gardens, museums or historical, of various sorts or just the nearest fuel station. What is this idyllic life that we lead? Well, we just like camping with our motorcycle and I’m not sure which we enjoy the most or perhaps one complements the other to such an extent, we rarely go without them both. Wild camping should read free camping and it's sure worth it from this oldcamper's point of view. There's nothing quite so constant as change, so I move with the times. I've done it and love camping and biking too much to give either up.

from,

bornagainpete
 
well, born again pete. I couldn't have said it better.
or more eloquently. i always said bikers are the epitomy of the old celtic traditions, warrior poets. got to be some celtic blood in you somewhere.
i too used to use a bike and tent until the health became too bad.
now i have an old ambi which i have converted myself. it may look a little tatty but it has a 4 ring cooker, grill and oven, toilet and [soon] a shower. we have done everything on the cheap. our own water system with tanks [balanced]. cost £15. it works and as the level drops equally both sides no prob with weight.
the shower will be heated by the sun, the wind or the engine, ie free heat. why waste.
the places i use to overnight or longer, they are the same. i don't use other people's land [except with permission] i only use the land which belongs to us, the people of this land whether it be forrestry, moor or road layby or capark.
i do [and always will] object to paying exorbitant prices for an overnight site.
i called in to one campsite. me and missis, daughter [age 8] and dog. we had the car and a 3 man tent. it was a case of 2 adults and a child + the car parking fee and the pitch fee and then she saw the dog. it was up to £15.80
FOR ONE NIGHT on a piece of grass 6' x 10' and that included the car park. to add insult the showers were 20p for 4 mins.
another place charged us £10 for a night in our van. the field was on the side of a hill and we were in a long line along a track in a sheep field full of sheep droppings. 4 ft between each other, lousy tv reception but the laundrette was cheap.
with wild camping [or free camping] we do what the wagon drivers do. we pull up on the side of the road to rest, eat, sleep. they get paid for it, we don't.
who do we hurt? [aparet from the pockets of the campsite owners]
who do we bother? [apart from the sad gits sat at home in front of the tv who spend loads of money on their annual hols in majorca where they can get brit beer, brit food and brit tv]
maybe some kid [AH] will target us because we look like an easy target. that is the world we live in now because we are not allowed to discipline our kids as they grow up [or in most cases, can't be bothered to]. that is the new price we have to pay for the freedom we enjoy [and there are not many left]
may be a time will come when i can no longer wild camp. i hope not.
till then
I AM A WILD CAMPER AND PROUD OF IT
 
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