Etiquette in Camping

Turtle n Peeps wrote:
Ok, I'll be odd man out...........sort of. ;)

Let me say this first. In 50 years of camping I don't think I've ever cut though anybody's camp site.

That being said, life is WaaaaaaaaaaaaaaY too short for "me" to worry about someone walking through my campsite. You see, my daughter died, my brother died, both of my parents are dead and several of my best friends are dead and a big old list of classmates are dead.

I only get 2 weeks vacation a year if I can afford to go at all, and I'll be damned if I'm going to let someone upset me for even a second for walking though my campsite. It's just not going to happen. I just refuse to get upset about someone walking through my campsite. Why get upset and give someone that much power?


I saw this just today on my feed and I think it fits perfectly for this thread:

You have $86,400 in you account and someone stole $10 from you, would you be upset and throw all of the $86,390 away in hopes of getting back at the person that took your $10? Or move on and live? Right; move on and live. See we have 86,400 seconds in every day so don't let someone's negative 10 seconds ruin the rest of the 86,390. Don't sweat the small stuff, life is bigger than that.

Life is short; don't let someone upset you and make it shorter. :)

Amen.

I never cut through campsites, but I am always surprised at how many people get upset about it, as I have generally found campers to be fairly laid-back folks.

Our favorite campsite is at the end of an old fire trail (not a marked trail on any trail map), and people often get lost and walk up into our campsite.

What should I do? Tell them they are being jerks by "not respecting the boundaries of my site?"

Of course not.

I chat them up, offer them a beer and a seat around the fire.

I'm even OK with those who knowingly cut through our site to get to the fire trail that eventually connects up with a marked trail.

I go camping to relax and have fun, not get worked up. Look, I'm not home, I'm not at work, and I'm out in nature. Why would would I get upset over something as minor as someone walking through my spot?

For those of you who will come with the "but you're not a full-timer" argument, I was a part-timer once. My wife was sent to training (military) and we took the trailer and our toddler with her. He and I stayed in the rig at a commercial campground while she was at work. Even then, when we were living at that campground, I didn't care if people walked through my site.

Life is way too short and this hobby is supposed to be fun.