Corporate Camper

Update

2007-01-13T13:43:00.000-08:00

Well it's been a while! No camping has taken place for far too long as a result of not working too far away from home (that's subjective, it's still over 50 miles). I'm still sharing a lift in; all the driving is done in my car and my passenger pays for half of the fuel, it's better than driving two cars to the office.

I really enjoyed the time I spent under Polyester last year, I think I'll do it again this coming season. I won't be camping near my normal work place, but the main office is still some way away and it's worth staying the night.

I'm looking at changing my gear a little. After my successful night sleeping in the back of the Honda I think I might make that the permanent sleeping area and get myself one of those Pop Up tents to take care of my gear. I'll give it a try and report back!

All change

2006-08-17T07:14:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm back from my holiday... very nice it was too.

The other big news is that I've moved projects and I'm now working closer to home; the new office is around 50 miles away and takes an hour to get there by car.

The camping I have been doing this year has had two main aims:

Save cash by doing less miles
Stop wasting my life by spending many hours each day in traffic.

With the new location camping will have less of an effect on these aims because the money I could save on fuel would be about the same as I would spend on pitch fees and I no longer encounter any traffic jams. It's easy to decide to stay over near work if the other option is to get home very late and leave very early, it's not like that any more.

Having said all that, I think it's fair to say that I have become more environmentally aware as a result of this experiment. My aim was purely to save myself cash and, although I did see some real savings doing it, I also began to feel really good about all the pollution I hadn't been sending into the atmosphere.

It's had a lasting effect on me and I think I'm going to try much harder to reduce the amount of pollution I create when going about my daily activities, I'll log my progress here.

The first step: I've found someone who works in the new office and lives in the same town as me, we are about to start car sharing, bingo: 50% reduction in fuel usage!

Emmissions

2006-07-20T01:58:00.000-07:00

I've just worked out that I have saved 575Kg of CO2 emmissions so far, that's quite a lot!

Cheshire Life

2006-07-19T02:40:00.000-07:00

Image033
Originally uploaded by Saturner.

I stayed at another new site last night, again in Cheshire, this time in the village of Wrenbury which was really quite pretty.

The site was behind a pub, it was quite a large site and was surprisingly busy. I think there must have been some sort of Caravan Club rally on there, there were probably around 30 caravans on site and 3 tents (including mine). One of the tents was massive but as far as I can tell there was nobody in it, I didn't see any signs of life from it the whole time I was there.

I pitched my tent and unpacked the car a little bit, this time I took a folding camping table that we had at home and I did the cooking on there while sitting under the tailgate of the car. It was much more comfortable than being on the grass or in the tent, this is the way I want things to be when I get some sort of "rear annexe" to go behind the car.

So, after cooking some sausages and pasta with tinned tomato (can you tell I just grabbed stuff out of the freezer and cupboards as I left the house?) I packed all the stuff away and stored it in the porch of the tent. I grabbed a pillow and watched the end of Raging Bull on the in DVD player in the car (flash, I know), after that I decided I'd have a crack at sleeping in the car... it must have been OK because the next thing I knew it was 6.30am and time to get up. I pitched the tent but didn't use it, I wouldn't feel right being on a campsite and not pitching one though!

The site cost £6 which is pretty good, although the shower isn't available until 9.30am (and costs £1) and the toilets are pretty grim. It's not far from the office in Crewe (about 10 miles) so I think there is a good chance I'll be back at some point.

So far, miles saved stand at 2324.

There will probably be a break to this camping lark for a few weeks now as I'm off on holiday at the end of next week (not in a tent!).

Flaming Hot

2006-07-18T08:26:00.000-07:00

The temperature outside is somewhere around 33 centigrade, I think I might put off pitching the tent until it gets a bit cooler in the evening.

I'm in Lichfield right now and I need to be in Crewe in the morning so I think I'll try to find somewhere new in Cheshire somewhere. I have yet to find my "Camping Nirvana" which would be a very quiet site with minimal pitch fees, I thought I had found it this week with a pub which charges £2.50 per night but they are under new management and have converted the campsite into a helipad for visitors to their new posh restaurant!

I've got my new car now so I may try it for size tonight, I'm almost certain I can get a double airbed in there! If not, it's not a waste because it might well be useful to have an air-conditioned environment where I can sit and watch a film (Ronin is in the glovebox!).

Changes

2006-07-14T02:24:00.000-07:00

Now that the hostilities in the Middle-East have stepped up a gear we can look forward to even more expensive fuel in the coming weeks, I'll be paying even closer attention to my travels than normal in order to not spend *all* my salary at the diesel pump.

This week I changed my company car for a new one, it's a "Compact MPV" and it's much more practical than a saloon car. I have had a test run and I've found that with all the back seats folded into the floor and the front middle seat folded down (it's a Honda FR-V with 3 seats in the front) I can lie down in it with plenty of room to spare. This might lead to a change in my solo-camping set up.

If I had some spare cash I think I would get myself a "Day Shelter" like the one that Khyam do, it's a bit like a Gazebo but with sides on that can roll up. I could back the car up against a rolled up side and have a decent cooking/working/sitting area in the shelter and a sleeping area in the flat load area of the MPV. Khyam sell the Day Shelter for about £90 and I just don't think I can afford that at the moment.

There are a few reasons why I'd like to sleep in the back of the car, the biggest one is that I wouldn't have to worry so much about my snoring disturbing other people! Also, the car has a decent entertainment system so I could watch a DVD to pass the time. It has "privacy glass" too so you can't easily see in from the outside.

Maybe I'll experiment further next week!

New site

2006-07-04T01:53:00.000-07:00

You had the whole field
Originally uploaded by Saturner.

Last night, for the first time since I started camping, I stayed at a different campsite. I was working in Crewe (and I still am) so I stayed at a place near Winsford, I was quite impressed with the place even though it was further from the office than I would have liked (better than being 140 miles away though).

When I arrived I was shown to the camping field (as opposed to the "touring caravan field") and I had the whole massive field to myself, I set the tent up and did a bit of cooking... then my neighbours arrived.

I couldn't believe that with a massive field in which to pitch the chap decided to put his tent a few metres from mine. I'm not anti-social, but I was looking forward to a bit of solitude and there just didn't seem to be a need to do it. If he was there first I would have headed for the far corner.

It's not like they (couple, mid twenties) were any trouble, but I found it difficult to relax with them so close. I'm told that I snore line a Rottweiler being waxed, so this was playing on my mind and I was trying not to (like this ever works). I wonder if they regretted being so close!

It was my birthday over the weekend, my parents got me one of those wind-up radios (at my request), it's an excellent gadget! I like to have the radio quietly when I pitch the tent but I worry about the car battery going flat after being caught out last time, it was great to be able to listen to the radio while cooking and eating too.

I also remembered to take a book with me, I read a couple of chapters but I wasn't really in a reading mood. I did forget to take a pillow (not bothered about that) and a towel (more of a problem)

The 12th Night

2006-06-29T07:49:00.000-07:00

Night 12 under canvas (well, polyester) has been completed and the grand total of miles saved is 1,920 at the moment. Probably more important than that is the fact that I have salvaged at least 36 hours of my life that would otherwise have been spent on the motorway.

I really didn't feel like staying here last night, I didn't feel very well yesterday and the last thing I wanted to be doing was pitching a tent and all that malarkey... I decided to stay anyway because I had a meeting here this morning that needed some preparation, I knew if I went home an early start would be almost impossible.

So, last night I took it easy. I watched "The hills have eyes" on the laptop and then went to bed. Watching horror films in the dark (even pretty rubbish ones like this) and then sleeping alone in the middle of nowhere amongst unidentified wildlife is an experience, I'll call it "extreme sleeping"!

This morning was beautiful (and I felt much better too, thanks) the sun was shining and I was packed up before 7am. I took a shower and was about to head off to work when I realised I'd made something of a schoolboy error... I had folded the tent up and packed it away without emptying the internal pockets. I had left my wallet inside and I can't get in the office without it, nothing for it but to unpack it and crawl inside to have a look. I found it, eventually.

News

2006-06-27T14:24:00.000-07:00

I was told today that I will soon be moving to a new project. Instead of working in Lichfield (85 miles from home) I will be working in Rugby (50 miles from home).

Now this is good in terms of the amount of miles I will be driving, but will it put an end to my Corporate Camping? It can easily take a couple of hours to get home from Lichfield, but I can get to and from Rugby in around 45 minutes... will it be worth camping there??

I'll have to give it some thought. I still think I'll be spending time in the tent, my main office is in Crewe (145 miles from home) and I really should be going there at least once a week (I have been avoiding going to save fuel) so maybe I'll be spending a night per week at a different site, or maybe in the wild.

Thinking

2006-06-24T06:35:00.000-07:00

As you'll know if you have read the rest of my posts, I'm trying to save as much money as possible by commuting to work less and camping near the office is my main solution to this problem.

I've also mentioned in the past that the money saving is going well in terms of using a whole stack less fuel each week, but I do have to pay for the campsite each time I stay over. A night at the site costs me £7, but a return trip in the car costs about £14-£15... so I save around £7 each night I'm away.

I really want to become self sufficient for the camping part though, I do begrudge paying £7 for the use of a small patch of grass, a toilet and a shower. I want that whole £15 fuel saving to be all mine.

So, the thinking I have been doing is to try to provide the facilities I need without paying for them... What I have come up with is pretty simple idea for providing hot water for showering/washing.

The idea is that I could pick myself up an old roof-box from Freecycle and use it as storage (as intended) and also the base for a solar powered water heater. Roof box would be ideal for this as it spends all day sitting on the roof, outside, in the sun.

My idea has a few parts to it:

Insulated water storage tank - This is where the water will live, it could hold a few gallons of water and would be well insulated to keep in the heat. Something along the lines of high-density foam covered container, like you find in a domestic heating system.
An array of small metal capillary tubes to collect heat, perfect example of which is shown here - This chap has made a solar water heater by using the heat exchanger from the back of a fridge.
A regular solar panel to run a pump - This is the good bit! I would use a small pump (like you would get in a fish tank for example) and power it with a solar panel/battery combo. The best bit is that I would rig the pump to run only when the output of the solar panel was high, when the sun is shining I'll pump water from the insulated tank, through the heater and back to the tank. When the sun is not shining (at night!) all the water stays in the super-insulated tank.

The result of all this would hopefully be a tank of warm (or hot) water on demand to shower with, I'd run the pump for the shower directly from the vehicle battery.

So... what do you think then??

Back home

2006-06-22T13:05:00.000-07:00

I'm back now from a busy couple of days (and nights!) working. First night in the tent and the second night in the posh hotel.

I could easily have done without the hotel; I got there are 6.30pm and then left to go out on the town at around 6.45pm, got back at 00.30am and was up again at 7am. It's just not worth shelling out a load of cash to sleep in a bed for a few hours, sleep is sleep... I don't sleep better in a more expensive bed.

Another thing about the hotel is that the carpark was full, almost every single car was a mid to high end company car (mine included!), I've stayed at this hotel many, many times but it's just not me anymore. All this getting back to basics (occasionally) is making me much less materialistic, that can only be a good thing I guess!

Over dinner I mentioned to a couple of my co-workers that I've been camping out near the office to save the fuel and traveling time... I think they find it a bit odd but I'm sure some of them saw my point when I explained how many miles I have saved (1760 so far!) and how many hours I have spent sat on the M42 twice a day.

Every time!

2006-06-20T11:01:00.000-07:00

If you live in the UK then you'll know that the weather recently has been pretty nice, lots of sun and no rain = perfect. So why is it that today, when I'm camping, it's now raining and very very windy?

I managed to fight the tent up in strong wind, just after I got it pitched it started to rain. So, I'm cooking inside again and I have placed the car alongside to act as a wind-break.

I've taken extra care to make sure everything is pegged out OK, time will tell... I can't see it being a very peaceful night!

Compare and Contrast

2006-06-20T04:41:00.000-07:00

I won't be going home for a couple of nights because of work commitments, I'll be staying in two locations...

Tonight I'll be pitching the tent at my usual location in Staffordshire and I'll take it easy while listening to the football (I'm not really a fan but I'll make the effort for the World Cup!) I'll have a couple of beers and an early night, ready to hit the road first thing. Tomorrow night I'll be staying at a 4 Star hotel in the middle of a Cheshire Golf Course and then entertaining the big-wigs at a Thai restaurant in the evening.

So, two different types of accommodation but which is best?

I suppose it's not fair to compare the two really... There isn't much that the hotel really offers that I can't get at the campsite; I have a bed, I have a shower and I can make a cup of coffee whenever I like. I think the only advantage the hotel has is that there is an iron in the room so I can iron my shirt in the morning!

If *I* was paying (and I do pay for the campsite!) I would rather spend £7 than £90+, that's for sure!

This week

2006-06-13T03:04:00.000-07:00

For the first time in ages I won't be camping this week. It just so happens that I'm not doing two consecutive days at the same office.

I think I'm going to miss it, especially as the weather is perfect for a spot of outdoor relaxation.

I'm still half thinking of ways to camp for free (or as near to free as possible), I'm sure I'll come up with something!

Last night

2006-06-09T00:59:00.000-07:00

The weather stayed nice and it was a lovely evening.

I pitched in a different part of the site last night as it was much busier than usual, there were several tents, a few big motorhomes and a bunch of caravans.
In an ideal world I'd have the whole place to myself but I suppose when the weather is like this everybody fancies a break.

As it was warm last night I didn't sleep in the sleeping bags, I opened them out and put one under me and the other on top. This didn't work very well because the bottom one kept slipping about on the airbed. I got pretty cold at around 4am so I zipped myself into one of the bags.

I got up this morning later than usual (7.30) after spending some time enjoying the sunshine filtering into the tent. I was packed, showered and at work by 8.15.

10 nights - 1600 miles saved

Tonight

2006-06-08T07:53:00.000-07:00

Things didn't really go to plan this week and I ended up traveling home when I had hoped to stay. I'll be staying here tonight though and I'm looking forward to having some decent weather for a change, it's lovely and warm out there and the forecast is for it to stay that way.

I think I'll really enjoy tonight, I'll get all the benefits of saving fuel and all those hours in traffic and hopefully none of the hardship that the weather has been bringing recently.

I hope I haven't jinxed the weather by saying all that, tropical storm over Lichfield?

Packing

2006-06-05T15:09:00.000-07:00

I need to spend a couple of days in the office at Lichfield this week so I'm packing enough stuff for a two nights stay. I'm not 100% sure I'll stay two nights but it's better to be prepared.

I don't really need to pack any extra stuff for a longer stay, I travel pretty light so it's an extra shirt and tie really!

Although I'm saving lots of miles and time doing this, I would like to save a little more cash. The problem is that each night I stay I have to pay £7 in pitch fees (50p of that is for the shower) and in an ideal world I would pay less, or nothing! I really don't need any facilities (although I do use the toilets and shower) so I might have a crack at a spot of wild camping or spend some time looking for cheaper sites

Cooking on the Beach

2006-06-03T14:08:00.000-07:00

Cooking on the Beach
Originally uploaded by Saturner.

Alright, it's not exactly camping but we hit the beach today and I used some of my gear to cook us a meal while we were there.

It made it a cheap day out, we only paid for fuel and parking.

If I could persuade my good lady wife to give camping a try then it could have been even better, I'm sure it will happen one day (our 5 yr old daughter is keen I think!)

Gear

2006-06-02T02:33:00.000-07:00

I keep having to remind myself that the whole point of this camping lark is to save money. I keep finding myself looking at all the gear you can buy from the on-line retailers.
Luckily I'm pretty tight fisted these days and it takes a lot for me to part with any cash, I haven't succumbed yet!

I have been thinking about the gear I have and, specifically, if there is anything else I need. I think I'm pretty much covered.

The only thing I struggle with when camping (as apposed to staying in hotels like I used to) is getting work done in the evening. The tent is too small for a desk and chair, you can get small tables but I don't think it would be comfortable.

I think the answer may well be to get a Carnopy. I already have a decent folding aluminium table and I could use the back of the car as a seat. That way I could have a covered area to catch up with a bit of work/cook/drink wine/relax.

The only other areas that need attention are lighting and power. I have a decent 1,000,000 candle power torch but I could use a lantern for more long-term lighting, something cheap and rechargeable would do. As for power, I don't need much; something to charge laptop, phone and lantern would be fine. In theory the car should do all this but I have twice flattened the battery...

The only other thing on my list is a wind-up radio... I really want one.

Sunset from the Tent

2006-05-30T13:20:00.000-07:00

Sunset from Tent
Originally uploaded by Saturner.

Quite a nice sunset, not sure this photo does it justice really.

It's getting very cold so I think it's sleeping bag time.

This is the 9th night I have stayed near the office and as a result I have now saved 1440 miles.

Disposable Tent

2006-05-30T12:58:00.000-07:00

Disposable Tent
Originally uploaded by Saturner.

I'm pitched next to one of those disposable tents that you can get from Argos for £9.99. It's a bit tiny really but I like the idea of a cheap (very cheap) tent, can't understand what makes it disposable apart from the price...

Throwing it away after use seems like a big waste to me, but I guess that being able to pitch it and not worry about it being damaged by drunken idiots (at festivals etc) is a good thing.

Weather is actually still OK, I am surprised!

The future

2006-05-30T07:21:00.000-07:00

I'm all packed and ready for another night in the tent, it hasn't rained much today (if at all) so based on previous experience I can expect a massive storm to be heading my way as I type.

I'm actually not phased by a bit of bad weather because I know that I can keep myself warm and dry all night, it's more of an inconvenience rather than anything to worry about.

I think I can easily carry on camping a couple of times each week throughout the summer and probably the Autumn too, I think the winter would be alright but I would need to invest in some better gear. My sleeping bag would need to be changed and I think I would go for a smaller, quicker pitching tent... probably a pop-up tent like this.

If I had some spare cash I would probably think about getting myself some sort of camper van to see me through the cold spell, I could even make do with a normal van and add equipment to it to make it more homely, I'll have a think about it and see what the finances look like after the summer holiday.

That was all shockingly long-term wasn't it?

A little lie

2006-05-26T13:43:00.000-07:00

The site
Originally uploaded by Saturner.

I lied to my boss today...

She asked me where I stayed last night and I pretended that I had stayed in a Travelodge! I just didn't feel like dealing with the "I think you're a bit weired" looks I think I'd get if I told the truth.

Last night was really quite nice, the sun was out and it was pretty warm. I woke up this morning at 5am and it was like there was a monsoon outside... I waited until 6am and it hadn't eased up at all so I decided to take the tent down as quickly as possible. I pretty much un-pegged it and threw it in the back of the car... it will stay there until the morning as I've done a 14hr day and I din't feel like sorting it right now.

Today

2006-05-25T00:09:00.000-07:00

I've got a busy couple of days ahead. In a little while I have to head up to Nuneaton for a meeting, after that I need to be in Lichfield and early tomorrow morning I have a meeting in Crewe.

What I should do is try to find a site near junction 16 of the M6 but I think I'll probably stick with what I know rather than trying to find something at the last moment.

While I'm up near Crewe I will spend a bit of time having a look at different sites, I often have to work up there and it would be useful...

Comments

2006-05-25T00:04:00.000-07:00

Someone (thanks Andy!) pointed out to me that you could only comment on this site if you were a Blogger/Blogspot user... I didn't realise this was the case (it's the default setting) so I've changed that now.

All comments are welcome!