Camping is a cheap and ‘fun’ way to get away this summer. But spending the weekend in a muddy field can feel like you’ve gone on holiday by mistake. LSi’s own (ex) Boy Scout is here to offer tips to help your time pass as painlessly as possible.

1. Beware of wildlife. Living in Leeds the worst you might encounter is a squirrel or a mangy fox; the great outdoors is not as kind. In my many years camping I have had a bear go through my tent, been accosted by more than one irate sheep, and had a terrifying encounter with the most fearsome of God’s creations: the hedgehog. Mother Nature is out there to kill you.

2.For an authentic experience camping should be done with as little access to electricity as possible. The mountain does not come to you; you must go to the mountain. Your iPhone is useless here, embrace the great outdoors.

3. When sharing a small and cramped tent with your ‘friends’ what better way to bond than over a game of cards? A round of a shouty card game is an excellent way to win friends on your life-affirming trip. In the absence of a deck of cards, charades is ideal, providing the wild has not yet claimed anyone’s limbs.

4. During a camping trip your diet must be carefully managed. Due to the lack of safe refrigeration a student diet must be adopted. Pasta and baked beans are your meals now. If you are feeling adventurous, try to cook a slice of toast over a camp stove. Believe it or not this is actually possible – it might just not happen in your lifetime.

5.If you have had enough of a lack of a solid roof over your head then you are in luck; like Dick Turpin you can surely find brief solace inside one of Britain’s great country pubs. With a warm meal in your belly and a frothy pint of local ale in your hand, take the chance to put your mud- encrusted feet up while your lousy tent gets battered by the rain.

Frank Jackman