What is Your Definition of Camping ?

[field & stream]

As one of the many who went from the ground, to a tent, to a VW bus, to an Airstream I am loving this discussion! Whatever it is we are doing, for sure it is not airplanes, rent-a-cars, hotels and restaurants.

[BassCan]

We have camped on islands in the gulf, tent camped for 30 yrs till the ground became too hard, then camped for eight years in a pop up trailer, then our favorite camping is in our new airstream. No matter what we were using (tent, popup or airstream) we still called it camping.

[Len n Jeanne]

Camping (to us) means getting to a place that is decently natural, if not wild. Camping requires a certain amount of space or vegetation screening between campsites. Sites where your view is your neighbour's RV slideout, not something natural, is not a camping experience to us.

Unfortunately the proliferation of massive RVs as substitute summer cabins has diminished the experience of camping in too many places.

There are a few RV parks where camping is possible, but not many that we have stayed at. One is the Glacier Campground in West Glacier, MT; which is very close to the park and has trees between the sites.

Oftentimes people go on an RV trip that doesn't seem like actual camping, such as staying in a parking lot or in an urban RV park. Some waterfront resort RV parks offer a beach and some amenities, but the RVs are packed in like urban apartments. These have their place as lodging for the night, but they don't really qualify as camping.

We love the back-of-beyond places, and see no reason why glamping can't be part of the experience. It's a matter of taste, not remoteness.

[m.hony]

If you can see or hear the next trailer, it is parking, not camping.

[Gearheart]

My mother in law used to say that anything less than a Holiday Inn with room service was camping.

[Cottonboll]

We have owned Airstreams for the last ten years graduating from tent camping. I spent many a night in a tent from camping in the back yard to The AT. I love my Airstream but last month I cheated on her. At 65 I had to know if I still had it. Ten days and three Nat Parks in Colorado. And I satisfied my nagging question. I still can, but I love my Airstream.


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[FLMarine]

I remember when I was younger and I would ask my dad who spent 13 months in Vietnam to go camping would always tell me one day I'd understand why he didn't want to go camping.

Fast forward to a couple of years ago after I got back from Afghanistan where I spent most of my time on a small patrol base with no running water, bathrooms, or decent food and now I know. In fact one of the first things I said to him when I got back was I understand why he hated camping, lol.

If I don't have TV, cold beer, or a nice bed I consider that camping. I haven't "camped" a day since I've got back but may one of these days in a decent place where I have two out of the three things. Those who consider spending a night in an airstream boondocking camping, get real. That's sleeping in a nice bed without ac running.


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[rodsterinfl]

Last week I could not wait to go CAMPING. It began when I stepped up into the truck. On the way I had a surprise, when the GPS was updated it was set on "least fuel" so as I traveled I drove through towns on country roads. It took me an extra 45 minutes. It made me realize that for me camping is the "going" or, the journey as well as the destination campsite experience.

To answer your question on my observation, last week the majority of campers in my loop were in tents. They were enjoying the park and camping but with a totally different experience to mine. That is how we camped when I was young. It differs by "approach".

[IanPoulin]

In terms of the OP, I don't currently find any of those options to be camping - life in my airstream is technology and comfort optimized, the closest I can call it is wandering; or trailering or base camping. There will be trips that are purely wandering - others there will be base camping; by which I mean, I will set the airstream down at a campground, site or boondock; then pull my pack, tent and gear out from the storage locker and hike out into the wilderness for a few nights knowing I have a base camp with a hot shower, food and a cold beer to return to.


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[RichP21]

FLMarine, you are right on. I know nothing about camping or being a Marine but I subscribe to what you say 100%. Best wishes for your next non-camping trip!

[PaulnGina]

Any time our Avion is parked somewhere besides our back yard, we're "camping".

[Sbb]

Camping is anytime Walk in the door of the Airstream, if in the driveway with four little grandkids spending the night, or off to and adventure at a National Park, or parked at a fairground backlot while I work for the weekend. I am beyond happy and content in all those places, camping.

[Bluestar99]

I can't comment yet on spending nights in a trailer I can stand up in. I'm restoring a 1951 Silver Streak Clipper . After I finish that I will have a better perspective.

Right now I am a Teardrop trailer camper. We say."the bedroom's inside, the kitchen is in the rear and the rest of the world is our living room".

[bobzdar]

My first post here (picking up a '67 overlander in the next couple of weeks) and I've done all kinds of camping, from backpacking part of the Appalachian trail to throwing a duffel bag in the back of my jeep and just wandering into the woods to tent camping in campgrounds to commercial rv park camping in a wilderness travel trailer.

They're all camping imo, and in the end my favorite part is setting up a nice fire and cooking a nice dinner on it and sharing stories. Whether in the mountains of pa with nothing but a backpack or in an rv park with a climate controlled bedroom, that part of the experience is the same and the most enjoyable for me. The big difference is the amount of comfort and effort it takes to get camp set up.

Backpacking is huge effort and little to no comfort, a lot of times no shelter if the weather is nice, just a sleeping bag under a tree. The food is meager and just water to drink, but a huge sense of accomplishment and a lot of incredible sights and you'd run into some other interesting backpackers and hikers along the way. You'd usually be tired enough that comfort wasn't a big concern though.

The jeep camping was less effort and you could obviously bring more stuff, but it was usually beans or other canned goods on the campfire and water and little else. It was the most remote (at least where I went) and if you wanted to get away from everything, that was the way to go. No other people on the trail, nothing, just nature. You wouldn't see or hear another soul for as long as you were out there.

The rest are all pretty much the same, set up camp, crack a beer,start a fire and relax. Maybe do some site seeing or hiking during the day. The big difference between tent and camper is how long setting up camp takes and how comfortable you are. Having tent camped for 30 years, the camper is preferable in that setting. Especially on the final day when you have to pack up camp. The most miserable thing in the world is packing up your tent in the rain. But, what you do there is what makes it camping. Sitting in your camper all day watching tv isn't camping. We only go in the camper to sleep and occasionally to cook breakfast or if the weather is bad to wait it out, otherwise we are outside the entire time. If we didn't have two small kids we'd probably still be doing the tent, but it's much easier with a camper and no less fun.

[wolf146]

I checked the dictionary just to see what the "official" definition of camping is. According to what I read ,everyone on this site is camping with whatever they use.

[mandolindave]

I used to think that camping within five miles of your car was for lazy college kids, and condescendingly categorized as " Car Camping ", and only to be allowed on route to the destination.

Then I started " Van camping " at Bluegrass festivals ( a lot ) I was scorned by my brother for loosing my sense of adventure. A few nights of jamming around the campfire, a couple of steaks, a couple of ICE cold beers, made him change his TUNE. ( see what I did there )

The family started to give Bluegrass a chance, and I needed a camper.

My daughter, about twelve at the time, found an Argosy for me to buy. ( She is so cool )

Anyway, to me, now….Camping is no hook ups. Being at a campground in a trailer, in a designated spot, just doesn't feel like camping, it just feels like vacationing.

[moosetags]

We have always used the term "camping" interchangeably with "RVing". While we realize that backpacking into a remote area and making camp is real camping, we need a simple one word description of our Airstreaming that is understandable by most people. "Camping" is that word.

Like it of not, "camping" is the word that we use, just as we use "trailer park" to describe any place that Lucy is hooked up.

Brian

[Antique Pedaler]

Camping is what we do in our 50 year-old Bambi...no frills, devices, just the basics one notch above our old popup Coleman tent camper. We "live" in our 6 year-old Flying Cloud with all the comforts and conveniences of home.

[pmclemore]

Camping is what I do in my Airstream. I also camped as a boy scout, when my buddy and I each carried a shelter-half and buttoned them together to make a pup tent.

I like the Airstream better.

Pat

[switz]

My prior vehicular camping experience was in 1968 with a rented from the Newport Naval Base PX tent trailer towed by a Volvo 4 cylinder station wagon with a little dingy on the roof. The wife, our Toy Collie, and I drove to the Bay of Fundy area in Maine and had to stop to let the motor cool when we were stuck in Boston city traffic. What a neat experience on a camp site we had to ourselves. The huge tide swing was amazing.

We did a primitive tent camp out in September 2011 near the rim of the Grand Canyon, my first such event, with my wife's four daughters and a cast of many for a 30th birthday for her eldest. We cooked for about 20 folks all weekend. Along with the cold, the bathroom shovel arrangements were challenging for me.

We acquired the first Airstream (2013 25FB International Serenity) in October 2012 and had another camp out at the same location in September 2013 for her twin's 30th birthday and similar cooking endeavors. This was a much more pleasant experience, except for having to dig the truck out of the unseen mud. That was a real learning experience!

We decided to go for the full monty and took delivery of the 2014 Classic model 30 in January 2014. We have enjoyed both primitive and commercial camp sites. We prefer the more isolated sites.

Camping for us is anytime we are out of the house and sleeping in our Airstream, where ever we may be. We enjoy being out in Nature, but a warm bed sure is nice at night!