Friday 10 August 2012

Road trip - a quick summary


We’re back from our road/camping trip. Just a few words of clarification at first. I’m not a camping freak. Not even an enthusiast. Far from it. I can imagine a thousand “better”, more comfortable ways of travelling or spending the nights. For the two weeks that we spent on the road, I’ve probably visited as many camping sites as during my whole life. Well, maybe a bit less. But what could I do when my little kiddo came to me with his sweet face and Puss-in-boots-like eyes asking me “mummy, can we go camping?”. Saying no was definitely not an option.

 I’ve been camping a few times before. Youth camps – a few. Even with my parents – once or twice that I can recall. But that was totally different. Usually staying put for a longer time and just visiting neighbouring places. Plus I had hardly any responsibilities back then. Taking care of myself being the key one.

This time we were changing camping site almost every night. And I was trying hard to prevent my kid from getting sick due to some cold nights (fine, I was cold at night so I thought he might be cold as well. And I know that his sleeping bag is much better than mine, and I know that it wasn’t that cold at night, and I know that he was having a great time, and I know that he was much better dressed at night… Psycho, I know. But I can’t help it. Or don’t want to help it. Either way, I’m a mum, I am allowed to worry ;)).

Travelling with a tent definitely has some advantages. Freedom and flexibility being the biggest ones. If you want to, you can stay in a given place a it longer. If you don’t, you just pack your tent and keep searching for a different place in yet another interesting place. This freedom is even bigger in Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden, Finland for sure)  as you can camp there wherever you like outside of towns (except farmlands).  Price is another one. Closeness to nature (all the bugs included) – yet another one.

Disadvantages? I could easily name a few. Little comfort, cold nights, people snoring all around you, cars passing by (basically all the noises you can hear through the thin tent walls)…

For now I’m glad we’ve done it. And that I’ve survived. I don’t know if I’m doing it again though. Not for some time at least. And next time definitely with good weather being a given, not a wild guess…

And now a bit of statistics:
-         2 countries (Poland and Germany)
-         5 Polish voivodeships (provinces) that we travelled through
-         9 German states (lands) that we travelled through
-         1 Polish town that we saw
-         10 German towns/cities/places of interest that we saw
-         13,5 days of travel
-         9 camping sites
-         my grandmum’s home
-         ca. 2,800 kilometres in a car.

That’s what we looked like at one of the campsites.


More stories to come in the near future (hopefully).

1 comment:

  1. I loved camping (tent and all) when I was young, but now I'm far too keen on having a padded place to sleep and a shower! That said, your trip sounds great. I do envy the flexibility of campers, and I've been tempted at times. Who knows, maybe I'll get back in a tent at some point! Can't wait to read all about your trip!

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