Booking a holiday abroad is a logistical nightmare that will have you taking out a loan for a PCR test alone, and heaven forbid the travel guidance changes while you’re away.
Because of this, many have turned to booking their holidays at home. Anyone who has tried knows that finding nice B&Bs and hotels available this summer is a nightmare — we even gave it a go ourselves.
And glamping is a popular choice among those booking staycations. But one person who isn’t a fan is Sarah Vine. In a column for the Daily Mail she says “glamping is a whole other story. It’s the opposite of spontaneous, about as adventurous as a pair of Marks & Spencer’s full briefs — and, almost without exception, ruinously expensive”.
Read more: Staycations in Wales: Places you can still book for August Bank Holiday weekend
She says: “It also appeals to all the people you usually go on holiday to get away from, such as annoying girls in designer wellies and yoga trousers, wittering on about climate change, and blokes with shamanic tattoos who wax lyrical about brewing your own kombucha. Glamping is pretentious, overpriced and usually run by the sorts of people who pretend to be all eco-friendly, tree-hugging hippies. I know of what I speak because I once went eco-glamping off grid in Wales and was so freaked out I checked into a hotel.”
She explained the “Instagrammable dream” promised by glamping sites is nothing but a dream, and the reality of them is quite the opposite: “It’s based on a false premise: that you can enjoy all the beauty and wildness of the natural world — while still enjoying all the creature comforts more typical of a five-star hotel in Mayfair.”
She blames this false promise on her disappointment: “Bottom line is this: go camping properly, just you against Mother Nature and all her many, terrifying eyes; or book a hotel with hot and cold running room service. Don’t ever try to marry the two. For that way disappointment lies.”
She also noted how glamping can bring in new crowds to the outdoors, which could be a positive experience, but without awareness of the country code, poses more of a threat to locals.
She explained: “I recently returned from rural Wales, where the local farmer has been patrolling his fields somewhat beady-eyed, desperately worried about his livestock.
“Apart from the problem of townies failing to respect the Country Code, leaving gates open and rubbish all over the place, there’s been a sharp rise in dog attacks on livestock — up a huge 50 per cent on last year — driven by the number of people acquiring ‘pandemic’ puppies and then taking them on staycation.
“What a lot of dog owners don’t realise is that even the smallest, most seemingly innocuous of breeds can still be a hazard to sheep, as they are jittery creatures and easily frightened into falling into ditches or otherwise doing themselves harm.”
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