This weekend the weather was horrendous for most of the UK. I barely left my house. An early look at the weather for the next 7 days shows no sign of sunshine, just more rain. Bad news. Especially for us because all of the iknow-uk staff are going camping in the Lakes this weekend! So I’ve put together this guide for camping in the rain. I think we’re going to need it.
An English Summer
1. Wear a decent raincoat. If you’re camping in the rain, you will get wet. There’s no point pretending otherwise. But this doesn’t mean that you need to let the water get through to your skin! I have a lovely looking raincoat. It’s pink and it’s from New Look and it looks like it would do a really good job of being a raincoat. It doesn’t, it’s pants. Well it’s not pants it’s a coat but it doesn’t deserve to be called a raincoat as the water goes straight through. Pffft. So get a good one. Think Regatta or Berghaus rather than Topshop or H&M.
2. Test your wellies. If you only wear your wellies for mud or snow, check that they work in the rain too! Unlike raincoats, you can get some decent (and colourful) wellies for less than a tenner from Primark or Tesco. But when I say decent, I actually mean ‘decent for a couple of months before they start to leak’. My friend turned up at my house for a dog walk yesterday wearing plastic carrier bags on her feet inside the wellies. She rustled a bit but it’s certainly better than wet feet.
3. Put up a big piece of tarpaulin. When you arrive, stretch some huge pieces of tarpaulin over your whole campsite, it will be like camping with a roof on. You can then put up your tent underneath without it filling up as you’re trying to figure out which pole goes where and why someone threw the instructions away.
4. Line the floor of the tent. Tents aren’t actually that waterproof. If you put it down on wet ground the water WILL come through. So what you need is a thick sheet of plastic. The heavy duty stuff that builders use is great. Put this down under the tent and hey presto – you can leave your wellies outside the tent and not get wet socks.
5. Don’t touch the sides. Like I said, tents aren’t that waterproof. Especially if you skipped tip number 3. The sides will be wet, and if any of your belongings touch the sides they will be wet too. So please don’t throw your pyjamas in the corner. You will regret it at bedtime.
6. Get some summer music on. So your clothes are appropriate, your tent has been put up properly, now it’s time to get a smile on your face and get that holiday feeling! This isn’t always the easiest thing to do when the weather is miserable so this is where the tunes come in. Summer Time by Will Smith, Walking on Sunshine by Katrina and the Waves or anything by the Beach Boys should help.
7. Put a rubber snake in someone’s sleeping bag. Now at this point you’ll probably still have that one miserable friend who doesn’t like the Beach Boys and would rather moan about the rain than enjoy themselves. Sneak a rubber snake in their sleeping bag and wait until bedtime. When they find it and scream it will not only make you laugh but it will serve them right for being such a face ache.
8. Get drunk. Homeless people camp out every night, whether it’s raining, snowing or blowing a gale. You may also have noticed that a lot of them are drunks. I don’t think this is a coincidence. Booze makes you not care about your surroundings so much. Now I’m not saying that you should drink 3 litres of super strength lager and wee in your sleeping bag, but a couple of glasses of wine should cheer you up.
9. Play games. I spy something beginning with R. Rain? Yes. This might get a bit dull if you’re not five, so variety is the key here. Personally I like to play Susan Kennedy. Basically someone starts by saying ‘Susan Kennedy’ and the next person in the circle has to name a celebrity whose first name starts with ‘K’ such as ‘Keith Chegwin’. The next person has to name one starting with C such as ‘Cameron Diaz’ and so on. If someone says a double (like Doris Day), then the direction reverses. Add the ‘drink while you think rule’ and the game becomes ten times more fun.
10. Don’t go? Your rainy camping weekend might turn out to be really fun, but only if you’re willing to commit to a certain amount of enthusiasm for it. If you think you’re going to hate it, you probably will. Would you prefer to stay at home curled up on the sofa watching DVDs? If so, then do that. It’s fine. Honestly. I don’t mind. If you really want to get away but it’s just the thought of waking up in a puddle that puts you off, stay in a hotel and get the best of both.
Photo Credit: Iain Farquhar
