I went camping in a random forest with a few friends a few weeks ago, and unintentionally got away with doing absolutely nothing but sit and watch while the others set up the fire/tents/cooked and all that good stuff. I hadn’t been camping in a really long time and I loved it!

But here on Life on Mars I rarely focus on the positives, so here we go with a bit of complaining. When I think about camping I think of the worst things that can happen to a human being: sitting on the hard ground, being forced to sleep on it, frosty moist dampness, that nasty condensation inside the tent, sleeping bags, water infiltrations, all topped with the inconvenience of an 18th century Europe public restroom. 

Perhaps the various family  camping trips in desolated camping sites I went on as a child left a permanent mark on my psyche, but the truth is that there are lots of beautiful campsites that don’t resemble a camp of Persian soldiers at the gates of Thermopylae.

The night I came home from my recent camping experience, I went on Pinterest and saw the most beautiful camping site I have ever seen.

The camping site in question is located in Slovenia on Lake Bled which is a wonderful alpine lake that has all the characteristics of magical land: a small island with a fascinating legend, a lady, a castle, and a slice custard cake as a welcoming treat. 

Right next to the banks of the lake there is a beautiful camping site that Slovenians have called Glamping, and that is made up of two different types of wooden chalets: small apartments or single houses with a sloped roof that resemble actual tents. Both solutions have glass walls all round  that overlook both the lake and the forest of sleeping while literally being immersed in nature but in total comfort. 

The entire campground is based on an ecological philosophy of being fully environmentally sustainable. The chalets are built using local larch wood, thermally insulated and heated so they’re available to stay in all year round.