Friday Rant: Camping in a camper is still camping

In the summertime, HOTGI and I spend most weekends away, in our camper. Whether we’re in a campground or setting up on some land owned by a friend, we like to get away. We also have “hybrid” style camper that we love. We used to camp in a tent with all our food & drinks carefully arranged in coolers. In 2008 we bought a pop-up hardtop camper that we loved. It got a lot of use, and we decided a couple summers ago to upgrade to a hybrid. It suits our needs and since it doesn’t need to have the top raised to pack it (like the tent-trailer did) it’s really convenient to pack and clean, etc. It also has a fridge with separate freezer that is awesome when you pack things like steak and bacon mid-week that you want to stay frozen until you hitch up and leave.

So basically, we love our camper. The dog loves the camper. It has some creature comforts that I definitely appreciate (like a furnace to take the chill out of the air at night), and a bathroom. Last summer HOTGI upgraded our tow vehicle (and his daily driver) to a ¾ ton diesel pickup truck. We both love the truck! It’s proven itself useful time and again over the past year, and it tows the camper like a dream.

Our camper - Summer of 2011 (Photo taken by Cindy Homans-Creighton)

This morning I was lamenting that this weekend’s weather forecast is constant and heavy rain and what a  bummer it’ll be for camping. One of my coworkers said to me, “Why are you complaining? You have a camper! That isn’t even really camping.” Well EXCUSE the crap out of me. It IS camping thank-you-very-much!  Just because I’m not in a tent on the ground does not mean that my weekend is any less of an adventure. Of course I prefer when the sun is shining for a camping weekend since it means we are able to get out and go for walks, play with the dog, ride our bikes or just sit in the sun and enjoy a few beverages. The fact that it is supposed to rain this weekend is a drag, because we’d love to get out and explore! However it is nice that we have a place to sit inside and play cards or travel Scrabble while the weather outside is less than accommodating.

It REALLY grinds my gears when someone says that camping in a trailer/camper “isn’t really camping”. I wasn’t aware there was a set definition of camping that denotes you must be in a canvas shelter with an air mattress and a cooler for it to be valid. If we wanted to “rough it” we have the gear for that too, but if you have the conveniences, why not enjoy them? We work hard to enjoy our toys and getting away from home and (most) technology to spend time with friends or just each other is what it is really all about IMO. There are people out there with much bigger and more luxurious campers/trailers/pushers/motorhomes crammed full of creature comforts and conveniences but I guarantee they still enjoying going out, meeting new friends and having adventures away from home and still consider is camping. Because it is.

So if you find yourself talking to someone who is looking forward to getting away and spending the weekend in their camper, maybe just try and be happy for them.

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