Camping vrs RVing

[Paul Bostick]

I was telling a work mate about our new SD 17 and the fact that we have really enjoyed the camping so far. He asked me: What is the difference between Camping and RVing? I thought a moment and replied:

If your sitting outside enjoying the evening and can look up through the trees and see the Milky Way then your camping. If you are surrounded by so many pole lights, party lights and lit up palm trees that you can make out a couple of stars but cannot see the Milky Way then your RVing.

Thoughts?

[Byron Kinnaman]

I was telling a work mate about our new SD 17 and the fact that we have really enjoyed the camping so far. He asked me: What is the difference between Camping and RVing? I thought a moment and replied:

If your sitting outside enjoying the evening and can look up through the trees and see the Milky Way then your camping. If you are surrounded by so many pole lights, party lights and lit up palm trees that you can make out a couple of stars but cannot see the Milky Way then your RVing.

Thoughts?

That's a pretty good description.

[Chester Taje]

I have thought of this many times.When i am by myself i camp as you decribed it.Rving is when my wife and i are on a holiday travelling from one place to the next.Just looking at sights and in no rush.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Even though I often call it camping when I use the trailer my real definition is when I use that alternate RV (45lb backpack). That's when the nearest road is over a mile away.

[Donna D.]

This is always an interesting topic, for a hint of that wood smoke memory check out these from the archives:
What is camping?, Searching for the object of camping

Camping's Assault on the Senses, ...please add your own

[Gary Lynch]

When using a tiny 17' egg (compared to the new wave mega RV), I call it trailer camping. They are just too small as far as I am concerned to actually call it RVing. Outside under the open sky, the stars, or the awning using a table and camp chairs most of the time is where it's at for me. I even use my portable cook top outside on my fold out table because there is much more elbow room and the orders just drift away. I personally think the beauty of the small eggs is that it almost forces you to be outside enjoying the great outdoors instead of inside a cave like a varmint. Just back from the East Sierra Nevada Mountains and found that a SD 17' Casita fits in even the smallest forest service site meant for tent trailers or even tents. It was luxurious!

[pjanits]

You forgot the Flamingo's

[Laura K.]

It's only camping when your family and your boss know where you are, and still can't find you.

[Pete Dumbleton]

Camping means different things to different people, but I personally define it as being in circumstances less than your usual digs. That would include a stay at a Roach-Coach Motel, of course. RVing is when you are camping in something with wheels...

[ronsmith100]

Camping means different things to different people, but I personally define it as being in circumstances less than your usual digs. That would include a stay at a Roach-Coach Motel, of course. RVing is when you are camping in something with wheels...

I am backing into this.
The last time I really camped out was probably in the late 60s on the beaches north of Santa Barbara.
Ocean noises
Big bond fire
blackened marshmallows and sitcky fingers
a tent to keep the sand bugs out!

But now? I simply bought the the egg so that I would have a place to sleep and eat when I went WAAAAAY out (60 miles) in the boonies of the southwest for volunteer work. Kinda like a sandy Motel 6 under the stars.
I just plug in the DTV , sip some good George Dickle, and sleep comfortably.

it is not rugged and wild and I am happy that it is not
The egg is incredibly well suited for this.

camping?
RVing?

???

Ron

[Frederick L. Simson]

I RV.

*King Size Bed. New Cushions. Down Comforter. Sheets & Pillowcases. Hanging Closet and Drawers.
*Gas Range with Oven with Thermostat. Double Bowl Sink with Faucets. Refrigerator with Freezer. Electric Water Pump.
*Flush Toilet. Shower. Hot Water Heater.
*Electric Lights. Television and VCR. Cell Phone. Furnace with blower motor. Fantastic-Fan.

That is all on Battery and Propane power.
If I stay at a "Full Hookup" site, I can add:

*Microwave Oven. Air Conditioning. Cable TV.

When I was a teenager, my father pooled resources with several buddies and they bought an old farm bordering on a state "game preserve". There was a pre-Victorian farmhouse, several old barns and outbuildings, a spring-fed stream and a pond, woods and fields, all on 160 acres. We called it "The Camp"

*Army Surplus Cot. Thin used mattress. Sleeping Bag. Duffel Bag.
*Cast Iron Wood-burning Stove. Salvaged metal sink cabinet without faucets. Manual hand pump on the wellhead outside in the front yard 20 feet from the front porch. Buckets. Ice Box and suplimental Ice Chests.
*Two-Hole Outhouse 40 feet beyond the back door. Wash Basin with Pitcher. Chamber Pot.
*Kerosene Lamps and Candles. Pot-Bellied wood-burning Stove in the Parlor. Deck of Cards. Conversation.

We had to help chop wood into a size that would fit in the stoves. Remember to bring Kerosene, Candles, and Ice from the store.
Dad said that everybody lived like this when his Dad was a kid.

[CharlynnT]

If I stay at a "Full Hookup" site, I can add:

*Microwave Oven. Air Conditioning. Cable TV.

When I was a teenager, my father pooled resources with several buddies and they bought an old farm bordering on a state "game preserve". There was a pre-Victorian farmhouse, several old barns and outbuildings, a spring-fed stream and a pond, woods and fields, all on 160 acres. [b]We called it "The Camp"

*Army Surplus Cot. Thin used mattress. Sleeping Bag. Duffel Bag.
*Cast Iron Wood-burning Stove. Salvaged metal sink cabinet without faucets. Manual hand pump on the wellhead outside in the front yard 20 feet from the front porch. Buckets. Ice Box and suplimental Ice Chests.
*Two-Hole Outhouse 40 feet beyond the back door. Wash Basin with Pitcher. Chamber Pot.
*Kerosene Lamps and Candles. Pot-Bellied wood-burning Stove in the Parlor. Deck of Cards. Conversation.

We had to help chop wood into a size that would fit in the stoves. Remember to bring Kerosene, Candles, and Ice from the store.
Dad said that everybody lived like this when his Dad was a kid.

That all sounds good.

[Greg A]

Camping vs RVing.

Really seems to me it depends on where I park it for the night. We've pulled into some places where it felt like camping and we've pulled into others where it felt like a "timeshare resort."

[Connie M.]

No car = Backpacking
RVing = I'd be embarrassed to be seen with such a big thing
Camping = dirt and trees (or sagebrush) - and fires and starry nights and...
Car Camping - might be a Road Trip, or it might be... "Camping with Benefits"

[Pete Dumbleton]

RVing = I'd be embarrassed to be seen with such a big thing

Florida officially classifies a Scamp 13' as an RV; pop-up tent trailers likewise.