ETHICAL TRAVELLER: Catherine Mackon responsible tourism
WE MADE a big mistake this summer - we took a copy of the Dangerous Book for Boyson our camping holiday. After two days, our posh tent, risotto al fresco and mountain biking was not good enough, apparently. My dangerous boys wanted real camping, where they could forage, make bows and arrows, build fires, and fish bear-like in the woods. Thanks to author Ray Mears, there are now plenty of people out there helping you do just that.
My favourite in Ireland has to be in the Leitrim wilderness, at the Lough Allen Adventure Centre (071-9643292, www.loughallenadventure.com). Kevin Currid, the owner, teaches canoeing, windsurfing and hiking during the week. His down time is spent bringing people on "Wilderness Therapy" weekends. The name sounds more like a military-style putting you through your paces than a fun getaway - but it is actually fun. My memories of sadistic outward-bound teachers from my youth were, thankfully, shattered by Kevin's eternal effervescence - his love and knowledge of the outdoors is infectious.
They make rafts by tying canoes together with barrels, paddle out to the islands of Lough Allen, make shelters, build fires and forage, cook outdoors, and sleep in the coolest hammocks with a type of roof attached.
If you are thinking more hardcore "skin-a-rabbit" type of weekend, then check out Bushcraft Expeditions' Seasonal Wild Edibles course in Herefordshire, in the UK (www.bushcraftexpeditions.com). My sons are counting the days until they are old enough to go on their Junior Bushcraft skills course (minimum age: 11). Five days of learning shelter-building, navigation techniques, wood-carving, wild camp cooking, and tracking techniques is pretty much their idea of cool. This company also offers incredible wilderness holidays further afield, from building snow-hole shelters in the Arctic, to surviving in the jungles of Borneo.
Understanding thermo-regulation, how to use an ice chisel, and using a backwoods sauna are just some of the things you can do on the North Woods Winter Expedition in Maine, run by Woodsmoke ( www.woodsmoke.uk.com), a company based in the Lake District in the UK.
This is just one of their wild escapes, the others range from canoeing and wild camping in Scotland, to a Bowyer course, making arrows from materials found in the wild.
You don't have to learn bushcraft skills to go on a wilderness holiday, of course. Wild camping is not permitted in most places, unless you get the landowner's permission. So if you travel with a company like eco-award-winning Wilderness Scotland ( www.wildernessscotland.com), you have easier access. For example, you can traverse the wild and rugged Highlands using the best form of transport for this part of the world. Not a 4X4 - a canoe. You paddle from loch to loch, but when a mountain gets in the way, you might have to drag your canoe overland to find the next bit of water - but it's worth it at the end of the day, when you pitch camp on a tiny remote island, cooking a few mussels from the shoreline.
So, in preparation for next year, we have passed on our copy of the Dangerous Book for Boysby Conn and Hal Iggulden (Harper Collins, €27 hardback) and bought the rather more amusing How to Sh*t in the Woods: An Environmentally Sound Approach to a Lost Artby Kathleen Meyer (Ten Speed Press, €6.80). Much less sexist and full of important tips on how to cope with nature's call.