Kids in Tow
What should the cool dad and man about town pack for a caravanning trip? Nathan Pittam shares the contents of his satchel and there’s not a nappy in sight...
This month I wanted to go through those essential items that every Caravanning Dad needs. No, I do not mean torque wrenches and all that malarkey… I am talking about stuff for me.
Whenever we go away in the caravan, I always take a satchel of stuff. It is a Cambridge satchel with my initials on that Catherine gave me for my birthday in 2011 – you know when they were the height of fashion and, as I am sure you can all see from the photos, I am a sucker for fashion….
So, what goes in the bag? Firstly, contact lens case and solution and spare glasses. I have eyesight that a mole would think was poor. Without correction I cannot read my watch without comedically pressing it into my face. The lens case and spare glasses are the first thing that go in. Routinely I will always panic within 400m of leaving the house that I have forgotten them (but knowing deep down that would never happen), must pull over, pull the satchel from the packed boot of the car and then confirm that indeed that they are in the bag – this occurs on every single trip.
So, what else? A Kindle. I fought long and hard against the Kindle. However, I am now obviously a convert. I have had a number of e-readers on this road to Damascus including the amazing Kobo Mini but the Kindle Paperwhite wins all round. It gives me the ability to read after everyone has gone to bed, late in the evening outside as the sun is setting. I love my Kindle and the first one was purchased from Saturn in Berlin. Saturn is the most amazing shop for a geek – it is like Currys on steroids and seems to be a continental thing. The first time we ever went in one we walked around like East Berliners after the wall had fallen looking at what the West had to offer (albeit by fluke Saturn in Berlin is in Alexanderplatz which was in the East). My first Kindle was the only purchase from
Saturn and I loved it. I naively took it to the birth of Margot, thinking I could get through some chapters... however, I did not get to read anything and in the process of moving around the maternity ward the Kindle was broken and only replaced in the last year. Actually, the satchel was at the birth of both of the children, too. I didn't bother packing the Kindle second time around.
Next into the bag is my sun cream. Now, I do not think I can do product placement here but on a camping trip to Cornwall I happened across a sun cream that lasts all day. Sceptical, I purchased a tube of a very specific brand and it saved the holiday from the ritual of slowly turning red and then peeling no matter how often I reapplied other product. Genuinely brilliant stuff if you ask me. However, it does seem to have incurred the ire of BBC Watchdog owing to some adverse reactions but to my mind this brown tube of suncream has saved many a summer's day and many a holiday. You may ask why I have my own sun cream but Catherine feels that factor 50 is a bit extreme.
Now, what else? My Garmin Vivoactive HR watch and some hastily grabbed-at-the-last-minute running shorts and vest. I go through phases of loving and loathing running, experiencing both emotions during training for the London Marathon to such an extent that I only recently started running again regularly – and by the time you read this in three months time there could be every chance I’ve fallen off the wagon. However, regardless of whether I am on or off the wagon I always think that a caravan holiday will give me the time to go for a run. Wishful thinking, indeed.
You may ask why I have my own sun cream but Catherine feels that factor 50 is a bit extreme