What is camping?

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To me, camping is about nature, and being "away from it all." But, really for me the difference between camping and traveling is not about the equipment and the accomodations. The motivations are almost the same. I leave home to change my perspective. I think more clearly when I am in "nature" than in the city. Even if I am walking a forested trail behind my house, it clears my brain. Not sure why.:huh But the difference for me is that camping is relaxing and travel is stimulating.

Camping is getting myself as close to nature as comfort and prudence allow (I am a tree-hugger, not a bear-hugger:nono ). I use the right equipment to get me where I can see naturally occurring wonders and enjoy beauty that existed before any of us got here. It changes my perspective and clears my head for a time. I can see stuff I don't see daily at home. I am out of my element. New thoughts emerge and coalesce.

Travelling changes my perspective by letting me see how others live and soak up ideas others have had. Whether it is the Sistine chapel, ancient ruins, modern wonders or the homeless gathered on street corners, it all sort of rattles loose some of my rusty thought patterns. I gather from the great thinkers and the spoilers alike. I can see stuff I wouldn't see at home. I am out of my element.

Whether the object is relaxation or stimulation, camping and travelling both free my mind and give me new ways to see the world.

There is a lot of research that shows that the brain actually changes when exposed to new experiences and activities. New pathways are etched and the old ones are strengthened or abandoned. When I am done with camping or travelling, I return to my previous life, but my brain has actually changed, as has my soul.

As for Quartzite, it is a shocking picture from a nature perspective. But if you look at it from a travel perspective it is fascinating. An entire community has come together to function for a time as a unit, then they scatter and come together again a year later to compare notes. Boondockers meeting their need for comunity and culture. I might even check the place out myself. However, I can't see myself devoting my life to it.

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We've been to Quartzite (on our way to Yuma, AZ and Algodones, MX from Lake Havasu City, AZ).

We couldn't drive through fast enough. THAT is not camping. :o

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Merriam-Webster:
Camping
Function: verb
Date: 1543
intransitive senses
1 : to make camp or occupy a camp
2 : to live temporarily in a camp or outdoors -- often used with out
3 : to take up one's quarters : LODGE
4 : to take up one's position : settle down

I think a good definition of camping might be: a temporary living unit arrangement (either geographically or by construction) which supports the lifestyle and interests of the individual(s). I guess like life, camping is what you make it!

When I cost justified my trailer I identified three different camping modes were I would make use of the trailer.

Nature camping: Where I prefer a secluded and private site set in a natural setting. Activities include hiking, kayaking, nature viewing and site seeing (mostly landscape) and general RR. This is campfire country! I'll sit in one spot or I can move camp from one eco system to the next.

Event camping: Camping to attend an event (Car race, Mardi Gras, Jazz fest, etc.), site quality isn't a big issue...location, location, location. Activities include the main event and possibly other local sites. "Traditional" Lodging can be impossible to find or very cost prohibitive. I'll usually stay in one place the whole time.

Touring camping: Roadtrip! - usually a combination of the above with visits to cities (Art museums, gardens), battlefields, Indian mounds, and other interests. Various sites at various locations that I've been interested in seeing will get linked together usually in a loop fashioned roadtrip for a lot of variety. I usually move at least every couple days and will make frequent stops while in transit between camping locations.

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This thread has been most useful - camping is all things to all people.

I started this because we have been asked many times in our travels, by couples contemplating retirement, how we liked our little Trillium. Always as the conversation advanced the difference in expectations would emerge from the prospective retirees. So, it follows that the selection of an RV hinges largely upon whether you are going to sit still a lot or roll more frequently. Frankly, if we were going to sit still I would buy a bigger rig and be comfortable. As it is, we thoroughly enjoy rolling into the sack in our tiny motel room. All we want is a place to sleep and make a light meal.

If you are single none of this amounts to a hill of beans. Forget it! Go do what winds you up. But, if you leave home as a couple with a trailer behind you, you had better understand what each of you expect out of “camping.” It is sheer agony for the traveler to sit day after day in the same campsite. They have walked down to the lake and snapped a picture. They have shaken the hand of the couple with the dog next door. Now what? No TV, no computer, what now? He/she wants to get rolling after a meal and good nights’ sleep. The partner is ecstatic; this is just what they had in mind. On the other hand, it is absolute torture for the “camper” to roll mile after mile while the traveler is admiring the scenery unfolding before their eyes. They fidget in the seat wondering when are we going to stop?

I won’t be so brazen as to suggest I know a solution to this problem but I do know it is something that needs to be addressed. I think the answer is under C in the dictionary, like compromise.

Happy sunsets everyone!

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Camping.....hmmm.

I have done a bunch over the years but generally not for camping's sake. I attend special interest rallies, shooting matches, motorcycle races, track days.......always out the back of the truck or in a tent if not motelling. I got a TT because it blends so well with my existing lifestyle and in the long run is alot cheaper than motels. And it's fun!! I spent 20 years working construction on the road (and may again) for months at a time and don't care if I ever see another motel. The trailer has expanded my horizons and now find myself looking for excuses to go "camping"......actually, I'll camp in the carport just because I am so enamored of my little trailer. It also appeals to my "can't leave well enough alone/mission to modify" persona. Indeed, my Igloo is just now assuming a character and personality of her own, which is no doubt a reflection of the owner. Bottom line is I enjoy it and that's good enough for me!

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For me, camping is about two things, where I am or who I’m with.

1. My love of nature - the sounds of the wind, ocean, streams, the songs of the birds, mt. lions, coyotes, etc; the smells of a fresh rain, the pines, the salt air at the beach; the beauty of different places.

2. The fellowship of friends - Even Mason comes to mind. He is a retired Santa Monica cop that worked on his uncle’s ranch in northern California. When he starts telling stories around the campfire of his mishaps cowboy’n and chas’n cattle in the ranch pickup, it is so funny my sides hurt from laugh’n. I could do that every weekend. Then there is Ted Waddel, a master at knot tying. He hand ties celtic knots and makes it look easy. If he discovers a knot he doesn’t know, he works at it until he has mastered it and its various design strategies. What a treat camping with a guy like that and sitting around the campfire learning from a master. As you may have guessed, I have a hobby of “collecting people”. I just love meeting and getting to know all kinds of people.

:wave

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Orginally posted by Bill S.
Nature camping, Event camping, Touring camping.

very good, Bill, that's it'. hubby likes the nature camping, I like event and touring, so we have to work in both. I had never looked at it in those terms before.

Eric, *If you wouldn't mind squirrels, chipmunks, raccoons and the ocassional moose wandering through your family room, let alone a smouldering fire in the middle of your new berber carpet, that also should be hosed down to give it that forest damp feel* what a picture that put in my mind. :lol thanks

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well to me;it is getting back to nature-trying to relive the wonderful moments from years ago as a scout-no phone-no tv-just me and the creator seeing what we really have,not what someone else has,like all those expensive "things"$200,000 motorhomes and they don't even know how to take care of them -they have to pay someone to do it-not me-i loved camping so much -I bought 24 acres so i can camp all i want ,got a well-septic tank,some electricity for the good things to run on,and every night -if it doesn't rain-which it has for the last 8 weekends in virginia i can see the stars.here the stupid whip-o-wills,frogs,crows,and oh yes the teenagers with those stupid-boom-boom-boom going down the road,20 miles out in the woods out from Appomattox,and i just hope everyone has a chance to go CAMPING.leave your cell phone home-it won't work where i live-and that's the truth.

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Three cheers for Lamont:ola

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Ken, you've stimulated an excellent discussion and I agree that Ron
(from Florida) has given an award winning reply in stating it satisfies
a primordial need to build nests. I look at my 3 almost 4 year old and
how he loves making tents with blankets. I guess we never lose it.

I think camping is a little like fishing. It's often not about fish but rather about spending close good times with others with the assurance that the time won't be interrupted. If you stay in the city to play ball with your kid you might have to cut the grass or he might hang out with his buddies. So you take him fishing...or camping. And so it goes.

It's a good question Ken and I think everyone who camps would be
well served by reflecting on what it means to them. If I'm craving intimacy with my familly but have deluded myself into thinking it's that pristine lake I really need, I can end up wasting time driving 200 miles
when 50 might just do the trick.

Thanks, Ken!

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Thank you Ron for understanding my question. I never got my head around camping for the sake of "camping." To go to a campground and park beside a big old Winnabego on one side and a truckload of screaming kids on the other makes no sense to me. Now if one can find one of the isolated boondock spots that will allow you to camp that is different. Anyway, it has been enjoyable hearing from the different viewpoints. Some escape from and others escape to!

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<img src=http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/uploads/3ee48ed4b796bOcraSwampedE.jpg/>

First off - I LOVE CAMPING! - I'd rather camp than stay at the Ritz or the Motel6 or anything in between. I also love our Casita. I wanted to share this picture with you, because describing it wouldn't do it justice.
Did I tell you it poured all night? Buckets, coming down! Lightening and thundering. All night long we heard tent poles clanging and car doors slamming and cars driving off into the night. In the morning, which was beautiful, we woke to this sight! If the tenters hadn't moved on, they would have drowned in their beds!
And to add insult to injury - the Park Ranger came around and told me I had to have my dogs on a leash! (they were standing on the picnic table) Within hours all this water was gone, soaked up into the sand.
This is Ocracoke National Seashore, one of the few 'organized' campsites we like to visit. Mostly we like to boondock, off by ourselves, with no hook-ups. We enjoy hiking, back-packing, birdwatching and enjoying solitude. We stay away from KOA and privately-owned campsites - unless we're desperate. If we do stay, we stay in the tenter's section, with no hook-ups (where it's quiet).

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I think I get it! Is this what you folks had in mind?

http://groups.msn.com/KenJamesPhotoAlbum/y...rwebpage22.msnw

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Not having to go to work and being able to relax without no worrys of a normal day.

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For those of you who go camping to "collect people", here is one we collected. Reminds me of About Schmidt but much better.

This is a true story that may give you cause to view your life's experience in a new light. We met a grand lady one morning when we pulled into a public rest area in South Dakota to make breakfast. One didn't have to be a quiz-kid to know that the tired old Winnie she walked away from had seen its’ best days, however, she came over to admire our even more humble Boler, a 13' fiberglass trailer. The conversation began something like, "Hi, what a cute little outfit, can I see inside ...."

Well of course like any proud owner we showed her our home on wheels. And then she told us her story!

Several years before retirement her, and her husband, bought a used Winnebago and began making payments so it would be paid for when they retired. Many payments later the big day arrived - they retired. They packed up the Winnie and hit the road. Well 3 weeks out and the gas expenses, and the camping expenses, all added up to more than they were bringing in. She assured us that the night was a tear-soaked one. Their dreams were in tatters. Now what?

But, our brave soul didn't throw in the sponge, nope, she remembered a recipe for fudge her grandmother had given them and how everyone loved it. She went off to the local supermarket and loaded up with sugar and waxed paper. While the fudge was cooking she fashioned a sign saying homemade fudge for sale. By the end of the day she had grossed $300. They were back on the road again.

Eventually they had THE FUDGE FACTORY painted on a proper sign and anytime they ran short they parked and sold fudge. She was as proud as a new Mom to tell us that story ... and they never looked back. She is still out there somewhere.

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That is a great story. It just goes to show you that everyone has resources, all you have to do is find them. What a great thing. it is sad, that many of the kids now adays just want things that are new and expensive, and very few will find the value of buying or getting something old and refinishing it. (I have one in my midst right now that is staying with us for the summer). And finding that you can always "make do" and do well, if you are willing. Unfortuneatly, those are the kids and people that will end up working too much to pay for their "things", and find our too late that life's too short for it all. I can only try to help him out, I guess.

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Well now Ken, I've been thinking a lot about your initial question that started this thread and have enjoyed the dialogue it prompted. Obviously, there are as many answers to the question as there are different folks. However, this bit today really spoke to me.

I really feel that COLLECTING PEOPLE, as you put it is one of the main reasons I enjoy traveling with an RV. I travel a lot on business and it's rare that I meet anyone to talk to and learn about. Most of the time us ''Road Warriors'' just sit at our little table and eat or drink by ourselves and go back to the room and do something to pass the time until sleep overtakes us. God, I'm getting depressed writing this.

When you ''Camp'' it seems so much easier to meet and greet. This story about the Fudge Lady is so beautiful. It bears out one of my favorite sayings that supposedly came from Daniel Boone VI. It goes ''There's always a way if you don't mind the way''. One of my great loves is Blacksmithing and he was apparently a Blacksmith as well. That fit's very well with what ''Smithy's'' and Fudge Ladies, and a lot of you out there do every day.

Hope I can sit by the fire and learn about you, Ken, someday.

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Bless you Keith, you really get it.

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You two are prime examples of what I was talking about. Thanks for finding me and thanks for the kind words.

Hope to see you this summer.

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Thank you one and all for dropping a penny in my cup on this splendid thread. Now let’s dump it out and count the take!

It seems that camping connects us all to a long gone past when our ancestors huddled in caves afraid to venture far afield for fear of awesome beasts or savage tribes. These little weekend outings reassure us that we can safely wander out and live. It reminds us of happier times; of evenings with the Boy Scouts or Girl Guides. It reminds us of pleasant past hunting and fishing camps and good companions. It reminds us of a time when families were bonded more closely than they are today, when families camped under canvas just to be together. It reminds us of the strong and willing settlers who opened up the west with their covered wagons. Camping hones the skills of survival, and, whether our trailers ever make that continent-wide trip or not, we all can look out into the driveway and know we COULD if we wanted to. Camping allows us to enjoy the squirrels and raccoons confident that we are not going to be harmed by the outside world, and we have to learn that, it is not a given. Camping teaches us that the natives really are friendly out there should we care to leave our city caves. These little glass balls spell FREEDOM! Never again do we have to feel trapped in the rat-wheel of life once we have mastered “camping!”

Thanks everyone! The camping season is upon us. Let’s hope your wood stays dry and the wind blows the smoke away from your campsite.

<img src=http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/uploads/3ee71744d8038Boler cozy at Kennedy Lake (small).JPG/>