If you don’t feel the need to camp in absolute luxury or go glamping with everything including the kitchen sink, then wild camping could be for you. For so many campers basic wild camping is the most rewarding type of trip outdoors, but sadly all too rare these days. Past history of many taking advantage of this humble past time has resulted in landowners getting very twitchy when they find camper vans, caravans or tents seeking solitude in a quiet part of their forest, field or quiet country lane.
It’s not nice for the camper either when they are kindly asked to move on, especially when they’ve just settled in for the night, and having the constant threat of this possibility always feels a bit uncomfortable. However, there are some things you can do to ensure your wild camping experience goes without a hitch and you get to peacefully enjoy the campfire and stargaze in the evening, as well as listen to the bird song in the morning.
- If you can, find out who the landowner is and ask if you can use their land for a short wild camping experience. Offer to help them with something to repay them for the pleasure. This can be anything from clearing an area full of overgrown weeds, mending signs, fences or gates or offering for them to join you for dinner and a glass of wine when you’ve pitched up;
- If the land is owned by a public organisation or Trust then they will have rules about wild camping on their land, which you can usually find by visiting their websites;
- Only light a fire if you have permission or there’s a fire pit already in use. As an alternative to a campfire you could use a portable campfire kit;
- Always clear up your rubbish and never pollute;
- Be careful and respectful of livestock and crops as any damage affects someone’s livelihood;
- Be especially considerate about any noise, as you will have neighbours in trees and houses nearby;
- If you don’t have toilet facilities make sure you dig a deep hole and cover it before you leave your camping site;
- When you leave give yourself the challenge of making it look like you were never there. That’s the best evidence of a successful wild camping trip.
But for those who don’t wish to do this type of raw wild camping, but still want the experience of going off-grid without any of the usual services, then there are other alternatives. One is to visit a farm that already offers a frugal and wild camping experience, helping you to enjoy your time in the wild with no interruptions.
Wild Camping On Christmas Farm
Christmas Farm in Northumberland is one such place, and offers a field with glorious views of the countryside for a wild camping experience. For many people the view, fresh water, a compost toilet and unlimited firewood are all they need to get back to basics, unwind and recharge.
The idea for this came after a night we spent on the farm camping with friends. Campfire breakfasts just seem to taste better and it was just like I remember camping from when I was young. The kids were exhausted after running around in the fresh air and we all had an incredibly relaxing time. We decided to offer wild camping and let others enjoy a bit of real country life.
So if you like a bit of wild camping without any of the pitfalls you can get in touch with Christmas Farm through their website.
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Inspired Camping
Picture Credits: Christmas Farm
Its only right to ask for permission if you encroach on farm land. Sadly though, this country is not geared up for the increase of Motorhome/campervan ownership. We don’t all need to or want to pay £30 for the use of a parking space – not everyone wants to be regimented in the way they holiday. Yes, there needs to be some civil order about where you park up and how you behave, you can’t have campers parked up in places for days on end, but why not the one night.
One critisism is that campervan/motorhome owners do not contribute to the local economy if they don’t use a campsite – rubbish. We all need to visit places, maybe pay a small fee for water or emptying toilets/tanks. buy provisions or eat out. We are not misers, just a bit more savvy and also making use of the expensive vehicles taht we choose to drive.
I won’t start comparing the UK to the continent with the warm welcome given to a old rusty VW or a big white Hymer!!
Its time to move with the times – not everyone is an 80s traveller/mobile squatter.
Couldn’t agree with you more. One company encouraging this and highlighting how much motorhome / campervan owners contribute to the local economy is Brit Stops. You can read about them here… http://www.inspiredcamping.com/free-camping/ thanks for stopping by.
Nice van!, looks a bit like our VW kombi No 5 http://www.classic-campers.com, NZ has many great locations to camp with a range of excellent facilities, for a very low cost, better security, and provided toilets and water and sometimes more, the dept of conservation sites are a great option for camping in NZ. For those who are “self contained” and contain all waste there are numerous other spots.
NZ is one of my personal favourites. I’ve camped in a motor home and tent while travelling around the North and South Islands and loved every minute of it. The only thing I had a tiny problem with was the strong smell of sulphur in those places where the earths crust was a bit on the thin side… a reminder of just how vulnerable NZ is in some areas to the power of the earth. Sarah