Camping? RV'g? Traveling? What do you call it?

[MelissaD]

While reading other boards and some of our own experiences camping, it got me to wondering. Do you camp or how do term it? What I have now is a far cry from the pop up we had as kids. I've had people look at my rig and say "that's not camping" (normally from the pop up in the next site). Not really sure I want to "camp" any more. Mostly I think I like to travel and the "rig" allows me to take my stuff with me. A portable cottage if you will. I have developed a real dislike of hotels over the last 17 years driving truck and having woke up too many times in a cold or sweltering sleeper (anti-idle laws). I no long see the joy of "communing with nature" and I want more space than the 64 sq-ft of a truck cab. Been in all 48 contiguous states and have driven almost every mile of interstate from end to end (missing a couple of miles of I-15 and I-29 north of I-94 to the border). Can't seem to find the end of that little white line. First time my dad saw my 5'r he calculated it to be 336 sq-ft of something like that (yep, he's a retired engineer, programmer, not train) and remarked "it's not a camper, it has 2 bedrooms, with a bath and a 1/2. If its bigger and nicer than many apartments in NYC, it's not a camper."

While I enjoy a nice shoreline and view of a mountain, I enjoy my full hookups. I read of the extremes some boondockers take to "go natural" or "true camping" as some have termed it (solar panels, generators and battery banks to power a small city not to mention the games they play to extend their tank capacity) and I have to wonder is it really worth it. I'm all for "each to their own" and "whatever floats your boat" but is the name Mobile Suites really a more accurate description of what we do today?

It's just not a size or options thing don't get me wrong as I have seen some awesome 16-20" units and even some tear drops that are pretty wild. In a market of "if you can dream it, we can build it" are we still "camping"? Maybe with age comes a desire for comfort?

From what I've read, for many of you the RV seems to be a tool to allow you to travel and see the country in a certain level of comfort and a way to control costs in the process.. I believe more and more people are using RV's as a tool to travel and not to go camping.

What are your thoughts?

[OregonLuvr]

Well for me Camping is Camping. I have done it all from tents to my current RV. Everyone has their own level of comfort. I am older and wiser now (hee hee). I see some beautiful Motorhomes and 5ers pull in to a camp spot, set everything up and you never see them again. I could stay home and do that!!!

I like sitting outside, chatting it up with fellow RV'ers, smelling the smells, walking around. That is MY idea of camping. It isn't so much what you camp in as it is that you are doing it.

karen

[Redwahine]

I like the brand slogan and title of their monthly periodical for Tiffin Motorhomes , Inc., "Rouhing it Smoothly". That pretty well sums it up for me. I like being able to take my dog wherever I go and hate the airport and hotel style of traveling any more.

[havingfunnow]

I still like four star and better hotels, but my tolerance for cheap ones has really dwindled. I still like living in a tent in good weather, but my tolerance for pitching and striking tents in the rain is now extremely limited.

So . . . I don't really know what to call this! Not exactly camping, not exactly traveling . . . I guess I just call it "going somewhere" when I feel like heading out.

[retiredhappy]

Was never fond of the motel/hotel thing and expensive doesn't mean better - bedbugs are everywhere including the high priced hotels. I like having my very own bed, kitchen and stuff and my dogs with me.

[Nasoosie]

Well for me Camping is Camping. I have done it all from tents to my current RV. Everyone has their own level of comfort. I am older and wiser now (hee hee). I see some beautiful Motorhomes and 5ers pull in to a camp spot, set everything up and you never see them again. I could stay home and do that!!!

I like sitting outside, chatting it up with fellow RV'ers, smelling the smells, walking around. That is MY idea of camping. It isn't so much what you camp in as it is that you are doing it.

karen

I agree wholeheartedly, Karen----I, too, love sitting outside of whatever it is I have arrived in, and meeting people, smelling the fresh air, and walking around.

In fact, I think I am going to call my rig CAMPER now----it hasn't had a name since I got it, and I like Camper. I plan to go to bluegrass festivals this summer back at home, too, and that will be camping with fewer luxuries----generator and jugs of water for me. I will also use my porta potty and dump that in the outhouses, too. Back at my house, as I have no place to either dump or hook to a septic tank, I will also use my porta potty, although there I will have water, power, phone, and satellite TV. I would truly love to be able to hook to a septic system, but the way my house is situated, no can do. I have been very spoiled here at my son's this winter with everything up and running!

[JudyJB]

Good question. I call it traveling, and for me, this motorhome is a way to take my home with me and see the country, especially national and state parks, at the same time. I like having my own bed and bedroom, my own bathroom, and not having to pack suitcases! Not to mention my own kitchen with a fully-stocked refrigerator.

Last summer my son and wife and two little kids came with me "camping." My son was not worried about the kids keeping the place clean or neat because he said it was "just camping." I told him it was my home and while he was camping, I was living here, so it needed to be kept clean!! When we got back to his house, he helped me clean the place, scrubbing floors and carpeting, and even the brand new outdoor chairs he had gotten black handprints on from charcoal.

I am more of an indoor person than a lot of people on this forum and while I travel to see the sights, I also like the luxuries. I also work half-time while I am on the road, so I spend a lot of time online and indoor working. (Guess I am one of those strange people who sets up and then disappears indoors, but it certainly pays my bills! Just spent over an hour live online with students, and will spend two hours live online with them tomorrow, plus hours every evening grading stuff.)

I do get out and sightsee and walk and ride my bike, but I cannot imagine myself roughing it in a tent. Did that once a long time ago, but no more. Like my comfy recliner and bed!

[Liz]

I call it traveling too, and as Judy said, appreciate having everything I need with me. But I don't necessarily need to be hooked up to elec./water/sewer all the time. I prefer the National Park, NationalForest, and state parks for the quiet, the nature, the hiking, the water, the scenery, the wildlife, etc. I do not enjoy many private cgs that are little more than parking lots with full hook-ups.

[MelissaD]

Thanks for all the responses. I agree I like having my stuff with me and they can keep their bed bugs to themselves. Part of my question came from a discussion that those who used "resorts" were not camping. Their opinion not mine. Part of it might be the part of the country you are from as the open lands out west are more accessible for boondocking due to large tracks of government owned lands. In areas like the north east where land tends to be expensive, a owner needs to get as many sites as possible in to turn a profit. People have different wants and desires and I guess there is a option for just about everyone.

I think camping as more to do with being outside and spending time with others than what you sleep in. The camp fire, like the dinner table, allows families time to spend with each other and cuts out many of the distractions. I also enjoy going for a walk and visiting with others. I never really understood why you would go through the time and expense of the camper just to sit inside all weekend and watch TV. My partner Melony spends time in the camper but its due to repository issues. The camper allows us a way to travel, be away from home and not make her sick. It also allows community for the" little one" to get out and play with other children in a safe and controlled environment.

I guess I need to get out and check out some state parks. I used them when I was a kid. While can live without full hookups for a day or two (3 days and I need to dump tanks), I do need power for ventilation to take care of Melony.

So here's too "Roughing it Smoothly".

[JudyJB]

I much prefer state and national parks to private campgrounds, and traveling by myself means I have to dump tanks only every 3-4 days, so all I really care about is electric, and can do without that if the location is terrific--like the north rim of the Grand Canyon.

I think another difference is that those of us who full-time are not on "vacation" exactly because we have lots of time to waste, so spending some inside is what we would be doing during the week if we WERE on vacation. If I spend more than a week somewhere scenic, I will want to get out and see things, but I don't have to do it every day. For me, it means a slower pace of life and more time to see the sights and to just take life easy.

[Sandersmr]

Most of the time I am camping - going to state or COE parks, spending most of the time outside, cooking outside - using the trailer for sleeping, the bathroom and when it's raining. But we have also done traveling, using the trailer as a mobile motel. That was the trip in December to AZ and the trips to Atlanta (even though one of the trips, once I got there, we did go camping).

And having had parents who had a pick-up camper when I was little, to me that's a camper. I have a trailer.

[Bethers]

I consider myself traveling or rving ... Mainly because camping to me was a tent on the ground and I HATED it. I love what I do now with all the conveniences (even as I love boondocking, it's still got all my conveniences!) - and still would hate what my old way of thinking has camping. That said, I don't care what we all call it as long as I can continue doing it for years and years to come.

[havingfunnow]

I don't really worry about bedbugs; they're far more unusual in hotels than the media would make you think. In a hotel, I appreciate constant hot water with good water pressure, reliable temperature control in the room, good security, fast internet, and lots of electrical outlets. (Honestly, when I see some of the outlet adapter/extension cord setups in cheap motels, I wonder if the fire marshal ever inspects the place.) Oh, and waitstaff. I have lots of fun in major cities, but they are exhausting! Good waitstaff makes a huge difference. I never cared about any of that when I was younger, but I like my comforts now.

In the van, I look for beauty, serenity, and privacy. I can happily manage for a week or two without municipal services. A tent would be fine for that, but it's a lot easier to just park the van in the rain! Yes, I like my comforts now.

Beth is right -- I don't care what I call it as long as I can keep on doing it!

[mtngal]

Sometimes I travel, sometimes I camp, sometimes I gtg at an RV 'resort',
sometimes I ride a horse in the wilderness and sleep on the ground,
sometimes I stay in a motel. Mostly I call myself very, very lucky!

[Joan]

Sometimes I travel, sometimes I camp, sometimes I gtg at an RV 'resort',
sometimes I ride a horse in the wilderness and sleep on the ground,
sometimes I stay in a motel. Mostly I call myself very, very lucky!

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