Why planning your uk campsite stay for 2021 will help your wellbeing.

2020 is the year that the Queen may call “annus Horribilis” with Covid parts 1 and 2, and  with most of us have not being able to participate in activities, such as work, seeing family, shopping, let alone caravanning and camping, it is no wonder that we may feel like we are chomping at the bit to get away. 

The world is looking very different from what we are used to seeing and I applaud you all for the different ways in which you have adapted and overcome difficulties in your lives. So why do I now suggest planning and even booking your holidays for next year? There are, as you may imagine many a reason, and one of them is the “real richness” (Camping and caravan club) and the anticipation of an event, in this case a trip away. 

In this article I will be looking what evidence is out there to show that camping and caravanning can support our wellbeing and what impact these trips have and discuss how you too can enrich your life from the comfort of your living room. 

The evidence.

The camping and caravan club have created a download called ‘Real richness, the list’, https://www.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk/newsandevents/get-rich-quick/  In it they look at the emotional richness that caravanning and camping can provide in this digital world in which we live. According to the the list those who camp regularly (caravanning and camping) are happier, more optimistic, energised and 76% are more satisfied as opposed to 59% of non campers. 2000 adults were asked the same questions, 1000 of them who camp regularly and the final 1000 who have never camped at all. The study was carried out by John Moores University in 2011.

This is not a new thing, in the first and second world wars nature therapy was provided for soldiers who were recovering from injuries sustained in battle, in fact recent studies have shown that a person who can see nature whilst recovering in hospital will recover sooner. 

“A study published in 1984 in the journal Science by environmental psychologist Roger Ulrich, to demonstrate that gazing at a garden can sometimes speed healing from surgery, infections and other ailments.

Ulrich and his team reviewed the medical records of people recovering from… surgery at a suburban hospital. All other things being equal, patients with bedside windows looking out on leafy trees healed, on average, a day faster, needed significantly less pain medication and had fewer post surgical complications than patients who instead saw a brick wall.”  https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/nature-that-nurtures/

The results

If being in nature, and in our case, camping or caravanning, what impact can it have on ourselves and that of our families. 

Thomas Hiram Holding, the founder of the camping and Caravanning Club in 1901, said the following…

“ Personally, I like camping so much better than the hotel…appart from the economy of camping, it is a real luxury in it’s freedom’. 

The real richness list gives us 7 areas that the John Moores University study found and believe have effects on us and our loved ones. 

1. It promotes family cohesion, satisfaction, togetherness and fulfilment

2. It encourages rest, relaxation and restoration

3. It facilitates children’s learning and has a positive effect on behaviour

4. It improves social interaction 

5. It makes us feel better –mentally and physically

6. It creates memories, traditions and special places that stay with you for life

7. It really does make us happier!

(Real richness, the list, Camping and caravan club)

These are vital to the wellbeing and the growth of a person, what ever age they are, to create a more resilient and well rounded individual.

Having to wait for an event to happen, has a massive effect on a persons health and wellbeing. In the current climate, the more we can do to support these areas including, our mental health too, can only be positive. In the National Geographic magazine they looked at how planning a trip in advance can support your emotional wellbeing, in ways you may not have realised. https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel/2020/05/heres-why-planning-a-trip-can-help-your-mental-health

According to a study by them in 2013, they linked travel to enhanced empathy, attention, energy and focus. In 2014 Cornell university carried out a study looking at the planning of a trip. They found that anticipation of a trip, wherever that trip may be, can increase a persons happiness substantially. This supports the Real Richness list evidence as well. 

In 2002, the University of Surrey completed a study where one of the findings showed that people are at their happiest when they have a trip planned. 

I must say personally, I can remember as a child knowing in December that mum and dad had booked the ferry crossing for our caravan holiday for the following July, was not only very exciting, but kept me going during the winter blues and many a piece of homework for school.  The delayed gratification that I would have experienced, was a akin to waiting for presents at Christmas. 

What now?

What are you waiting for is the question I have to ask, get your book out of camping, caravanning or motorhome sites that you can drool over. Create a plan of action, where would you really like to travel to? I know that for those of you that tend to take yourselves and your vehicles abroad, that this may not be an option, but you can have a fantasy “I am going abroad’ plan, and a more probably, but no less exciting uk holiday. The Caravan and motorhome club have now opened the booking’s so that you can book up to a year in advance. 

Read more here: https://www.caravanclub.co.uk/whats-on/caravan-club-news/book-a-year-ahead/ 

Plan.

1. What area do you want to visit.

2. What is your holiday length? A weekend, a week, two or three weeks?

3. What is in the area to visit, find pictures and information.

4. What sites are there in the area you want to visit?

5. Get your caravan or motorhome serviced ready.

Make it a fun experience planning your holiday for 2021, it will boost your positive emotions and you will have something to look forwards to as well. That may mean buying new clothes, new things for the caravan, motorhome or tent. Enjoy the process, and enjoy 2021. 

Written by Julieanne Cresswell, 21/11/2020