Glamping In The Treetops

• 18th Jan 2018

There is something very special about climbing trees. Too many of us forget to indulge this side of our nature and stop climbing trees when we reach adulthood. Any return to arboreal adventuring, however, and we are right back there, reliving the memories not only of our own youth but of our collective past as more primitive roamers of the treetops. Studies have shown that human beings feel more at peace amongst trees than we do anywhere else - perhaps because of our evolutionary past, perhaps due to a child-like sense of wonder.

What better place, then, to enjoy a camping holiday than in a woodland? Any camping trip to an area of forest or anywhere with plenty of trees can be wonderful, but perhaps the most magical is camping not on the forest floor but up in the canopy.

If you think about it, it makes sense that we feel safe, comfortable and at home up in the branches. Our hunter gatherer ancestors would, perhaps, have sought out the security of the trees in order to remain out of the reach of hungry predators and other dangers down on the ground. Some have argued that the fact that most people prefer a bedroom to be upstairs, where possible, is also down to the existence of our folk memories of being safer up high.

Myth and legend abound with stories of woodland magic, and settlements in the treetops – the stories of Robin Hood, and earlier folk tales of green men and dryads spring most obviously to mind – though several other similar stories exist in other cultures around the world. We have a strong folk connection to woodland and green spaces and this, perhaps, can account at least in part for the peace and calm we feel in such as setting.

Today, woods are not the mysterious, somewhat otherworldly places that they once seemed to people of the past. They are spaces that we can often inhabit and make our own. One of the ways modern man reclaims the woods is by building structures within it. Treehouses are just one example of the way in which modern humans reconcile the idea of being at home in the woods with the idea of magic and something a little out of the ordinary.

There are now plenty of places where we can go to reconnect with all elements of our past, individual and collective. Glamping in the treetops can be enjoyed all across the UK and beyond. If you are thinking about taking a glamping holiday this year then consider returning to the woods. Safe, familiar and yet somehow magical and adventurous, a treehouse holiday could be the perfect way to escape from the stresses and strains of the modern world.