The five of us are heading to Camp Bestival this weekend. Yes, we’re going camping!
Now I like my luxuries and creature comforts, so when it comes to camping I’m about as far out of my comfort zone as a teetotaller at a wine-tasting session or, continuing the alcohol theme, a man at one of my wife’s book club evenings. The new Wembley Stadium was built in less time than it takes me to pitch a tent.
So, faced with four days’ camping at Camp Bestival this weekend, you might think the prospect of wrestling with guy ropes and a large expanse of canvas while my kids look on with increasing embarrassment and pity would be my biggest worry.
But it’s not.
That’s partly because we are staying in Pitch Village, a haven of pre-pitched tents for camping Luddites such as me. Result.
But it’s also because – being the 21st century tech-loving parent that I am – my greatest preoccupation is how to keep all our gadgets powered up for four days. Phones. Lanterns and torches. USB-rechargeable fans. You know, all the essentials.
As a blogger and social media addict, if there’s one thing that has me breaking out in a cold sweat more than no 3G/4G signal it’s the prospect of my phone battery draining to 0%. I mean, being cut off from Twitter and Instagram for even a few hours is in contravention of the Human Rights Act, isn’t it?
I can cope with running out of gas. I can cope with having to fetch and carry our own water. I can cope without a daily Shiatsu massage. But no battery? No way.
Generally my solution to this is a near-obsessive need to carry an array of portable chargers and cables everywhere I go. But we still need access to some kind of power source to plug into. Which is why I was delighted to discover when reading through all the bumph that our Bestival package includes plentiful access to charging facilities. That’s modern life for you, eh?
So all that means we can look forward to our four days at this most family-friendly of festivals: music from Tears for Fears, Fatboy Slim and Jess Glynne; kids’ entertainment including Aliens Love Underpants, Dick and Dom and Mr Tumble; a wide selection of street food stalls offering everything from juices and smoothies to ramen and seafood burgers.
And, veering back once again to the topic of power, we’ll also be decorating and personalising our own head torches at Energizer’s Dress Your Head Up stall. The last time I wore a head torch I was being lashed by gale force winds and torrential rain descending Ben Nevis at 1am after volunteering for a charity challenge. (That’s a story for another time …) I expect this experience will be rather more pleasant!
So we have a pre-pitched tent. And we have power. Now all that remains is for us to go and have fun. Watch this space.
We are attending Camp Bestival courtesy of Energizer UK, who have provided us with tickets and camping accommodation. All views expressed in this and other Camp Bestival-related posts are entirely my own.
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