What would you give to swap the daily grind for an outdoor life under canvas?
When Jen and Sim Benson first put together their book 'Wild Running' they got a taste of what it would be like to live a wilder life. They were hooked, lulled into a lifestyle that brought with it the closeness of the family unit and the chance to live within the UK's wild spaces.
Allow us to introduce you to a new member of the SoulPad team; Isobel Finbow.
Isobel joins us as Admin Manager and brings with her a wealth of experience.
Isobel says "I've been a SoulPad customer for many years now and have always enjoyed exceptional customer service from SoulPad. I'm looking forward to building on that already well established great reputation."
Isobel enjoys setting up her SoulPad for nieces and nephews to use as a play tent in the summer.
We wish you lots of success with SoulPad Isobel!
Isobel began her relationship with SoulPad as a customer. Here we ask her some pertinent questions about her camping experiences...
Malteser Tray Slab (uh-oh!)
Here is a deliciously-wicked, easy-peasy, very sweet and just a little bit moreish, Easter camping recipe for you...
It's around this time of year most of us turn our thoughts to the exciting camping trips we're planning for the year ahead. As ever, we're looking forward to plenty of those soulful back garden campouts with the kids and The Glastonbury Festival.
Too often though, we hear from folks who have just left things too late, and come the Spring-time are faced with problems that could've so easily been avoided simply by engaging their senses earlier.
Here are our Top 5 Tips for caring for your SoulPad at this time of year: -
Did you ever pitch your canvas SoulPad tent (or any canvas tent) in the rain only to find a weird spatter pattern appear, and for said pattern to let in water? If yes, then this article is for you.
For most of us, now is the time to ensure your SoulPad is dirt-free, water resistant and fully dried out before storing it away for the colder months. Here are our top tips on the matter: -
Mr OM's favorite!
Ingredients: A wheel of brie or camembert, bread (you know, the nice rustic looking type - the sort that everyone thinks you made yourself...perhaps you did!)
Method: wrap in foil, throw on the campfire, leave for 5-10mins, break open the foil and dip into the cheese with the bread. Add cranberry sauce and almonds for a sweet Autumnal yum.
Share your camping recipes with us and if we publish it we'll send you a Feuerhand lantern as thanks :)
The following letter broke our hearts at SoulPad HQ, and we wanted to share it with you to help warn of the dangers associated with theft at festivals. This is the first SoulPad that we've ever heard of being stolen and it makes us sad because the SoulPads normally only ever attract positive attention.
How can we combat theft at festivals and on campsites?
Security marking your property with UV pens is a good way of protecting your property, but is only really effective once the crime has been committed. Even then, what are the chances of secuirty or the police recovering and identifying your property?
It's therefore a good idea to introduce yourself to your neighbors, agreeing to look out for each others property in each others absence.
In the event that any of your proerty is stolen at a festival please do report it to both festival security and the local police. Failure to do this skews the festival's crime figures. They need to know the scale of the problem in order to tackle it effectively at following festivals.
Our thanks to John for sharing his experinces with us:
"Hi
I have bought a lot of tents over the years and decided I would dig deep and buy something worthy of my cash that would last.
After a search on the internet I decided that a canvas bell tent was just the jobby for me. Times been what they are I soon realised that i would need very deep pockets indeed and then I found your site on YouTube of all places. The guy with the dreds put it up within a few minutes and I was hooked.
To be honest it looked kind of too good to be true. I'm a trusting soul so I have been stung plenty of times in the past. But you know when you have that vibe when somebody is actually a really nice person? Well i got that feeling from the lass on the other end of the phone. She wasn't pushy for a sale and was very friendly and helpful.
OK I could still be stung, my rare pessimistic side nagged.
'Babes in the Woods’ Launches in Devon. A new woodland glamping weekend for hen do’s.
Forget L plates and embarrassing nightclub shenanigans, a wooded wonderland weekend is where it’s at for hen do’s in Devon - think champagne glamping with a touch of the wild!
We were blown away with a fellow SoulPadder's kind words and thought we'd share Mick Mannings email with you. Here Mick describes how his SoulPad has inspired him and his wife Brita (both award winning children's Authors):
We've said it before and we'll say it again; SoulPads really do attract good people, so they do! And Pete Jones (Co-founder of Planet Angel and Owner of The Soul Camp) is no exception to this observation. We like Pete.
We can ship to Canada, CA, LA, MA, MI, MN, NJ and NY. However we do need to point out that the SoulPads may not meet Fire Marshal Regulations in your area. We can ship them to you there, but must make you aware of this before doing so.
More often than not, the SoulPads are shipped to our US customers from UK stocks and so in this instance you would be classed as 'the importer'. We feel it's important to make you aware of this right from the start.
Of course, there are plenty of aftermarket canvas tent flame treatments that can be applied to the SoulPads, but this would be for you to organize if required. We have a lot of customers in these areas who have done just that.
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