Luxury camping kits and glamorous camping, are all the rage right now (especially for love birds). Hey if it was good enough for Matthew McConaughey’s wedding guests, it’s good enough for the rest of us! Long are the days when Keith Chegwin may have caught you on “Down Your Doorstep“, looking rough in your unmentionables at Glastonbury.

Some people (not us here at POSHGLAM) prefer to take a ‘back-to-basics’ approach when they glamp, which makes sense if you are hiking and traveling light (er not with my wardrobe!) However, if you do have a car  and prefer something a bit more up market, why shouldn’t you set up a veritable mini-hotel (or yurt) in the wild? Camping purists have complained that this somewhat misses the point of getting back to nature. To them I say, “well if Mother Nature really wanted us back, she would have given us fur, hooves, and a much stronger immune system, now wouldn’t she?” Instead, she developed grey matter which enables us to invent such fabulous outdoorsy things as portable generators, camping stoves, and king-size inflatable mattresses – in other words,  all the camping equipment you’ll ever need!

You could also argue, that sleeping on a hard surface is better for your back. So is good posture and exercise, but a nice soft place to land is a natural afrodisiac: I’m not ashamed to admit I WANT a nice, big, comfy bed, even in the great outdoors. So, if you fancy a change too, here’s where the inflatable mattresses come in. The best ones are self-inflating (so you don’t have to use your lungs), with a battery that eventually will need to be recharged. You can get cheaper ones that have external air pumps, but that wouldn’t be very romantic or cache now would it?  I personally like mine with a built-in electrical heater. Alternatively, you can get air beds that can be pumped manually by stamping on it repeatedly – a time and calorie-consuming exercise that should be avoided at most costs.

There’s also nothing less satisfying than waking up on a dewy morning and munching on a cereal bar. It’s this type of (so-called) meal that puts people off outdoor activities for life, but it’s actually possible to enjoy a hot, bang up British breakfast, without gathering firewood and rubbing sticks together. Just pack yourself a dual-burner gas stove, and you too could be enjoying a good old fashioned fry-up in no time.

Another particularly unappealing aspect of getting back to nature– especially for women – is popping to the loo. As ‘popping‘ implies that you have somewhere to ‘pop‘, other than behind a tree. However, help is at hand, in the form of collapsible ‘privacy shelters’. Which really makes the whole experience a lot more comfortable and a lot less embarrassing. These can also be fitted with shower attachments, so you can maintain some vestige of cleanliness on your trip.

Finally, what romantic holiday would be complete without our favourite consumer electronics, the laptop, stereo, a portable telly for the foot? Although these can be run on battery power, the batteries don’t tend to last very long, which is why you need a portable generator. Just put a little petrol into the tank, fire up the engine, plug in a four-way, and you’ll feel like you’re back in civilization in no time! Luxury Camping, done that…Now, on to something more insurmountable, check!