In which we start to discover what Pod Life is really like

Well, we wanted to know what it was like to stay in a Camping Pod. And we certainly discovered this at Eskdale Campsite in June 2012.  We were prised out of our motorhome and introduced to the wonderful world of Podding as guests of Martyn and Sarah Merckel, franchisees of Eskdale Camping and Caravan Club Site. 

There are three ways to end up in a Camping Pod:

1.  As a complete newby, with no expectations
2.  Graduating from a tent
3.  Downsizing from a caravan or motorhome (like us)

Of these, No. 3 is probably the most interesting.  Pod Life is back-to-basics camping.  As Martyn puts it "just think of a pod as a wooden tent".  And that is exactly what it is. A wooden tent. 

So, just as if you were in a tent, water is obtained from the tap a minute's walk away.  Light comes from torches or lanterns (unless you take a starter/charger like we did and plug a 12v lamp in) and heat, if needed, comes from a portable gas fire loaned free of charge (with 2 full gas cannisters).  You need to take a gas hob to cook on (or at the very least, boil a kettle in a morning).  And needing the loo in the middle of the night means a minute's walk to the toilet block in your jim jams, fleece and shell.

The Eskdale Pods are "Generation One"  Roughly translated, that means they are basic.  Extremely cute and loveable, make you go "ahhh" when you first see them, but basic.  A charismatic, cosy and curved wooden structure, well insulated, with padded matting on the floor, small lockable double "French doors", a small window at the back for ventilation, and an overhang under which to cook and watch Podders and other wildlife, and that's it.

You need to take airbeds/camping mats, sleeping bags, cutlery and crockery, a kettle, torches, water carrier, washing up bowl, chairs, table and perhaps a barbeque.  This is approximately half of what we took: 

... and yes, dogs are allowed in the Eskdale Pods.

In the next blog, we describe living in a Pod, in a wooden Pod, in the best (actually worst) of the British weather. . . . . .

Above images copyright AvailablePitch.com July 2012