# Wild camping!! - C'mon, who are we kidding....!!!



## 91289 (May 1, 2005)

Now when I first started looking into motorhoming, I came across the phrase wild camping and nearly fell off my chair laughing 8O 

Wildcamping:-

Up a hill in the lakes, halfway up a Scottish mountain in winter, canoeing in Canada and having to hang your food in a tree, Camp 3 on K2.... 

now these are all situations I would not quibble about the phrase 'wild camping' but a motorhome, with your feet up, the heater on, cold beer in fridge, telly on and a nice comfy bed waiting, surely not.

So the challenge is to regale us with tales of daring do which live up to the phrase and don't just mean, not parked in an official campsite.

For instance, how you once parked in a storm so bad, you had to lash the van down with ropes. Then when the storm subsided at 3am, a thousand kilted warriors suddenly materialized in front of the van and re-enacted the bloody battle of 'Hootsmon', with the leader finally beheaded just behind the drivers seat and when you all fell asleep and woke up next morning, everyone's hair was white! 8O 

OK maybe not but you get the picture.

So far my most challenging moment was getting my stuck van off a field and sitting in the cab at 6.30am after having been woken up by a storm and watching all the campers bashing tent pegs back in, apart from the unfortunate ones packing the remains of their camp into the boot, and sitting there thinking, Yep! done that, been there.

so..........


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## johnsandywhite (May 9, 2005)

8O OK *TandD*? You asked for it. 4 years ago I was Wild-Camped at the beach in Altea Spain. We were parked on a Concrete slab (along with several other's) which is normally in Summer a beach Restaraunt. The rear of our motohome was actually 5 feet over the water. On the Friday night there was a big storm with thunder and lightning. Saturday everything was Sun and almost clear blue sky. The Sea was like a mill pond. Saturday night it started to rain and thunder again. At around 5am Sunday morning we I awoke to the motorhome bring lifted up like being on the back of an Humpbacked Whale. I woke Sandy up and we drove off as quick as we possibly could. The following week we rode back to where we had been parked. The roads on the way had been washed away. Where we had been parked had disappeared into the sea. We were still carrying bit's of sea weed and stones within the chassis of the motorhome 4 years after when we eventually sold it. :roll:


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

Shall I tell you about the night we were camping in Idi Amin's Uganda and a hundred bodies floated down the river past our tent....or perhaps the night we pitched between a hippo and the river and had to evacuate very fast- complete with baby son......or the night a pride of lions walked right past our tent and we simply sat and drank our coffee and watched them.......or the night I went into the bush to answer a call of nature and nearly sat on a baby hyena. Those were the years ! With a very small tent and no luxuries that was wild camping.

G


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## JustRadio (May 21, 2005)

Actually a thought provoking post. What is the "wild" in wild camping?

Is it, the wilderness, the wildlife, the human life (often too wild for comfort), or what?

Personally I FEEL it's the human one, our own species is by far the most dangerous threat out there. The only thing I check for when parking is the chance of being mugged, beaten or simply taunted.

Here we are at the start of the 21st Century, and to feel comfortable we still have to make the wagons into a circle to protect us from the Red Indians.

John


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## 88724 (May 9, 2005)

Not in a designated campsite, not necessarily without permission or against the law and without paying fee 

every version as a downfall with the above you could pay to be in say a national park with no hook up or services

Not on a designated campsite, motorhoming without fee being due? does that come close

some count just lack of facilities ie car park, pay for priviledge but no amenities?


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## spykal (May 9, 2005)

Hi

Me too, never like to use the expression wild and camping together, at least not for the sort of camping we do nowadays. In the USA I believe its known as "Boondocking" which is even more confusing.

Wild can mean many things but the wildest camping for me was in my early twenties I liked to surf and Newquay was "the place" and "flower power" was cool, I used to camp on a site that was pretty wild where "pot" was not for cooking in and although I didn't smoke it, on a calm evening, you could get a high just by breathing the exhaled pot fumes ( well much like Clinton if I did try it, I didn't inhale :lol: )

Not that we are going to manage to get everyone to change but how about calling it "Unhooked Camping" or "Free Camping" or "Off Site Camping" ....any other suggestions?

Mike


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## Detourer (May 9, 2005)

Hi Grizzly

Sounds like you may have been one of my clients on our early (many, many years ago) Trans Africa Safaris.

Anyway, glad that some of you made back!!


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## Scotjimland (May 23, 2005)

I think the term "wild camping" is a bit unfortunate, to the non motorhomer it conjures up pictures of the "great outdoors", wild landscapes, desserts, mountains etc .. not much of that kind of land left in mainland Europe and far less in the UK  
In reality it is little more than a free place to stop overnight, be it a car park or beauty spot by the beach. 
Our island is becoming more and more crowded, fewer and fewer real wild spots left, sites are booked up weeks and months in advance but our notion of freedom and spirit of adventure refuses to die. 
Some of us have enough "survival kit" for a trek across outer Mongolia while we head to a club site with all amenities but it's this desire to be the "hunter" the "explorer" which refuses to die that made Britain great .. 
Long live that spirit .. and whether we call it wild camping or free loading does it really matter ?


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## johnsandywhite (May 9, 2005)

8O It is definitely NOT free-loading as quite a few called it in Spain in recent years. Last year I was Wild-camped (Boondocked) in a piece of waste land in Albir just north of Benidorm. I arrived on-site to find no other's parked there. Within a week there were 30 then 50 eventually we moved but there finished being around 70 parked there. When we returned several weeks later, there were only around 15 left. In the remaining time we stayed there one RV turned up and stayed for around 10 days. That RV would have cost in the region of £290,000 when it was bought. Don't tell me they were free-loading. They chose to park there and it was NOT to save a few pounds. 8) :wink:


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## Scotjimland (May 23, 2005)

Hi John
my intention wasn't to condemn or make judgement on wild camping, nor indeed to call anyone a free-loader, my point was to stress the fact that the name wasn't important but it was the spirit and desire for adventure that drove and not the economics. 
My apology if I offended you or anyone else. 

Jim


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## johnsandywhite (May 9, 2005)

No offence taken (Skin as thick as Cow Hide), but people do use the free-loaders qoute quite freely. I have mentioned before I chose to go mobile to move away from neighbours who you cannot choose. We had 5 years on a camp site in Spain next to the beach. Paid enough for the £500 caravan to have flown to Florida and shipped over a decent RV. We were quite happy there with our Dutch & Spanish neighbours (became lifetime friends) until they sold to an English couple. We stuck it for a year and then sold up and went mobile. Now if we stop somewhere and are joined by other's who are let we say, not very nice company? We move on. Our choice. Free-loading doesn't come into it. :wink:


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## 91289 (May 1, 2005)

Oh dear, this tongue in cheek post has got a bit 'deep'. Neveremberit hit a note which certainly I would think about when wild camping but I didn't intend it to get so profound, I really did want stories like Johnsandywhite's. Grizzly did you really do those things, I'm humbled.

Scotjimland is absolutely spot on. It doesn't really matter what we call it, we all know what it means and I'm sure all of us share the spirit of adventure otherwise we wouldn't have a motorhome.

so in the spirit of adventure ....... stories!!


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

We lived there Detourer - and can tell many other tales of camping in various parts of Africa in tents and eventually a very odd motorhome ( VW based )
I'm aftraid we rather despised the transAfrica safari brigade -especially the German ones in those vast trailers where everyone slept in a slot in the side. Why they did not suffocate I will never know.

G


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## JustRadio (May 21, 2005)

In truth, though I have owned a series of campers for fifteen years I have rarely used them for camping, I'm hoping this will shortly change. My experience of formal camp sites is limited to half a dozen one-night-stands in summer and two longer stops in winter. In summer I did not like them, too close to my neighbours and too jolly jolly all round, I don't live like that at home and it doesn't appeal for pleasure!

The Caravan Club sites I used in Winter were very very good and well operated, lovely hot showers and a warm room in Braemar in a blizzard I recall with particular fondness, wonderful walks and a nearby friendly hotel with a blazing fire, but we were one of seven and there was lots of privacy.

I like camping in the winter when there are few people about, and asking permission to stop here and there isn't too hard and usually a spot can be found. I have had a couple of slightly dodgy experiences with feral humans that have taught me to be careful, but even so I think I like it best that way.

I've also stopped in marinas on two occasions, asked if I could pay as a 16 foot boat! Used the showers, quiet and peaceful, nice to look over the water. It's not about the money, it's about the location and the get-away-from-all-ethos.

EDIT. I wanted to add that this is the same for me at sea. Many many people cruise from one marina to another, like cruising from one mutli storey car park to another. I like to visit fishing harbours or drop the hook in out-of-the-way bays, or park in a tidal spot and let the water run away, it's what my boat was built for (I think).


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## james (May 15, 2005)

We chose to "wild camp" because we like to camp! We love beautiful countryside, the more remote the better, Scandinavia is just our cup of tea. Alright, not very wild but stunning _wild_erness. I would pay to park in those places and also feel that we should be paid to park in some of these car parks laughingly called camp sites. I feel that parking in an ordered official camp site with every one in their little parking bay plugged into the electricity and water supply is just one step away from parking in a Tesco car park. Fine if you like that sort of thing but it is not for us. We have done it once or twice when we visited some friends some distance form us, but out of choice we would avoid it at all costs if possible and find it difficult to understand why many people prefer them. Perhaps someone can tell me?


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## 88903 (May 10, 2005)

> we should be paid to park in some of these car parks laughingly called camp sites. I feel that parking in an ordered official camp site with every one in their little parking bay plugged into the electricity and water supply is just one step away from parking in a Tesco car park.


I agree totally
If I want neighbours I can stay at home.
my idea of wild camping is to find somewhere where there is no one else.
for me money does come in to it too. I could not afford to spend 6 weeks on the road if I had to pay for campsites too.

short version of much longer story
I have also done some really wild stuff. the funniest of which was one night in africa we took to the trees to sleep. tying ourselves to branches. the one who was supposed to stay awake must have dropped off. we awoke to his screams. he was dangling from the branch with a big lioness jumping up and trying to swat him with her paw.
we laughred quite a bit at that. [she couldn't reach him but it did look close]

roi


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## patr (May 9, 2005)

During the first Gulf War I was "camped" on the outskirts of a delightful little Saudi village called Hafr al Batin when one of Saddams long range snipers in downtown Bagdhad pressed the fire button on a Scud missile. It landed quite some distance away but the Scud warning drill was to get into NBC suits sharpish and wait for the impact. During those quiet moments of reflection you quickly realise that adrenelin is brown and smells just like s**t. 

If Carlsberg ran a Wild Camping site it would probably have been that one!

Give me the tin tent any day and the greatest gift God gave Motorhomers. The ignition key. Put it in, turn it on and rev away to the next location.


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## 89031 (May 12, 2005)

We dont specifically look for remote or out of the way places but to me "Wild" camping is when we have to overnight without the luxury of "Hook Up" and simply use the facilities thatwe have on board with us.

Last week we were in a field on the top of Goathland Moor - N Yorkshire - when THE storm hit.

That was a bit wild - the bar b q got doused - the food floated away - the dogs asked many times to come in the van looking like drowned rats - we eventually conceded on that one when the lightning got to about 3 feet away - i had to eventually let the wife back in as well cos the tree she was hiding under looked like it might take another strike.....

Does this constitute wild camping?


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## JustRadio (May 21, 2005)

patr said:


> Give me the tin tent any day and the greatest gift God gave Motorhomers. The ignition key. Put it in, turn it on and rev away to the next location.


It was being harassed by Scottish yobs when parked in a car park at Fort Augustus in Winter that put my wife off the idea. On that vehicle, (see pic in strange motorhome section), you could not get to the steering wheel without leaving the camping bit and mounting the cab bit. I agree the ignition key is a great safety device.

I guess we did look a bit like travelers, I had installed a Squirrel stove, so we could be seen driving along with a little smoke chuffing out of the roof! It was nice though to be parked up before an open fire, and fun to go beachcombing for firewood. My late boxer / great dane cross put her head out of the door and they cleared off. Nothing like a big black dog for peace of mind, so now we have dachshunds!!


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## 89411 (May 22, 2005)

we like the sense of freedom you get when "wildcamping" - not having to consider your exact moves and book everything before setting off is exactly why we bought a van 

however our experiences have not always worked out as we have had a few problems finding appropriate places to stay and ended up in a layby at the side of a busy road! so now we do tend to plan!!!!!

probably our wildest experience camping was before we had the kids we had used to go real wild camping on the cliff top at burniston - we had to take everything with us and didn't have a car ! one night about 2am we were woke by someone knocking on the tent - i made andy see who it was and it was a policeman - not asking us to move but searching for someone! they didn't say to much so for the rest of the night we sat expecting to be attacked by a mad axe weilding escaped prisoner! :roll:


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## BERTHA (May 21, 2005)

I think most of you seemed to have had some experience of "wild camping" but I don't think anything can match staying in Easterhouse, just out side Glasgow, on a Friday night. Try it, park you van on the waste ground at the rear of the high street

B


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## Scotjimland (May 23, 2005)

BERTHA said:


> I think most of you seemed to have had some experience of "wild camping" but I don't think anything can match staying in Easterhouse, just out side Glasgow, on a Friday night. Try it, park you van on the waste ground at the rear of the high street
> 
> B


YOU DID'NT 8O and you lived to tell the tale 8O

This must be the roughest, toughest, wildest, baddest place in Europe .. now that's what I call WILD CAMPING .. , it's a no-go area for the cops never mind motorcaravans

Hope it didn't spoil your trip to God's own country :wink:

Jim


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