MY FIRST TIME WILD CAMPING Getting into wild camping and backpacking often involves learning from your mistakes. Rhiane Fatinikun recalls her first wild camping experience – and what she took away from it

As someone new to the outdoors, being a novice at everything just makes it more of an adventure. Last year I decided I’d walk a section of the Wales Coast Path and wild camp along the way with a friend. After weeks of research, endless scrolling, reading blogs, kit reviews and recommendations, I felt ready. Pitch late, leave early and pack light, that’s what all the advice said.

Not long after setting off, I realised that I had ridiculously over-packed: my bag was 15kg and included a full-size chopping board and several other whim purchases I thought I’d need. I had ambitions of fine dining outdoors.

We reached the place where we had planned to camp on the first night, but struggled to find a suitable spot, and ended up pitching our tents using our head torches. I pulled out the stove, but couldn’t figure out how to use it. Talk about all the gear and no idea! Our saviour ended up being YouTube; I had to watch an instruction video. Suddenly all the couscous and quinoa that had been weighing us down didn’t seem so appealing and I started regretting my choice of food.

Once inside my tent, the summer sleeping bag that I swapped my heavier one for to save space started to feel like a bad idea because I was freezing and I didn’t have a sleeping mat; another rookie error. While lying awake, too cold to sleep, I was looking at hotels for the next night and was very close to booking one.

The next morning, we were up and packed by 7am off in search of hot food. We decided to book a designated campsite for the night to save us struggling to find somewhere to pitch.

I know safety is a big issue for women in the outdoors, but I wasn’t worried about that because I was with my friend. It’s unlikely I’d wild camp solo, but not because of safety issues; I like company and to me feels like more of an adventure when there’s two of you. You get a real sense of freedom when you’re wild camping, and I generally feel safe in the outdoors. It’s not people I worry about, it’s injuring myself.

We ended up cutting the trip short. I got a huge blister, walking became uncomfortable, and the discomfort just became a distraction. We had a brilliant time though; the blister saga just added to the adventure and we’re planning to go back.

So, what did I learn from my first trip? Don’t overpack; do your research; invest in lightweight kit, and practise using it before your trip so you enjoy every moment. Nobody starts as an expert in anything – it’s all trial and error – but, ultimately, everyone is more capable than they think.