"Camping" vs. "Traveling"

[Timber Wolf]

I thought about this topic the other day while pondering a pending trip, that we are now on. My daughter (13) and I are taking a little just-before-back-to-school trip. We are in the Scamp, and staying at a couple of State Park Campgrounds and a KOA, but I would not really call it "camping". More like traveling and using the Scamp as a mobile (less expensive) motel.

Last night we went into the local town for "Wacky Wednesday" Bowling. Later this morning we might rent a paddle boat here in the State Park and paddle around the lake. Tonight we plan on going back into town to see "The Secret Life of Pets" at the "Rockin 8" theater. In between we will hang out at the trailer and maybe scorch a hot dog over a fire, but that is about it for "roughing it".

After school starts we will go back to boondocking (camping) in the forest this Fall, Winter, and Spring when it is cooler. But for now we are "traveling", and dragging the Scamp along. I will say, the money saved staying in the Scamp vs. a motel mostly pays for the other activities. Wacky Wednesday bowling was pretty cheap.

[Jim Bennett]

It's all camping with a different purpose, whether for exploration of the continent, or relaxing off grid. Some folks would only do one or the other, I prefer to do both styles for different reasons, kinda like you do Tim.

[Roy in TO]

It all depends on ones point of view. Those in the monster motor homes with A/C, running water and generators may be thinking you are "roughing it".

[Byron Kinnaman]

I think each person has their own definition of camping based on their experience.
I have an entirely different definition than most people here. I just haven't figured out what to call staying in a trailer or RV in a campground. Oh, I guess I should mention my definition of camping. We'll start with where, the closest road is over 1 mile away. Your nearest neighbor is at least 200 yards away, preferably farther. All camping gear, water, and food are carried on your back. No trace camping is the norm, meaning that if somebody comes by the next they'll not see any sign that camped there. Of course there's no telephone, television, or internet. No electric lights except for small flashlight.
Now if we could just come up with a good name for staying in our small trailers.

[Darral T.]

Personally, we call it "camping" whether you are in a full-service campground, Walmart parking lot, COE, or "primitive" beside a creek/lake somewhere off the grid.

They still call them "Campgrounds", still call RV's "campers", and we still say we are going "camping". If I'm staying in a hotel, it's a hotel. I never consider my Scamp a traveling "hotel"...it's a camper/RV/travel trailer....

So it's all in the interpretation. Interesting topic though and bound to draw 2 million DIFFERENT opinions.

[Bobbie Mayer]

I've used the trailer for camping, and as a spare bedroom for visiting someone. I'm not that fond of it for traveling for a couple of reasons. It's slower. If the point is to get from A to B, the trailer slows the process down. And it encumbers getting around in cities. But this would depend on the kind of traveling. I can see using it to see an area, as a mobile base camp, or to camp outside friends' homes.

[Darral T.]

You must have been talking to my wife!! When we bought our Scamp, we took it everywhere and I nearly got burned out on the prep, the tension of towing on interstates through big cities..... on and on.

Finally, this year, we took a trip to Branson, MO via car. In June, we took the Scamp about 75 miles to Ala for a 3-4 day sit-n-do-nothing relaxation trip. We take the Natchez Trace- 50mph, hardly ANY traffic...and 2 redlights MAX. We can get there in no time so VERY little travel time and enjoy camping. If need be, we can be home in a couple of hours- shorter without the trailer.

So, basically, I'm agreeing 100% with you after 6+ years of ownership with my Scamp. "Full-timing" for me in the 13' is not even a REMOTE possibility with me or the wife. Good post.

Originally Posted by Bobbie Mayer

I've used the trailer for camping, and as a spare bedroom for visiting someone. I'm not that fond of it for traveling for a couple of reasons. It's slower. If the point is to get from A to B, the trailer slows the process down. And it encumbers getting around in cities. But this would depend on the kind of traveling. I can see using it to see an area, as a mobile base camp, or to camp outside friends' homes.

[Jon in AZ]

This conversation is relevant to a decision we're making. So far pretty much all our outings have been go-someplace-not-too-far, stay-in-one-place-and-relax, no-hook-ups, campfires-and-s'mores camping trips.

We are in the early stages of planning to meet my mother in Florida in January-February 2017. So our conversation has been about flying or driving, with or without the Scamp. We are figuring 3 days driving each way without the Scamp, 4 with. We're probably going to end up taking the trailer because Mom will be camping in her Class B, and we want to be able to camp alongside.

This is touring as opposed to destination camping. It's causing me to completely rethink how we will pack and use the trailer.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by Jon in AZ

This conversation is relevant to a decision we're making. So far pretty much all our outings have been go-someplace-not-too-far, stay-in-one-place-and-relax, no-hook-ups, campfires-and-s'mores camping trips.

We are in the early stages of planning to meet my mother in Florida in January-February 2017. So our conversation has been about flying or driving, with or without the Scamp. We are figuring 3 days driving each way without the Scamp, 4 with. We're probably going to end up taking the trailer because Mom will be camping in her Class B, and we want to be able to camp alongside.

Taking any kind of long trips, more than one night, I would prefer my trailer. I like sleeping in own bed.

This is touring as opposed to destination camping. It's causing me to completely rethink how we will pack and use the trailer.

Some thoughts on the difference between long distance touring and short term Scamping. When packing for trips lasting more 2 weeks, pack for two weeks, laundry mats will are used between 10 and 14 day. A trip to a grocery store will resupply for the next 14 days. Shorter trips pack for the number of days planned plus at some extra days. One our last short trip, was supposed to 4 days, but we extended it to a full week. We had packed for a week so it wasn't a problem.
Just my thoughts.

[Kai in Seattle]

"...completely rethink how we pack and use the trailer."

Agreed. So far each trip requires some rethinking and repacking. So far I haven't come up with a single standardized checklist, as each trip is somewhat different. Area, climate, pupose, length of stay, side trips, outings, etc. Some things don't change--many do. Many didn't work, many seem like they'd be better next time...so it's evolving.



Some people call it "trailering." I, too, have a hard time calling it "camping" when we see those 65-foot motor homes with washers and dryers in them. Or like Rutger Hauer's huge semi-truck/trailer totally equipped for months-long stays at movie-making sites.

But as for the 1-mile to nearest road, no-trace walk-in camping, we've never done it. As for full-timing, we'll never do it. The most we may do is a 2 month loop trip to some US "wonders" like the Saguaro Desert, the cliff dwellings, Quartzite, the mesas, possibly points east of the western half-- and whatnot...but we have our two dogs and I can't go forever without my cabinet sewing machine. Our 16' amerigo has two "twin" beds (slightly smaller than twin) and that cannot change for us, so there is absolutely nowhere to put the big cabinet, let alone the supplies. Plus I get so terribly homesick, I'm in doubt I'd make two months.

Though the trailer IS a kind of little home for me and thus much better than motels, so who knows?

Right now we're still doing shake-down cruises. We went over 1000 miles to the Casita Gathering in Bandon, Oregon (southern coast) and came home with a to-do list we're still working, same as our first "camping" trip to a local National Forest.

I guess, maybe, to me, if you have a campfire next to where you sleep--on the ground or in your A/C + generator equipped RV--it's camping.

[steve dunham]

Everyone can define camping as they see fit.
For me camping is sleeping in a tent with no utilities , spending all day outdoors ,cooking outdoors on an open fire and braving the elements.
Being in a trailer even a FG trailer with lights , refrigerator , A/C
, bed ,furnace , running water etc does not fit the spirit of Camping in my book.
That being said , age has crept up on me and sleeping on the ground and cooking in the rain has lost some of its charm

[Nancy from MI]

I call it making memories. Our kids will never forget tenting, hiking, midnight trips to the camp ground bathroom or outhouse, awed by a sky full of stars, HOT sand at the beach, struggling to get a pop up camper to, well, pop up! So many good family chats around the campfire, laughing, bug attacks...you get the idea!

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by Nancy from MI

I call it making memories. Our kids will never forget tenting, hiking, midnight trips to the camp ground bathroom or outhouse, awed by a sky full of stars, HOT sand at the beach, struggling to get a pop up camper to, well, pop up! So many good family chats around the campfire, laughing, bug attacks...you get the idea!

Making memories is a lot of what it's about. We also learned the biggest memories are of the things we see and wildlife we watch along the way. The vistas, the meadows we walked across, the lakes we walked around just to move to the next. Our kids enjoyed everything and everything. Some 35 years later they're still backpacking, while mom and dad have had to change their ways a bit. But still have the fun or more is the travel.

[Borden]

We normally have no water or electronic hookups, have what we take in closest person at least a city block away. We call it camping but key tags say 17' cottage ☺

[BBQdave]

Originally Posted by steve dunham

...That being said , age has crept up on me and sleeping on the ground and cooking in the rain has lost some of its charm

That thought made me smile. This past May, group tent camping, a hurricane fueled down pours of rain, causing flash flooding. Three dry streams became instantly active in our camp site.

We took on the rain challenge

Luckily little wind, so rain was straight down. Most of the group stayed under large tarp awnings and the tents managed to stay dry on the inside. We had a good (large) fire going, and it was fun to keep it going through the rain.

Had smoking joe portable Weber going, managed to grill hotdogs for everyone (under a tarp) that's a grilling first for me.

We focused on the fire, and laughed as we kept it going. Fun at the time, and these yearly group tent camps are fun - but once a year is enough.

It's becoming a challenge of endurance (for dad) and fun for the kids. Looking forward to FG trailer camping, and amenities

[starbrightsteve]

The last time my wife and I were camping, we had just spent the week in Glacier NP. It rained off and on all week and was in the 40's. We were packing up to leave on June 16 and as we folded up our wet tent it started to sleet along with the rain. My wife looked at me and said "we need a travel trailer, I don't want to do this in a tent anymore". I loved that tent! It was dry, roomy and as ventilated as you choose. We had a 6" air mattress , so comfy! But we spent the next day trying to dry the tent so it wouldn't mold. Later that summer we bought out first Casita, a 13'er.

[Kai in Seattle]

Little house on the highway...

Our amerigo has no running water, no sink or drain, only a basic porta-potty, no stove, no oven, no fridge but only an ice chest. OK, it does have a little ceramic heater and a microwave, and it does have interior lights.

For the purists out there, hey, I think even a flashlight is cheating--even a kerosene lantern is just wrong! You gotta take a torch, man!




Someone at the last gathering called ours a hard-sided tent...so there's that.

Agreed, personal definitions of camping vary considerably.

For us, too, it's the vistas, the waters, the air, the stars, the creatures, our dogs' reactions to new places to piddle and to our campfires...

It's the bugs, the insomnia, the chills, the overheating, the dust, dirt, food not right, smoke, sand in the beds, sunburns, bug bites, boredom, chores, tasks, and misery.

It's the friendly people we meet, the sights, smells, and wonders of the natural world. It's the no TV, no phone, no radio, no newspapers, no internet, just books and card games and walking and breathing deeply.

It's the relaxation, the stress, the memories, the cleaning up, the caretaking of the outdoors and the rig...the long drives, the short drives, the cooperation of setting up and taking down camp, it's the planning, the shopping, cooking different foods in different ways, being more deliberate--living, for a while, very deliberately and basically...

It's all of it.

[k corbin]

A rose by any other name....
Why think about other people's limits, expectations and rules of definition on what camping is and what it isn't? Call it whatever you want to but just get out there and do it

[Kai in Seattle]

Originally Posted by k corbin

A rose by any other name....
Why think about other people's limits, expectations and rules of definition on what camping is and what it isn't? Call it whatever you want to but just get out there and do it

One of the primary joys of this forum is finding out other people's thoughts and ideas and limits, definitions and expectations, including yours.
.

Getting out there and doing it is one of the primary joys of camping/travelling/touring/trailering/tenting.


BEST

[Darral T.]

Cuz sometimes, I think some of us just think it's PLAIN fun to bicker about something...this is a good one.

Originally Posted by k corbin

A rose by any other name....
Why think about other people's limits, expectations and rules of definition on what camping is and what it isn't? Call it whatever you want to but just get out there and do it