Over the last couple of years we have been invited to go camping with friends and always thought been cold, in the dark and in the middle of no where can't be much fun. How wrong were we. We took up an invite this summer to go camping for a long weekend with friends and had an absolute blast. Gone are our stereo typical cliches and images of sitting round a camp fire singing scout songs and toasting marsh mellows. We borrowed a tent and a bought a few camping essentials to get by but in the most decided to rough it a little, in a grin and bear it sort of mind set.

In fact what we found that sitting round the BBQ drinking wine in the outdoors with friends was very relaxing and refreshing. With only a small tent to rest our weary heads in at night we had great fun and what a great way to get to know more about old friends and make new ones. Every one on the camp site was so friendly and unassuming as every one was sleeping in tents, all be it in varying sizes. It doesn't matter if your a novice or seasoned camper. We went on a small but equipped camp site as it had a couple of toilets, drinking water, showers and a washing up area, so every thing we needed to survive and not get some sort of illness was there.

You can be as homely or as basic as you like. We didn't have much camping equipment, just a gas camping stove for cooking a wind up camping lantern for light, airbeds and sleeping bags to sleep in. Some campers where obviously more equipped than us, some had electric hook up with TV's and all mod cons.

We are definitely going to be going again and have started to get some more essential camping equipment but prefer the less home like feel of camping so will stop short of mains electricity with TV's and microwaves. We have also looked at the different kinds of camp sites which range from farmers fields with nothing at all, which I suppose is OK for me but can’t see my wife been very happy taking a leak with the cows next door. On the other hand there are the big commercial sites that have a club house, swimming pools, play grounds and other facilities but I don’t think that’s much like the vision of outdoor camping that I have in mind.

If you consider taking up camping as a means of getting away for short breaks or longer holidays, here is our essential camping equipment guide.

Sleeping bags, air beds, tent ( obviously ),wind up camping lanterns, camping stove, portable table, folding chairs, water carrier, some warm clothing and water proofs. If you have the bare essentials and book on a site with some facilities you will definitely enjoy the experience and for people like us look forward to lots more times where we can get away for a weekend with minimum fuss and planning.