Wine from a tetrapack does not a camping holiday make
23.5.2019
Translation: machine translated
Tent, sleeping mat, sleeping bag and off you go. That's what I thought and quickly realised: you need a bit more for a comfortable camping holiday.
I like camping. You're outside, everything seems uncomplicated and you limit yourself to the bare essentials. Last year, however, I went a bit overboard. One day after my birthday, my boyfriend and I took off for Italy without a care in the world. After a bit of a traffic jam at the Gotthard and a trip to the ever-popular service station toilets, we arrived at our destination.
A beautiful campsite with a great view awaited us. I quickly went back to the car to collect our things. The mood couldn't have been better. It quickly dampened when I looked around at "my neighbours" on the way. I suddenly realised that we were travelling too light. The Dutch families brought gas barbecues, bicycles and even fairy lights. We had neither lights nor chairs, but wine from a tetrapack. We made ourselves comfortable on the ground in front of our tent and lamented about the lack of equipment.
During the few days I spent in Italy, the main thing I missed was some light. Going to the loo at night or reading a good book in the evening was relatively difficult. A small flashlight or lantern would have made a big difference.
The toilet also played an essential role in my next problem. I was charging my mobile unattended there. Everything turned out fine, but I would have felt more comfortable having my smartphone within reach. However, there was only high voltage current on the pitch, which is not designed for an ordinary charging cable. Next time, I'm going to rely on the power of the sun and take a solar battery with me.
What always puts me to shame - apart from everything else in this article - is that I don't own a bag knife. It's part of Swiss cultural heritage and is simply practical. If I'd had one with me, I could have done without the wine in a tetrapack, for example, and treated myself to a fine drop in a glass bottle. Thanks to the integrated corkscrew.
With the drinking problem solved, there's still the food. We always ate in restaurants. Pizza is always good, but I would have loved to have a cosy barbecue on my own plot. Maybe that's because the smell of the barbecue from the neighbouring professional campers got in my nose every evening.
Of course, we were missing a lot more, which I realised while reading the camping articles by my colleague Bardelli. After all, we bought two cheap camping chairs from a local corner shop and realised after two days that the jump-start in the boot had a small LED lamp. From then on, it was almost cosy.
My life in a nutshell? On a quest to broaden my horizon. I love discovering and learning new skills and I see a chance to experience something new in everything – be it travelling, reading, cooking, movies or DIY.
