“Mom! Someone Idiot Just Parked This Ugly RV Outside Our House. Oh, My God, It’s Your Husband!”

Ahhh, camping.  It is a national pastime, like baseball and hotdogs, during the warm months in the summer.  Most of our parents (or maybe grandparents to some of you young folk), loved to go camping and we went along with them.  It was a time of “roughing it” in a tent, or a luxury pop up camper, and be one with the great outdoors, enjoying simpler times.

Many people have great memories of camping, either with their parents or going away to summer camp.  There are many movies and shows about camping and some of the shenanigans that come with it.  But why do we love camping so much?  And why do some people hate it and avoid it as much as possible?

When you are camping, you are “living” away from home.  You are on vacation but you have to “make” your own home–by having a dwelling, like a tent.  You fix it up so it suits your needs.  If you are lucky, you might have electricity so you can have a fan in your tent.  You create a fire outside to cook, make smores, get warm (if needed), and keep the mosquitoes away.  You might have camping chairs to sit on or maybe just some large logs.  You cook your hotdogs over the fire.  You may have a screen house that is like your kitchen/dining area.  Or you just might only have a picnic table:)  This is where you have other food, like chips, fruit, maybe some condiments like mustard (in Chicago, we don’t put ketchup on our hotdogs!), and your paper plates, plastic silverware, and solo cups.  Once eating is done and cleaned up, then this area is where you play games, listen to the baseball game on your transistor radio, or just sit around and talk.

During camping, everything is different.  Your “bathroom” might be the big oak tree down the path, an outhouse, an actual public bathroom the campground has provided, or maybe you have a portable potty in your tent or pop up.  Water comes from bottles and jugs, so very little washing dishes is done (hence, the paper and plastic).  Bathing might be in the lake or pool (if the campground has one).  Showering may be in the public bathroom or none at all.  Brushing your teeth is with a water bottle and bending over in the grass.  Even at night, your lighting comes from flashlights, the fire, lanterns, or candles.  It is a whole different experience.

So, why do we love it so much?  Because it is a whole different experience!  There is probably very little or no cell service–much less wifi.  No computer, tablet, or cell phone.  No “reading” a book on electronics.  Reading a book? Then it is a paper copy and you have to actually turn the pages.  Playing a game?  Then it is a physical game–board game, card game, dice game.  You are outside, so you do more physical things–taking a hike, going swimming, throwing a frisbee, playing catch.  You actually work up an appetite for the 3 meals.  Most people never gain weight during camping.  There just isn’t a lot of sitting around or you would get bored.  

It is also a vacation, so you may leave the campsite to visit touristy things.  And then you head back home to your tent.  Usually, you are playing and working during the day, and at night is the reading, or writing in a journal, or making a dreamcatcher, or playing a game.  And it is all done by the light of a candle or lantern.  There is a certain mystique when you do things by candlelight.  It is also a little spooky.

For some people, this sounds like “Torture Land”.  It sounds like a lot of work, very little comforts, and a lot of dirt.  Well, it can be but it is not like “Survivor”.  You do have a tent, sleeping bag, maybe an air mattress.  You change your clothes, you comb your hair, brush your teeth.  But it is different.  What if it rains?  Well, that can be hard since you are outside:)  You stay in your tent and play games.  Or stay in your camper and read, write, play games.  Or this might be the time you pile into the car and go visit a tourist attraction (that is indoors).

If you have never camped before, I highly recommend it.  There are many ways to camp–tent, pop up camper, travel trailer, RV (you drive your dwelling:).  And you can “rent” campers to see if it is something you want to do again.  I suggest you YouTube many videos on successful tips for camping or camp with someone who has done it many times before.  It is a learning curve, but it’s easy once you know what you are doing.

Try it.  It may be your new (and inexpensive) vacation spot.