The (new) holiday of a lifetime!

Camping has always been close to my heart, ever since I was a little girl and it was the only holiday we could afford.

I've been on my fair share of holidays in my lifetime, some truly amazing ones; Florida, Italy, France, Switzerland, Mallorca, Turkey, and many many more. But now I'm happy to say I'd gladly choose camping over any 5* luxury getaway.

Having left things to the very last minute in terms of booking a foreign getaway, last year my boyfriend and I decided to embark on a rather different holiday. Transit van packed full of stuff and 3 hours later we arrived at our destination - Keswick, in the Lake District. A quaint little town with much to offer us as happy campers.

We arrived on one of the rainiest days in August, and after battling with our brand new 5 man tent and awning (yes, there were only 2 of us!) we checked into our accommodation for the next 7 nights. I was disappointed to find I had to make my own bed, and a chocolate on the pillow was often missing, but all in all I had an amazing time.

Being away from many of the distractions of everyday life meant Robbie and I actually had to socialise and spend time together. With none of the usual forms of entertainment available to us, we found ourselves going rather old school, and playing endless hours of Monopoly and Yahtzee. Embarrassingly, we also developed a bit of an addiction to puzzle books - rock and roll I know!! - snuggling up in our sleeping bags most nights with a crossword.

Another thing which became a central thesis to our day was mealtimes. Robbie donned his apron and turned all Gordon Ramsey on me, making me a beautiful cooked breakfast every morning - no cold baked beans or Pot Noodles for me thank you!

Even though it was the first time we'd both camped in a good few years, we were much better prepared than I thought we'd be. Robbie had a hole kitchen unit, shelves and everything. We had 3 gas rings to cook on and a grill to do toast, I didn't feel like we were 'slumming it' at all! We had a couple of tables, some comfy chairs, plenty of lanterns and loads of blankets and throws to snuggle up in.

All in all, I had a great week. One of the best holidays I can remember in fact; we left feeling like we'd actually spent some real quality time together, and were completely chilled out. Best of all, I didn't go home with 3rd degree sunburns and a hole where my bank account used to be.

This year we've planned to go away with our friends Aimee and Adam, to introduce them to the wonder that is the good old camping holiday! I couldn't be more excited for beers, BBQs and banter! It's gonna be a top laugh :-)