Julie Turner

I have been a regular camper almost all my adult life.
Our son was 8 months old when my husband and I first took him on a camping adventure, and the three of us – plus at least one dog – have taken our main summer adventures every year under canvas (or waterproofed polyester) ever since.
Our adventures – and our camp gear – have changed and evolved with us. When living in Eastern Canada we embraced the back-country canoe camping culture with our then pre-school aged son. A bit of research, a decent map, some essential gear (like a water filter and lots of rope) made it possible to enjoy a truly off the grid experience, complete with hoisting our food 4 metres high between trees every night to foil the bears! Having a mother moose and her baby walk through our pitch as we awoke one morning was quite memorable too.
More recently, since returning to the UK we’ve relaxed a bit into the car camping and large air-tent end of the spectrum. I’m a great believer in making camping work for your needs – it’s not all about the highest tech gear and minimal stuff and that’s what makes this activity so accessible to anyone.
We took advantage of the offer at last year’s Outdoor Expo show to join the Camping and Caravanning Club. So far we’ve booked 3 more UK trips using our vouchers, and really appreciate the added benefits and discounts that come with membership.
As a family we enjoy discovering Saturday morning Parkruns, exploring our coastline, and taking on (but not always finishing) projects like hiking to the highest peak in every English county – and generally enjoying the best that the UK has to offer in amazing open spaces and scenery.
And we’ve found every time that there’s a campsite (and a few more cool gadgets) for that!