So being the new addition to the camping forum, and being so graciously introduced by Andy in the last Camping Forum Guys blog I thought I would share the events that got me here in the first place.
We are a family with 4 young children and it has to be said holidays were few and far between due to the costs. It all started out a year and a half ago when by brother gave me an Argos 6 man tunnel tent. Another friend of mine gave us a cooker and some other bits and pieces and we were set. The little one was still a little young so I decided to take the other three on a long weekend to wales to see if they liked it. As it was, all went well and so in the August we and my mate from work, Paul (who had been into camping for years) went to South Wales for five days. It all went well and the whole family liked it but the other half was not that impressed with the tent and after looking in Paul's Hartford XL she made the decision that if camping was going to become a full time holiday choice for us then things had to change.
That winter it started and the first purchase was a Hartford XXL tent with canopy. This was the perfect size tent for us... but not for the car so we purchased a soft top trailer off another friend and started to fill it. Following on from the tent came a new cooker, table, larder unit, new chairs for the kids, new sleeping bags and airbeds, cool box and a few other bits and pieces. We were now set up to start the years camping.
I joined the forum in the April of 2009 and we had our first trip (a nice site in Bristol) for a long weekend to try everything out... and it was great. The tent was great and everything worked well. So now we planned the year ahead and with advice off Andy, Andy, Wayne and many others we had a great year of camping. During this time The Camping Forum and in-a-tent were invaluable to me for guidance and information and I thank everyone involved for there help.
So during the winter I decided it was time to give something back and got more involved with the forum and in-a-tent to try and help others who were starting out in camping. Hopefully others will follow suit and get posting and both sites can go from strength to strength then more people will get the help I have had and will be able to enjoy the happiness and freedom of camping. A happy year of camping to you all.
Merlin