It was the strangest thing. Husband emerged from the bathroom, Camping Magazine in hand, and asked whether we should go to the Caravan and Camping Show. I nearly fell over!
He then proceeded to name a few bits of clothing and equipment that he felt we (read, he) needed before we went camping again. Stunned? I could hardly speak (and those who know me will tell you that’s a rarity).
It’s a bit weird at the moment. Because we’ve booked a package holiday for the summer hols, Husband seems to feel better about the idea of camping. I won’t say he’s enthusiastic, that’s over-egging the pudding for the moment, but he’s not dead against it.
When we started camping I wrote about the equipment we thought we needed to go camping and the delivery of a new car has added to that list. We now need a trailer, according to Husband, and in order to have one of those, a tow bar too.
First investigation revealed that Kia do a tow bar for the bargain price of c£800. Great, we’ll have two! Luckily we’re not easily put off and a few phone calls and a month or two of patience has yielded a much more acceptable price.
Will we need one of these too?
So Husband’s new obsession is with finding the right trailer. Being a Yorkshire man (remember? Deep pockets & short arms?) he doesn’t want to pay £400-ish for a new one so he spends lots of time browsing the many auction and second-hand sales websites to see if the perfect one will come along. We aren’t even planning on going away until May – and even then it’s likely to be weather-dependent.
But I’m loathe to let our initial investment fester away unused in the garage and (if I’m honest) determined to give Husband a really good camping experience so he may actually “get it”, so I put a smile on my face and make appropriate noises when he shows me pictures and discusses the relative advantages of different trailer constructions.
I’ve been quite successful so far, I think. At no point of have I uttered, “It just needs space for all the stuff and to be waterproof!” while he waxes lyrical on the possibilities for mounting roof boxes or cycle racks on the car or the trailer.
When it comes to pulling off plasters I’m a pull-it-quick-and-deal-with-it kind of girl, rather than a -gently-ease-it-off-and-prolong-the-agony one, so I think I’ll just encourage him to get the tow bar done and let him buy the first suitable trailer that comes along. The problem is, the only trailers currently on sale that fit his criteria are either in Plymouth or Dundee, neither of which are that convenient when you’re in Yorkshire.
So if you see a 3″x5″ trailer for sale, please do drop me a line. Otherwise you’ll find me politely nodding and grunting while Husband monopolises the iPad looking at what can only be described as camping porn.
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