SPENDING a week in a tent is long enough for you to believe that it was actually a good idea in the first place.
Researchers found that anything less than a week left the participants with the keen sense they are being punished for having unclean thoughts.
Julian Cook, professor of horrible, stupid ideas at Roehampton University, said: “For the first two days you simply want to die.
“Days three and four usually involve getting up at 5.30am, going to the toilet like a Burmese convict and then standing on the edge of a gorge for nine hours while you decide whether throwing yourself into the void will be better than using that lavatory again.”
He added: “Days five and six involve entering the ‘dark caves of the soul’ where you see the cackling faces of dead Carry On stars while massive, bright red nylon wolves tell you to have more beans and sausages and then slash at you with claws made from Swiss Army knives.
“By the end of day seven you are are convinced that you are entirely happy and can now be detained under section four of the Mental Health Act.
“Despite the looks of genuine concern on their faces, you will tell everyone you had the best holiday ever and that you feel totally ‘recharged’.
“But in the years to come you will occasionally wake up in the middle of the night, drenched in your own urine, clawing at your face and barking like a wild boar. You will assume it is some kind of 24-hour bug.”
Bill McKay, who camped for a week three years ago, said: “We had an absolutely lovely time but for some reason I don’t want to talk about it, ever.”
