Sell your car, and replace it!

[68_427]

I'd rent a cabin for a little while though.  Hit the river, grill every night...if only I had friends to do this shit with....

This is what our trips consist of.  We travel with about 6 other families.  (No rivers though, just lakes)

[SVT666]

Tent = camping
Tent Trailer = camping
Travel Trailer = Not camping


My wife refuses to go camping anymore.  The only time I ever get to is when I go with my dad.

[68_427]

Tent Trailer = camping
Travel Trailer = Not camping

Does not compute.  Many "Tent Campers" (or pop-ups, as manu 'murcans call them) even come with stove/oven, sink, fridge/freezer, and even bathrooms now.

[SVT666]

Does not compute.  Many "Tent Campers" (or pop-ups, as manu 'murcans call them) even come with stove/oven, sink, fridge/freezer, and even bathrooms now.

Tent trailers are basically tents on wheels with a tiny fridge (the size of most coolers), a small stove (about the size of my Coleman), and I have yet to see a tent trailer with a toilet.  DOesn't sound much different then my tenting setup...except that it's on wheels and has a hard roof and floor.

[68_427]

Are we talking about the same thing?

[SVT666]

Are we talking about the same thing?

That's a pretty extreme example. That even has air conditioning.  Wow.

[68_427]

That's a pretty extreme example. That even has air conditioning.  Wow.

My parents bought one in 1992 that had A/C.  lmao.  Like I said, camping as evolved just like everything else.

[TBR]

To me, camping always included a tent.   Sleeping in the woods amongst the animals and bugs and parasites and muck and disgusting heat.  I'd rent a cabin for a little while though.  Hit the river, grill every night...if only I had friends to do this shit with....

Both the tent and the cabin sound pretty great.

Diesels have come a long way since the GM 6.5l. I personally would pony up for a more recent diesel or a Cummins, but that's just me. The 6.5l is definitely proven though.

[TBR]

Personally, this isn't my idea of fun:

(an extreme example I admit)

I'd much prefer this:

(yes, that is actually me in all my studdliness)


But each to his own.

[Cookie Monster]

I want to go backpacking but I don't think I am physically fit to do it. Neither are any of my friends.

[68_427]

Personally, this isn't my idea of fun:

(an extreme example I admit)

Once you hit 70....   

[TBR]

I want to go backpacking but I don't think I am physically fit to do it. Neither are any of my friends.

I am not exactly the hulk, but I manage to do pretty well. As long as you're going with people at your same experience/fitness level; it won't be much of an issue.

[Raza]

I am not exactly the hulk, but I manage to do pretty well. As long as you're going with people at your same experience/fitness level; it won't be much of an issue.

Yeah, as long as you don't make a competition out of it, you can probably just rest frequently and drink loads of water. 

[Raza]

Both the tent and the cabin sound pretty great.

Diesels have come a long way since the GM 6.5l. I personally would pony up for a more recent diesel or a Cummins, but that's just me. The 6.5l is definitely proven though.

I'm going to do the cabin thing next year, you know, if I make friends and buy that kayak I've been talking about for ages.  I have the money now, it's not a problem.  Maybe I'll find some time this August to rent and hit some water.

[68_427]

I'm going to do the cabin thing next year, you know, if I make friends and buy that kayak I've been talking about for ages.  I have the money now, it's not a problem.  Maybe I'll find some time this August to rent and hit some water.

Go to the Adirondacks if you have the time.  It's awesome for that stuff.  I'll be going with a friend to a cottage in the Adirondacks that's located on a small creek in between two lakes.  We Kayaked the lakes too.

[Cookie Monster]

I am not exactly the hulk, but I manage to do pretty well. As long as you're going with people at your same experience/fitness level; it won't be much of an issue.

Yeah, I should ask my friends if they'd like to go one day. Equipment is $$$ though.

[68_427]

Yeah, I should ask my friends if they'd like to go one day. Equipment is $$$ though.

I'm sure you can rent for a weekend.

[ChrisV]

To me, it seems like you're taking your family room with you, putting it in a field, and then watching TV there. Why not just get a hotel that's much cheaper? You get the same comfort at a fraction of the cost and hassle. You're not really camping.

Plus a lot of campsites, at least the ones I've been to, won't let you park something that massive at the grounds. You get enough room for 2-3 tents at most.

Typical kid with no family response.



Look in that doorway. See the beagle? Also have a Sheltie. Ever try getting a good hotel room with a couple dogs? Ever try to make hotel reservations sequentially across the country, with a family and dogs? And are there hotels everyplace I might want to go?

Like I sad, I've been camping in tents. If I want to, I can head out with the scout troop for more of that. I LIKE being out in the woods, but still having a bathroom and clean shower that you don't have to go traipsing though poison ivy in the rain to get to.

I have timeshares. I have RVs. I've used hotels. And I've done tenting. Really, of all of them, this is the most convenient and best way of traveling for the family.

[Laconian]

I'm all for having a comfortable place to sleep, but in my opinion, camping is about being outside as much as possible until you have to sleep. Having a fireplace, a television, a minibar, a lap pool, etc. - that just incentivizes you to spend more awake time inside and less time outside.

[TBR]

Yeah, I should ask my friends if they'd like to go one day. Equipment is $$$ though.

A lot of colleges rent out backpacking equipment for reasonable rates. Check your school's fitness and recreation center.

[Raza]

I'm all for having a comfortable place to sleep, but in my opinion, camping is about being outside as much as possible until you have to sleep. Having a fireplace, a television, a minibar, a lap pool, etc. - that just incentivizes you to spend more awake time inside and less time outside.

See, for me, a vacation is about a fireplace, television, minibar, lap pool, lap dances, etc.  The last thing I want to do is wipe my ass with a leaf.  Don't have dogs, don't have a family.  For me, a vacation is about getting away from all that and living in fleeting opulence. 

[sportyaccordy]

See, for me, a vacation is about a fireplace, television, minibar, lap pool, lap dances, etc.  The last thing I want to do is wipe my ass with a leaf.  Don't have dogs, don't have a family.  For me, a vacation is about getting away from all that and living in fleeting opulence. 

I agree wholeheartedly

Nothing like chilling out on a beach, then heading back to the resort or cruise ship to grub on some pre-purchased food. I can kind of see the value in wanting to get away from it all but on the whole it's not for me. Just getting away from the city and computers and all that shit is enough.

[hotrodalex]

Equipment is $$$ though.

I spent over $400 in equipment alone for my canoe trip.

[J86]

I "camped" this last weekend out on the Cape.  Pitched a tent in the backyard of a very nice home

[BimmerM3]

I strongly approve. Perhaps a view of the pool, if I'm feeling outdoorsy.

To me, camping always included a tent.   Sleeping in the woods amongst the animals and bugs and parasites and muck and disgusting heat.  I'd rent a cabin for a little while though.  Hit the river, grill every night...if only I had friends to do this shit with....

+1. Camping = tent or shelter at the very most.

And when I say shelter, I mean something like this:





NOTE: I'm not dissing RVing or caravaning. I would love to do an RV road trip one of these days. I just don't consider it camping.

[BimmerM3]

I want to go backpacking but I don't think I am physically fit to do it. Neither are any of my friends.

You run every day and ride your bike all the time. You'd be perfectly fine.

[ChrisV]

I'm all for having a comfortable place to sleep, but in my opinion, camping is about being outside as much as possible until you have to sleep. Having a fireplace, a television, a minibar, a lap pool, etc. - that just incentivizes you to spend more awake time inside and less time outside.

One, I've never said I was "camping." I've gone tenting, and even hiking with no tent and just a sleeping bag. But I don't have to prove I'm a caveman and sleep in the outdoors with the bugs, spiders, and bears, hoping to god some angry bear doesn't smell my food or poop and decide he needs to tear up the tent or sleeping bag in the middle of the night.

I like to head out and sit around the campfire, drink some beers with my wife and talk about the things we did or saw during the day and then go to bed in a comfortable bed with an enclosed bathroom where I'm not going to get poison ivy on my ass just to prove to some silly kid that I'm some misbegotten ideal of "manly." 

This last trip was simple one to travel to Cedar Point and play around on the roller coasters and in the water park, head back to the trailer at night and drink beer and cook up some brats and italian sausages, slep comfortaby and head out to do so again in the morning. I could travel at my leisure, the campsite cost considerably less than the hotel at the resort, and the puppies can go with us and not have to be kenneled.

I also take the RV to the track to spend less than hotel rooms, and on the west coast, I was also able to take the RV out onto the beach in places and stay out there.

I tend to think that some of you think that RVing means sitting in the RV 24/7. No more than tenting or being in a makeshift shelter does. And it's MUCH nicer if the trip you've planned for months and finally get to the campsite to have a good time, ends up being in the middle of a thunderstorm. Sorry, been in a thunderstorm in tent a few times. I didn't feel happily "connected to nature" from the experience.

And of course, as I said, I'll ALSO stay in hotels, or use a timeshare, or a bed and breakfast, or even go tenting if that's what I feel like. I'm simply not limited to one choice or the other.

[Laconian]

You might not be saying that, but 68_427 was making the argument that the modern practice of "camping" now includes this mobile hotel lobby:


And I didn't say anything about roughing it to prove one's "manliness". :P

[Rupert]

I want to go backpacking but I don't think I am physically fit to do it. Neither are any of my friends.

Ha, oh, yes you are!

[omicron]

I love this.