About Me

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Hi! I'm Eunice and I live in Bolton, Lancashire, with my two dogs Sophie and Sugar and an assortment of cats - well it used to be Sophie and Sugar, now it's Sophie and Poppie. I first began camping back in 1997 when my then partner took me to Anglesey for my birthday weekend. We slept in the back of the car - a hatchback - using the cushions off the settee at home as a mattress, and cooked and brewed up on a single burner camping stove. The site was good, the views were great, the weather fantastic and I was completely hooked. Following that weekend we got a two-man tent and some proper accessories and returned to Anglesey two weeks later, then over time we progressed to a three-man tent followed by an old trailer tent, then a new trailer tent, a campervan and finally a caravan. When my partner decided that the grass was greener on the other side of the street - literally - in April 2009 and I suddenly found myself alone after fifteen years, I decided there was no way I was going to give up camping and caravanning if I could cope on my own. This blog is the story of my travels, trials and tribulations since becoming a solo camper - I hope you like it

Friday April 5th 2013 - E is for Ehu

Or 'electric hook-up' for those who don't know much about camping.

In my very early camping days I would quite happily camp with my partner for two or three days without any form of heat or light, but those days were usually restricted to warm and sunny summer weekends; the onset of cooler evenings towards the end of September would signify the end of our camping season, and camping during winter months wasn't even thought of never mind carried out. Fast forward a few years and the eventual purchase of a hook-up cable, a fan heater and a decent light meant that we could camp in a bit more comfort and also extend our season to the end of October if we wanted to do.

Since becoming a solo camper I've camped a few times without electric, but only in summer and mainly because certain places I've been to had no provision for it; normally, whenever I phone a site to book a pitch I always ask for one with electric as it makes my life so much easier and it also means that I can camp in relative comfort during cold winter temperatures if I so wish. 

Now I know there are many campers who say that camping isn't 'proper' camping if you have the 'luxury' of electric, but to be honest I really don't see the point in spending chilly days and evenings wearing several layers of clothes and sitting huddled up in a blanket, then going to bed wearing hats and gloves and more layers of clothes - that's not my idea of fun at all. If being able to use a fan heater means I have a warm tent and can go to bed without having to dress like I'm on a polar expedition then it's ehu every time for me.

4 comments:

  1. I agree with you about having electricity camping. My parents bought a 5th wheel trailer a few years ago and it is so nice camping with the family now. Having heat on colder mornings and air conditioning during the hotter nights is wonderful. Side note, it's so cool you live in Bolton. I do lots of family history and I have English relatives that immigrated to Canada from Bolton. It's on my "list" of places to visit.

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  2. Thanks for the comment. What a coincidence that you have relatives from here in Bolton. I live in the Astley Bridge area which is on the north side of town, and I'm only five minutes away from the countryside and the moors. Do you know which area your relatives lived in when they were here?

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  3. Hi Tigermouse. You are so right. If you are going to go camping, you might as well enjoy it. God bless, Maria from Delight Directed Living

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  4. Thanks for the comment. Camping has certainly progressed since the days of sleeping on the ground and washing in streams, and in these modern times if there are ways of improving the comfort factor then I'm not going to ignore them.

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I really appreciate good comments - who doesn't? - but due to a recent tide of spam from anonymous readers all comments will now be moderated, and only those with a direct bearing on this blog will be published. I'm sure my regular blog readers/commenters will understand the need for this - and to anyone whose comment isn't published, you know why.