I contributed to The Guardian’s G2 camping trip with a brief list of essential camping gear. The Guardian writers camped not far from where I live, at Wowo, which Cath and I visited earlier in the year. I provided a list of seven items, one of which was salad, inspired by Cath’s five-a-day barbecue to stave off camper scurvy; another is a campfire tripod, made for me by a local blacksmith, Terry Tynehurst in Glynde.
As satisfying as well chosen gear is, objects and consumption are not the point of camping; while a newspaper is not the right place to admit to feelings of mysticism in the night woods, I will give full vent to camping mysticism at my forthcoming event at Port Eliot Festival, We Are Camping.






[...] long way from Matthew De Abaitua’s more utilitarian, perhaps even mystical, philosophy about essential camping kit. I’m beginning to wonder whether we have chosen the right site, because I’ve met [...]
[...] Matthew De Abaitua will be proud that the Trangia Stove he recommends as one of the Seven Things Every Camper Should Own as one was a prize positions of a fellow camper. Glampers might like the old Dudley 2 ring hobb [...]
Useful tips here for all campers