Surprised nobody has suggested an evening in the pub....

* cough *

For me, if it is local, then i always overnight somewhere i know has a few for some "advanced daydreaming", but usually it means staring into space listening to podcasts on phone, or using Kindle app on phone to read.

I have also recently downloaded one of the stargazing apps so i can identify stars as i'm lying there too.

Other than that it is enjoying a few good slugs of home-made sloe gin or damson vodka or thinking of inventive meals that take the very minimum of cleaning up.

But really don't see a problem with a fire if you have a little common sense.

I think you've hit the nail on the head. In many quarters, common sense is a less than common commodity and without it (and best practice) fires tend to result in unsightly damage to the ground, trees and surroundings. The damage spoils things for others who may happen that way, really upsets landowners and is generally a bit of a selfish act all round really.

I'm frequently in the ScotRoutes-type camp as you know (not literally, it's 500 miles away) - pub visit - as generally "all life" is there and anything can happen if it's a decent boozer. I know I'll hear "oh really" but aside from when I'm BP I rarely do pub visits.

Anyway: "Other than that it is enjoying a few good slugs of home-made sloe gin or damson vodka or thinking of inventive meals that take the very minimum of cleaning up". If you substitute a comma for the first "of" in that recommendation, that's my more usual entertainment when it's dark, damp and lonely..... Actually, thinking further, that entertainment could be connected into the latter part of the sentence.... mm, mmm.....

The pub thing does have much to recommend it, especially for the solo traveller. One of my pleasures is discovering what I can about the places I pass through and most barmen/women are an excellent source of local news/gossip.

Borderer, just noticed you said you did all your cooking on a Honeystove, that is well hardcore. Am in awe. Tend to use mine as basically something nice to look at, a little friend for the lonely bikepacker (sob). In the same way that a StuStove moves one to a more patient, contemplative, style of brewing/cooking compared to gas, a Honeystove must raise one's consciousness to an even higher plane! <wanders off to dig out Honeystove again...>

Yeah, I didn't want to carry a second mode of cooking. TLS and all that. There have been a couple of times on foreign campsites that I was worried we would get told off for using it, but nobody has yet. In those sort of situations you can often find a stray brick or something to put underneath. Its a little bit of a pain in the mornings when you just want a quick brew before you head off, and then have to cool everything down before you can pack it, but not really a big deal. Once it is apart it cools pretty quickly. We don't carry the grill part from the top, I just use a couple of Ti tent pegs through the holes in the top to rest a pot on. I bought it thinking I would use the grill to barbeque cook things on but it is so small that the heat from the embers dissipates too quickly for that. If I was buying again I would just get a cheapo one off ebay instead, I think they are about a fiver versus £35 or something for the honey stove. I went for the honey stove as I was seduced by all the bells and whistles that came with it - different configurations, a meths stove holder, the grill etc but haven't really used any of them.

There is nothing quite like a fire, assuming it's self-contained.

We take the bio light with us. We even cooked ribs the other week on the common, with just some twigs and pine cones that were laying about on the ground. If you wrap the food up in paper, then you use that as fuel. Also having some power produced means it could be said it's actually recycling !!!