Camp Bestival 2017 as a family holiday

When I tell people I'm off to Camp Bestival I get varying responses. Anything from "festivals? aren't they full of drugs and drunks?" to "how much?! I can't afford that for a few days in a field!" so I thought I'd look at some of the myths around festivals, and explain why Camp Bestival is actually the perfect holiday for you and the kids.

The popular stereotype of a festival is of muddy drunken revellers, peeing on tents and raving late into the night before falling over guy ropes, peeing on your tent and then crashing out on someone else's inflatable bed, only to awaken to a vomit stained sleeping bag, your car keys missing, and it's raining again for the 3rd day. The portable chemical toilets are overflowing and you lost your wallet so you can't buy a beer.

And while it's true I might (have) been to a festival or two that are similar to that (not the losing my wallet bit - I'm very security conscious at a festival) Camp Bestival is very far from this sad damp image. (A big plus point is that the festival site is on chalk, so never muddy!)

Camp Bestival is predominately a family festival. So most people have kids with them. They tend to be happy to have a drink, but take their mummy and daddy roles pretty seriously, so there is a lack of vomiting drunks, in fact, wailing toddlers are more common.

As the festival is aimed at families with kids, there is loads to do for children. So the wailing form the aforementioned toddlers is more likely to be because they can't fit all the fun into their day than because they are bored.

The price of any festival is going to be higher than camping alone, because they are providing a camp site, toilets, water points, as well as activities, musical acts and insurance. If you look at all the things a festival provides it's easier to see it's value for money.

Camp Bestival starts on Friday and finishes on Sunday night, but you can arrive from Thursday lunchtime and camp until Monday lunchtime so actual nights camped can be 4.

There are loads of free things to do. You can bring your own food and drink which can save some money.

Free things include all the musical acts of course, and this year we are looking forward to Madness, Mark Ronson, Louisa Johnson and Mr B The Gentleman Rhymer to name just a few. Surfing dudes will be thrilled to hear Brian Wilson is performing on Sunday. But music almost takes a back seat at Camp Bestival, which Rob da Bank (its founder) designed as part way between a festival and a holiday camp (hence the name), with the holiday camp feel in mind there are Blue Coats to entertain the children in all manner of silliness, an Insect Circus (with real insects), tree climbing and all sorts of woodland and outdoor fun, many different craft activities, comedy acts, Punch and Judy shows, clay modelling, silly science shows, musical theatre, early morning cinema, discos and more! all included in the admission price!

There are extras you can pay for, such as face painting, helter skelter rides, a big wheel or a bounce on the world's biggest bouncy castle too, but the strong minded parent can use distraction techniques to avoid spending too much extra if they are prepared!

For the grown ups there are all of the above (I love the cinema in a tent early in the day with a coffee and a croissant) and a Jam Jar cocktail bar, excellent food stalls, late night discos and stand up comedy.

Camp Bestival is one of the least stereotypical 'festivals' I've ever been to and I love it. We have been going for years now and DD still likes to go even at 17 because she likes the lack of unpleasantness you usually get a festivals, I don't think I've ever seen anyone drunk (Unless you count me tipsy - in which case, it happens every year) and I rarely get a whiff of weed. Security staff there are always polite but firm (ooh er!) and I've always felt safe as a single woman camping with my daughter.

And loos? well a festival loo is really what you make it and most mums and dads seem polite enough to leave a loo as clean as they can. After all - parents are made of wet wipes! The loos are cleaned and emptied regularly and over the years they have improved as festival staff have learned from the odd problem encountered. So yes they are portable chemical toilets, but they are generally well cared for.

So for your money you really are getting a good deal. Why not consider it as a family holiday? Maybe have the start of the week at an ordinary campsite and then finish the week on a high with a family festival that really is first class.

Find out about all of this years acts and grab tickets at Camp Bestival's Website

Disclosure : I'm an official blogger for Camp Bestival and so this year I'm attending as their guest

Top Ten Tips for Checking Hotel Review Sites

 

Online holiday reviews, should you read them?

When you plan a fabulous getaway either with your family, lover, friend or even alone it's tempting, many would say sensible, to read the reviews of people that have gone before. But how to make sense of reviews of the same hotel that range from "it was appalling I would rather sleep under a railway arch, 1 star" to "amazing stay it was incredible in every respect, totally recommend, 5 stars!" ?

Here are my top ten tips on breaking down reviews, and making sense of them.

• Check where the reviewer is from. With a global reach the internet has reviewers from all over the world. Pay more attention to reviewers from your own country as they will usually have similar expectations to you. Americans for example may mark down a hotel with no free ice machine, while the average Brit doesn't expect free ice as standard so may not mention it.

• See if the reviewer has left lots of reviews or just this one. This is particularly relevant if the review is terrible as people are fast to complain but not so quick to praise. On TripAdvisor for example you can look back over other reviews from the same person. If they review a lot and the reviews vary, then it's safe to assume they are probably fairly honest and balanced.

• Check who was in the reviewers party. Reviews for families will vary a lot from reviews for romantic getaways or adventure type holidays. Complaints of noise can be  relative and might be due to guests at the time of the visit and thus not an ongoing issue. Moans about a busy kids club on a romantic weekend might translate into the perfect child minding plan for a family with 3 young children.

• Pay more attention if all of the reviews are similar. If everyone mention food poisoning and under cooked chicken over several months then it would raise alarm bells. Constant mentions of dirty rooms etc likewise. While one bad review among a lot of good ones probably just shows the hotel has a bad cleaner or a busy week.

• Read the review not just the stars! Amazingly some people post a glowing review but only give 1 or 2 stars for the experience. I'm never sure if they are just holding back for the really fantastic hotels  (for example they may feel a 3 star hotel never deserves more than a 3 star review) , if they clicked the wrong button, or just have no clue how star ratings work! Likewise I've seen 5 star reviews that made the hotel sound awful!

• Think about what you expect in a hotel. I like a clean room, a TV,wifi,  a fridge and a balcony. If reviews moaned about a tatty reception area I wouldn't be that fussed. If they said their TV was broken, the wifi didn't work in any of the rooms and the balcony had been unsafe I would be more interested!

• Check the date on reviews. It is really easy to read reviews that are years old and be fooled into thinking the hotel is excellent or terrible based on very out of date information. Sort the reviews by date if you can and read the most recent ones. I have been caught out this way - turning up to discover the 'free' wifi was no longer free and the hot tub was no longer working - sad times.

• Try and check more than one review site. TripAdvisor is a large site but there are others such as Oyster, Holiday Watchdog, and Travel Republic. Also google the hotel name to see if any bloggers have visited and written bigger reviews with extra pictures. Ask on social media too. 

• Read plenty of reviews before you book, and avoid reading any more afterwards! Once you have booked, unless you are prepared to change or cancel your booking, don't torture yourself by reading more reviews.

• When you get home be sure to add your own review. good, bad or in between all reviews are useful to the traveller. Be honest, try to be balanced, include facts and examples not just personal opinions, although a summing up of how you did or did not like the holiday can be useful. I always review the places I visit as I know how helpful reviews can be. On TripAdvisor it's not just the hotels you can review but the local attractions and restaurants too - you could even review those that are local to you at home.

Do you write reviews online? Do you read them? I'd love to hear your experiences (good and bad) of using online review sites.

This post is (bizarrely) not sponsored ;-)

Easter Plans

It's nearly Easter holiday time! If you are a stay at home parent for any reason you might not feel the same frisson of excitement that I do, but this year I've booked a week off work and so I'm free to stay in bed until noon, drink cava for breakfast and have sex in the garden all afternoon  spend more time with the teen and the husband.

Said teen is a studious soul and currently studying for her GCSEs so I fear she'll be revising a fair bit but I'm hoping I can lure her out for some fun at least once or twice.

I have a few things that I have been wanting to do for a while, and while I know I won't be able to do them all I thought I'd list them so I don't forget and also so that if you had input on whether they were good or bad ideas you could tell me! Ditto if you have reviewed any of them in a blog post - please share! (You can't share here, I switched comments off, but let me know via Twitter or my Facebook page - that would be great - thanks)

First choice for me is Marwell Zoo. We have visited several times now as a family and always love it - even in the cold and rain, though I admit it's better on a dry day so the weather may play a part on this decision. We always learn something new, the cages and environments for the animals are really nice, I especially love watching the giraffes. It's about a 2 hour drive, so takes a bit of planning, but now that we no longer have the dogs at least we don't have to rush home to them.

I am sort of tempted to make the even longer drive to Longleat to drive the safari park, but I'm not sure that DH would stay sane all day in car with DD and me. I do love to watch the large carnivores in the park, particularly the wolves, but DH tends to get twitching and want to be getting on with things, I imagine we would be ill-matched on a safari park visit. I think that might need to be a trip we do when we visit family (who live closer to the park) or when we can camp or stay nearby so we are in the car less of the day.

Next is the Winchester Science Centre. DD and I were there for a blogging conference and so had no time to explore but enough time to whet our appetites. It's easy to get to, has lots of parking and is spacious inside. It didn't look too busy when we were there, but I'm not sure that would be true during a school holiday. Still DD really wants to go, she loves experimenting with stuff, I do wonder though if there is enough there for a day with a teenager? Maybe I could combine it with a trip into Winchester? Have you been? What did you think?

I would also love to make a trip to London. That's a 2 hour train ride away and therefore expensive, I may have to buy a railcard to make some sort of saving, especially since now that DD has turned 16 she counts as a grown up and has to pay not only on the train, but on London transport too - gone are the days of cheap days out to London. If we all go, and if we want to be in London before lunchtime it will cost us over £100 on tickets alone, so anything we do there will have to be free! I have thought about Tate Modern, DD and I have visited and really enjoyed it, DH has yet to experience it so that would be nice. If the weather was good a walk in the parks or by the river would be nice too. I am also looking at driving a large chunk of the way and parking just outside the centre, have you done that? I need to investigate parking and where is cheap, easy and safe! What other free London activities can you think of?

It's been a while since I've been to Brighton as a tourist and so I might think about doing the 'seaside day visitor' thing, with fish and chips on the pier, a walk along the promenade, a trip to the Marina and maybe the Pavilion. I could even squeeze in some shopping in the Laines or Churchill Square - particularly if I don't spend all my money on a trip to London! I know that lovely DD aka the teen, needs some new clothes for college in September and we did promise her a new 'college capsule wardrobe' (ooh there's a blog post just waiting to be written) so that would take up a day by itself.

During the entire week of course I will be drinking more alcohol than usual, staying up later, sleeping in longer and eating more chocolate than usual. It is a holiday after all. What will you be up to?

Come and chat over on Twitter or my Facebook page I'd love to hear from you

The wolf man

So the day dawned cool and overcast, yes really, in california, don't they know who I am!

DD and I showered and dressed, preparing for a trip to Venice Beach. Last time we visited was in 2009 and when we passed the Freak Show on venice beach it was closed, I love a freak show! So I was really sad to miss it. For the last five years I've been dreaming of visiting. This year I checked the times (it only opens at weekends, and only from 12pm - 6pm) and the price ($5) and I told M and DD that we were going to have to visit. 

We drove along highway 1 again, and by the time we left if was sunny and hot, we took the roof down on the car.

We parked right by the beach and the freakshow, and I couldn't pay fast enough! I was not disappointed. We saw oddities such as various conjoined animals, some stuffed or wet preserved but many alive! I have never seen so many two headed turtles! (And I'm fairly sure I never will again!) a two headed snake, and the cutest little five legged dog, Rocky.

There was a show, of fire eating, sword swallowing and some pretty gruesome "hooks through the face" stuff, a guy that let you staple money to his bare skin with an industrial staple gun (ouch), a girl that sat in an "electric chair" and lit bulbs in her hands, and even used a spark from her finger to like a gasoline soaked rag!

We saw the bearded lady, a pierced guy that had no skin un pierced! He was virtually a human pin cushion, several "little people" and my favourite...Larry, the wolf boy. (Well you know how I like a beard)

The whole of Venice Beach is full of freaks though, they are not all in a freak show! We wandered along the boardwalk looking at the shops, the skate boarders, the buskers, the stalls, the sun bathers, the people mediating, and all is pervaded by the strong smell of the "medical" marijuana that is on sale at every corner.

We even went for a quick paddle in the sea before returning to the car and driving to Cronies Sports Bar for curly fries and beer.

What will we do on Sunday? Fish and chips by the ocean is planned, maybe squirrel fishing, and some shopping.

The one with lots of driving

After San Francisco we had the long drive down interstate 5 ....oh poet and didn't know it...anyway, we had the long drive down interstate 5 to the next bit of fun which was Six Flags Magic Mountain, a roller coaster theme park that DD had wanted to visit on our last trip five years ago but we hadn't had time.

The drive was long, straight and easy. I had imagined it would be boring too but as the farming is so different and the views so lovely it wasn't boring at all. We stopped at a viewpoint to admire the vista and take pictures, including pictures of us by the car. I am going to miss my car when I go home!

On the journey we saw tumble weed, huge dairy herds (really huge, thousands and thousands of cows) sheep, vineyards, nut trees (almonds, pecans, walnuts) and mountains.

The drive was uneventful, though later we read about a horrendous accident that happened further north on the I5.

We checked in at our hotel, DD went for a swim and I watched this athletic activity from the hot tub.

I might* have locked us out of the hotel room at one point and had to request another room key, much to DDs embarrassment. 

*did

One misty, moisty morning

Woke early again today, darn time zones, even DD was awake by 6am, so we were up, showered, packed and ready to go before 8am.

Nowhere for breakfast so we set off coffee-less along the highway to see the elephant seals. There was some mist over the sea, it was early, we were almost alone with the seals, just a litter picking guy in the car park ...

We watched their amazing wobbling wallows up the beach, their grunts and bellows, their play fighting (they were mostly juveniles) and the occasional swim. DD said it was the best bit of the trip so far, we hung around for a while just watching, videoing and being amused by the seals. We then carried on driving, looking for a cafe

We were not disappointed as we discovered a lovely coffee shop, gas station and mini mart at Ragged Point, the coffee shop guy was really friendly, we had apple pie (and DAMN it was fine pie) for breakfast. Then we used the restroom and bought some snacks and on we went.

The highway along the coast is gorgeous, nice to drive, almost empty. Our views were sometimes obscured by the mist rolling in, but even that was beautiful. Sadly some of the larger bridges were totally in mist.

We saw buzzards and loads of turkey vultures too, dd was nervous they would eat us!

We took the top down on the car again, despite the mist making it cool, and despite, my *ahem* sun kissed arm, we drove for over an hour with the top down and heater on! Haha

Long story short....we made it to San Francisco.

Cruising along in my automobile...

So, how's my trip going? It's 3am and I can't sleep, so I'm blogging for a bit, hoping to nap again at 4!

The flight was great. DD has only eve flown with budget airlines before so she was delighted to discover that Virgin Atlantic provide personal TVs , with movies, tv shows and games, and also that all drinks are free, and food and snacks, including ice creams, are provided at regular intervals, very regular, I felt like I gained ten pounds on the flight! There was a good choice of movie too, I watched Twelve Years a Slave, terrible subject but an amazing film with great acting. I also watched Enders Game, I found it actually pretty good, and as I knew the ending I was quite moved by what happened in places. Then I watched Gravity, not my sort of thing at all, I found that of course the special effects were great but the movie just didn't grab me, I felt very "meh" watching it, didn't care if characters survived or not and was bored by the end, very glad I didn't pay money to see it!

We arrived safely in LA and despite me not having filled a form in correctly we were allowed onto US soil. DD enjoyed watching a beagle working at the airport, keenly searching everyone's carry on luggage with his nose.

We picked up our car and I was excited to find we'd been given a Mustang. It's a convertible, silver and very nice. Driving through LA in the dark in an unfamiliar car, chanting "drive on the right" was a fun experience, but we made it safe to the Hollywood Historic Hotel, a gorgeous hotel, full of gilt and wood and red carpets and faded glamour of the Hollywood of yesteryear. We took photos of the Hollywood sign from the street ( a standing joke with DD and I, last time we visited we seemed to never be able to find a spot to see the sign and this year we picked a hotel with views of it for our first night)

On Monday we set off to drive up the coast, the gps that I paid extra for has a dodgy connection and won't charge! There was swearing .... We moved on to our paper map, put the top down on the car, put the driving cd on LOUD and drove with DD map reading and both of us singing at the top of our voices. 

The weather is beautiful, sunny and hot, so of course I'm slightly sun kissed (even though dd warned me to wear sun cream .... I forgot)

After filling up with "gas" we have made it to San Simeon, I've downloaded a free US sat nav to my galaxy tablet and with the power of that and DD's map reading skills we'll be setting off for San Francisco in the morning...well, later in the morning.....

And this time we have head scarves and sun screen at the ready.

California Driving Tunes

I'll be meeting up with Mimi, a friend I've known online (and met once in person) for years. I have hired a convertible car and DD and I are planning Thelma and Louise style adventure (with less death hopefully) and so I need some songs to drive to.

I'm planning on popping a few onto my generic mp3 playing thingy (probably my phone actually) and also doing a CD or 4. I plan to take the unabridged Audio Book (on CD) of To Kill a Mocking Bird too, we have a lot of driving to do.

So I'm asking you for some help, some input, some reader participation. So far the tracks I have lined up are



and some Beach Boys of course, California Girls....obviously

San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair) - of course.

But what other must have driving tunes do two English girls in an open top car cruising the West Coast need?

Suggestions in the comments please!

Camping in the New Forest.

I went camping with my brother and his daughters last week. We both leave our spouses at home as they don't see the same delight in tents as we do. We stayed at Hurst View in Lymington in the New Forest, we had perfect weather and the campsite was lovely. Big, and quite comercial but very friendly and lovely walks to the coast, nearby pubs, lots for the kids to do.

The well maintained showers and toilets were always clean. The fields were large but not regimented. Open fires were allowed and loud music was banned after 10pm (and patrols did come and tell people if they over stepped the mark)

The kids enjoyed crabbing the most!

All in all we had a great time.