What is camping? Is it something only done with a tent, no electricity and few comforts? Are you camping if you sleep in the comfort of a climate-controlled travel trailer or is that RVing? How do you define what camping is?
For myself, I think of camping as more of a primitive experience. One sets up a tent to sleep in, on the ground with a thin foam pad or air mattress. Food and beverages are kept in a cooler packed with ice. Meals are prepared over a campfire or on a camp stove. You don’t watch movies on a 42-inch TV but instead watch the flickering flames of a campfire. If you took a hot shower in the morning, it was done in the campground’s bath house.
Perhaps my definition of camping comes from memories growing up. I remember when my father bought a camping lot in a recreational community many years ago. My family would sleep on folding lounge chairs set up in a screen tent. Dad would fix breakfast on his Coleman propane camp stove. We didn’t have the comforts of home; we were camping. We were clearing the camping lot and making improvements.
Not long after the camping lot was cleared of brush and such, a concrete pad was poured. A pole was set in place with electricity and a 30-amp outlet for connecting an RV. My father purchased a used Coachmen travel trailer and parked it on the concrete pad. Now our family would have a 24-foot box to sleep in complete with air conditioning, kitchen, refrigerator, and a bathroom. We would have all the comforts of home and wouldn’t have to experience the primitive camping conditions anymore.
I seem to recall more memories of sleeping in the tent than I do the travel trailer. What about you, how do you define camping?