Preparations for the Camping Trip
Our plans for a Spring trip to Europe were coming together. The family had decided that we would all like to visit friends in France and Spain, see some sights and have a great trip all round.
Both of us have enjoyed camping most of our lives, and of course our 3 kids, 2 boys and a girl in their teens, have grown up camping and hiking with us. (Update 2020 – they’re all in their 20’s now!)
Our friends in France live near the Pyrenees, the amazingly beautiful mountain range dividing France and Spain. There would be opportunities for back-packing, and some serious mountain hiking. We knew that the younger ones would prefer to spend longer in the mountains while we might prefer day trips.
The Spanish area where the other family live is inland, and we knew we would also like to explore the coast. It’s considerably warmer once the Pyrenees are crossed so we would encounter a variety of weather conditions on our trip.
Then there was the trip From France to Spain – a great opportunity to see more of both countries, camping on the way.
A great idea, only we knew that we would need several tents to cover these different scenarios.
Time To Do Some Tent Research!
We would need a family tent for the touring part of the journey and easy to carry tents for the hiking and backpacking.
There was a lot to take into account for this trip – the weight of the tents would be important but we knew we would be experiencing a wide variety of weather conditions, some quiet extreme. The kids intended to go into the mountains for longer hikes on their own and I wanted to be sure the tents they had would be the lightest possible while giving maximum protection to my precious crew.
I knew too, that we would want tents for some back packing in the warmer climes of Spain – we even planned to do a bit of lazing about in the sun – Steady on!
I can tell you, it was quite a task to find the right tents and equipment to take on our epic trip, but I’m happy to say we had the most fantastic time – I may tell you more about that later…
Detailed Tent Reviews and Camping Tips
To tell the truth, once I got into it, I became fascinated by the huge variety of tents you can buy for just about any kind of camping – it had changed so much since I was a kid, camping with my grandparents leading the ‘team’. ( I got my nickname, Camping Annie, back then)
OK, I have kept up with new materials and technology in the tent world to a certain extent, but a tent is not an item you buy every day and every time I look, there’s something new.
So, the whole purpose of this site is to explore the different types of tents, the situations in which tents are used and which accessories are the most useful to own. Specifically, I intend to look at tents and other camping equipment that are the best choice in various situations, and will write detailed tent reviews.
New posts will be a mix of product reviews, tips, and helpful guides on selecting the right tents and equipment for your camping style.
Our European Camping trip has become an experience to remember for the whole family. I hope this site will help you plan yours.