These posts are great!
The DW and I have camped as long as we've known each other. In fact, we took our honeymoon (part of which was, um, technically before we got married) tent camping across the U.S. in an S&H GreenStamp rubber-coated canvas tent. Saw all of the greatest National Parks. Then backpacking in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
Our first RV was a homemade conversion of a VW bus, with a fold-up card table for eating and a Coleman cooler stood on its end for a fridge (picture here:
http://skiprd.com/?p=447). From there, we went to a Vanagon camper, back to tent camping, to a popup camper, to a 21-foot trailer, to a 27-foot trailer, to our present motor home. And the DW has loved every single moment of 43 years of doing this.
If anyone doubts the virtue of family camping, I offer this. When my older son was about to be deployed to Irag, I asked him what he'd like to do. We'd go any place, do any thing, money no object. What he said was, "Dad ... I'd really like to go camping with the family." Really. Now, both sons have purchased their own popup campers and are starting their families on exactly the same lifestyle they had growing up.
And I agree with the advice on making the camping experience as hassle-free as possible for the DW. Camping has all of the duties associated with home living, plus more. Taking some of the load, including the ordinary burdens, off the DW makes it special for her as well. And you know what they say: "Happy wife, happy life..."
