How did you get into Rving or camping?

Funny, growing up I do not remember ever going camping with my family. Never.
Same with my wife. Never. However, after we got married we started camping.
First a tent then a truck camper, then a 5th whell. How and why we got into camping I will never know. Now while our family was growing up we camped, but none of our 3 kids, who are all married now, do not camp. Weird is it not ??

The first time my then girlfriend and I went camping together, we camped on the Root River in southern Minnesota. We canoed and stayed on Saturday night. When the 3 ladies went to bed, my friend and I stayed up with the fire and a few cocktails. I finally have enough of both and head to bed, only to find the tent, LOCKED. Yes, locked and yes, a tent :-)

I stated laughing and hooting and hollering ... Good times!

Then, 10 years and 4 kids later, we were going on another camping trip with a few families...we had a tent and used it a few times with the kids and it was fun... Always nice weather. So we were coming up on the trip and a neighbor offered his pop-up. We said no several times but he insisted.... We took it and the first night IT POURED rain. Raining like it rarely rains. We were laying in the bunk end, totally dry, listening to the one family's Mom screaming,"there is a river running down the middle of our tent"!!! She threw everything in their van and grabbed the kids and home she went. My offer of sleeping under our awning was not accepted :-)

I was thinking to myself that RVs were AWESOME. I had been stuck in many rain storms in a tent in my life and was thrilled that we were off the round, dry, and cuddling. It was an awesome feeling and to this day I love being in the motor home in the rain.

It's all better now after 20 years, she drives the motor home and knows how to do all the dirty work. We are on our second RV and she still locks the door in the boonies!

Growing up my best friend and I would build RV's out of Logos and dream about the day we would actually own one. We also visited the local camping store a lot. That dream turned into reality for both of us. He purchased his first one twenty years ago a VW conversion and has moved up through the years. We purchased our first one last year, a 40' fifth wbeel, took 12 years to convince the wife who now says I wished we would have done this 12 years ago. We are making as many memories as we can with kids and camping as they are both teenagers and will be starting their own lives soon hopefully camping with their families next to us.

I did not grow up camping. My husband did. After we got married, we tent camped a few times and we both enjoy the outdoors. A couple of years ago I had a bit of a health scare that made us realize life is too short to not do things that you enjoy so we bought a camper and are fortunate to live pretty close to lots of campgrounds. We do a lot of week-end and extended week-end camping.

We never went camping as a family growing up. My little brother & I went camping with the churches Royal Ranger's scouting group. We usually had two camping trips a year, one big regional Pow Wow with other Ranger groups, the other one would be just out local group. Those were the best memories of growing up, man... pancakes & sausage never tasted better!

I got a pup tent for my 12th birthday, so we'd camp out in my yard or my friend's yard. In the middle of the night we'd wander the neighborhood streets, it was like a whole different world in the wee hours.

I bought a 12' micro TT when I was 20, I used it for a few years on a friends land up state NY. I brought it home years later, used it for storage, mice ruined it and I scraped it.

A few years after that I bought a 24' TT to use as an office trailer / storage while building new homes. Once while it was sitting at home between projects I decided to take it to a local c/g to try camping in it, our kids were just the right ages where we could all enjoy it, and we did. After that, we were hooked.

Now with a bigger 36'er, we have all the comforts of home without all the distractions. A great way to have true family time.

I'm sure that I ensured that my "some day" grand kids will be camping & boating because mine are now & love it all. Camping sure is nice legacy to pass on to the next generation.

My wife never camped before, she has done the tent one time on our old pontoon boat, she's a good sport and will endure anything for the family. She loves the TT & now the cabin Cruiser (boat), she needs the flush toilets & warm showers, etc... Happy wife, happy life :)

My folks were always " boat campers "
Piled the camping gear in the boat and slept in a tent .
In the 1950's and 1960's wew would always " limit out " over a weekend of salmon fishing .
My dad let me tow / use his boat from my 16th birthday .
I bought my first boat in 1972 and a brand new suburban with a 402 in it .
We have been campers as a family all of our lives .
We meet our lifelong friends at an annual campout because we have scattered all over Oregon since grade school .
We are all still boat campers .
The trailer was a nice luxury .

I married into a camping family and caught the bug. The last few years camping is how we've been able to go on a vacation. We've borrowed my fil's camper the last few years,but have decided that this spring we're going to buy our own. If you had told me 7 years ago that camping was my idea of a good vacation I'd have laughed, but now I can't wait till we get our own travel trailer.

Dad would put a tent up in the back yard when I was a kid, my brother and I would spend every nite in it in the summers. Sometimes, we would go on an overnite fishing trip and sleep in the back of the station wagon. In my 20's, my wife and I got a tent, spent a lot of weekends at the Ohio Power cg in Ohio, and every year a week at Shenandoah NP. Love of camping lasted, but marriage didn't. Years later, introduced new wife to my two loves- motorcycles and camping. Took motorcycle and tent to Shenandoah NP in a trailer behind my Camaro, but some years just took motorcycle and stayed in cabin. Then 5 years ago, at age 59, lost the Harley and became somewhat disabled in an accident. First TT was wife's idea as therapy for me and to see if I could handle camping. That led to a larger TT that is parked at a local CG. Now retired, I bought a class c MH this year, love it, and we are just waiting for my wife to be able to retire to more traveling with it.

We started camping because we wanted our kids outside, discovering and appreciating creation. All 12 of them.

RVing - never intentional. We sold our house, and didn't find land right away - decided to take the kids south for the winter in our 30' bunkhouse tt. Hit the W coast first, and in a family pow-wow, after about 2 weeks on the road, the kids asked if we had to build another house. That was over 4 years ago. Upgraded to a toyhauler, built custom bunks in it, and never looked back! :D

Back in the 70's we had a boat and loved to go the Colorada River. We couldn't afford to stay in a motel every time so we bought a Van to pull the boat and camp in, (better than sleeping on the ground). We eventualy got a motorhome and so on through the years and here we are today with a fifth wheel.