Camping doesn’t have to be a nightmare, you just need to get a bit organised.   If organisation’s not your style, then perhaps its right up the alley of someone in your family unit, preferably someone over the age of 6 or you’ll end up with a car full of teddies and sleeping under a duvet hung over two dining room chairs.

After years of just lobbing everything in the car and arriving somewhere to find we forgot the camp stove, sleeping mats, kids jumpers and our daughter’s favourite teddy we figured we should maybe  do a check list.

At this point I might offer you a kit list or check list in return for your email address. I’ll find somewhere else for that because while there are a great many lists available for free in exchange for your email address, I really think you’re better off being a bit of a geek for an hour or so and making your own list.   My list won’t be much use to you unless you really need my daughters Hello kitty blanket, or my son’s Dinosaur teddy.

Figure out what you need to get done like putting the tent up, cooking, sleeping, dressing, washing, playing etc. List everything you could possibly need under each heading so you can decide in the moment what stuff to take for any given trip. You may want to leave the rod behind if you’re desert camping, and not forget your pack-a-mac if you doing North Devon in August.

Once you’ve got your list, dig out that laminator you bought from Maplin years ago (it seemed like a good idea at the time), and laminate it, this way you can use a felt tip to tick stuff off as you load up, saving time and taking a bit of the stress of trying to remember everything. Better still, screw the laminator and do it on your ipad.

Now getting your gear together should be relatively painless, and you can stop your 3 year old painting the carpet without forgetting your pants and socks.