Reply #2: I camp frequently [View All]

[YankeyMCC]

I like to rough it so to speak, a tent, a sleeping bag, minimal gear - set up somewhere and go hiking and exploring around the area. What's best about this is you get the full benefit of being away from the rest of the world and a full recharge so to speak - at least for me. And you get a better connection to the place you're visiting.

I do at least two of those kinds of trips a year with my son.

My wife isn't much into that but we go camping at least once a year, usually twice with her. We go for one or two weeks for a family campground where we still camp in a tent, but the site also has a small permanent structure with a bathroom and a kitchenette kind of thing under a roof (no walls, just a few shelves a stove top and a picknick table) there's also power outlets and water. Also on these trips we sleep on air mattresses and bring a wider variety of groceries (we actually go to a nearby town on the first night to go shopping for the week).

Sometimes we go to other places using the tent and air mattress etc...but have to use a shared bathroom facility - that's about as much roughing it as my wife will tolerate.

The family camping is fun too, you still get a way but there still some of the comforts of the rest of the world at hand and my son and I can still usually get out in the wilds which are nearby. The other benefit is that if you pick a good campground there may be other activities on the ground or nearby - for example we often went to Storyland (an amusement park in NH) during the family camping trips.

One down side of the family style trips is that often you get the RV's with their TVs and loud A/C and other machinery close to you. I don't like that at all.

When I was a kid we had a Pop-up trailer. I think those are a nice option for the family style trips because it gets you off the ground more but still feels like tenting.

If you have a good tent that allows for good ventilation and is well waterproofed you should have little trouble keeping comfortable. The best part of camping is getting out there and experiencing as close a connection to the land as you can and meeting like minding people doing the same thing. So do whatever you must to keep in reasonable comfort but keep these thoughts in mind:

- Try to be more flexible and tolerant of superficial discomfort - so what if you spend a couple of hot nights think of the pay off in quietness and the ability to get closer to the more secuded areas (the less power you need the deeper you can go into the wilderness)
- Be considerate to other people who might be looking for a more rugged experience than you but somehow ended up in the same campground.
- Remember that the less you need/take the more flexibility you'll have.
- And just to stress the point, try pushing your limits of comfort for the pay off in return for a richer experience.

Most important get out and enjoy the environment as best you can.

Oh and always - always - be aware of the place your a visiting, some will have pack-in/pack-out rules (take all your trash out) or "leave no trace" rules (take all your trash, don't trample wildlife etc...) these rules are taken seriously for good reason. Even if you're visiting a place that doesn't have these rules, or you're unsure, the best rule of thumb is to conduct your visit adhering as close to these rules as possible.