JustPickOneUK

 We made it to Scotland! Loch Lomond is famous but I am not entirely sure why. Perhaps its because it is soooo big! It is huge and takes an age to drive around it. Perhaps it is famous for its most famous residents. The midgies! Who knows? I do know it is gorgeous and well worth camping at and using as a base for other places to go.  We had two plans for this leg of the trip. Visit Ben Nevis to get our third and final peak and to go to Edinburgh. None of us had been there before and we all wanted to go, so this seemed like a no brainer. We also decided that we needed a breather from constantly being on the go. So for that reason we decided to stay here for 5 nights instead of the usual 3 nights we had been used to.  Setting up camp at Milarrochy Bay Campsite was simple enough. We booked the site the night before and decided to join the Camping and Caravanning Club to take advantage of a discount and future cheaper prices. I'll go into that in more detail in a future blog ...

 Well the first week is up and one peak down. Not too bad. Unfortunately we have a time frame to be home by and so we needed to prioritise where we were going to head next. Going north was always the idea but do we have long enough to camp for a few days in the Lake District? Get a good look at Scafell Pike and tick another peak off our list?  Well the short answer is no. Our tent is actually far too big for what we need. It is a 6 man tent for only 3 people and one of them is small. Tent manufacturers make tents and give them a guide on how big they are by saying how many people fit. 2 man, 3 man, 4 man etc. To my experience this is literal. How many adults can fit laying down shoulder to shoulder, not including any sleeping mat, bags or equipment That's the "man" description. As such my rule of thumb, and piece of advice to anyone who wants to buy a new tent, is to always buy a tent with 2 more "men" than you need. So if three people are travelling, especially...

We used the campsite WiFi to find our next location. Where we wanted to be next was Snowdonia but where? It's a huge location and did we want to be near a town or in the middle of no-where? I had found a campsite a few days before with availability right on a lake and close to a small town. Perfect! Now I am ready to "Just Pick One", I go to do it and the availability is gone! AARRGGHH! Now the indecisive one has to start all over again......did I mention AARRGGHH? Here comes my Gollum / Smeagol moment where I have an all out argument / therapy session within myself to get through the next 5 minutes. "Right calm down, it isn't that important...just breathe. It's just a campsite." "But it is the next step and I need a plan of where we are going!" "Yes but that is hours away and we can get something else. It's a national park and there are other sites." "Yeah I know that .. but which one??? I looked at loads and I liked this on...

This summer holidays we decided to go on a road trip. Not just any road trip but a camp around the UK. 3 nights here, 4 nights there, maybe a hotel overnight as a pit stop and tour the sights. This is a long tale and so I will need to break it up into bits. During this holiday we realized that it might be possible to see all three of the highest peaks in the UK. Mount Snowden in Wales, Scafell Pike in England and Ben Nevis in Scotland. Would we manage it by the end? Do you have to climb the 3 peaks to still enjoy them? Let's find out in this diary series I am calling 3 Peaks in 3 Weeks.  We began our journey on the south coast of England where we live. Car all packed with our tent, provisions, child in tow and more electrical items than we should have really and then the car wouldn't start! Why.....just why?? Thankfully we were able to get a jump start from our other car and we were off......until I had a small panic about 20 yards off the driveway when I thought I didn't l...

When going tenting like we do, one of our favourite pastimes is Campsite TV. This doesn't mean getting out an aerial and looking for some signal while shouting "left, a bit right a bit!". I mean the comings and goings of other people on the campsite. The caravans, campervans, the tents, the site staff all going about their business without a care in the world. In my view, the best campsite TV occurs when you've been pitched for a couple of days and know the lay of the land so you can sit and judge others, (only in a kindly fashion), on where they believe the best spot is for them. It is particularly funny if the wind is blowing a bit hard or if this is a new or borrowed tent and they have no idea how to pitch it. Then you get to watch them pitching their tent / place the caravan and see how it was all jammed into their cars, wonder at the amount or lack of things other people have. Lust over their tables, chairs, awnings and flags or tell them under your breath that t...