Is camping Fun Anymore

jarata1 wrote:
Being a full timer for the last couple years I notice a change in camping styles.It seems now when you go to campgrounds mostly state but some private,you can count on about 8-10 people camping on the side of you.I like to go camping camping to relax not to listen to parties.
Maybe Im destined to boondock or forget about this style of life.
Anyone else feel this way.

Best to avoid popular tourist spots on weekends and holidays.
Go in Sunday evening, leave on Thursday. Stay off-grid for the weekend.

For boondocking I think you and I are living on the wrong side of the Mississippi River.

Best to avoid popular tourist spots on weekends and holidays.
Go in Sunday evening, leave on Thursday. Stay off-grid for the weekend.

X2. Everyone camps for a different reason.
However we don't camp much anymore.....just use the trailer on one or two trips a year now . The grand kids and now great grand kids like to come out on our 40 acres so I set the trailer up and hook the water/electric/sewer up.
We started camping in the late '50s about the time we married, just to get away from it all/enjoy nature and fish. Were both knocking on 80 years old so we burned out some years back. The last time we made a 3500 mile 3 week trip (2009 most campgrounds resembled dog kennels.

Back in my day, we camped quiet like. Didn't never make a peep after 7pm. Any of those whipper snappers making too much noise would be taken out back behind the woodshed and given a good switch till they saw things right...We also pulled the camper by hand, uphill both ways...

....Sorry I was channeling my crotchety old man persona for a minute.

None of this is new. Possibly you are seeing different types of campgrounds and during different time periods as a full timer. Also, as a full timer, a holiday weekend is just another day...other than it's busy and noisy. Back when you were part of the weekend crowd, everything was new and different.

I know as a kid 40yr ago rangers going around telling people to quiet it down.

"Maybe Im destined to boondock'

That's mostly all I do.

This is why we don't do a lot of weekend only camping within a few hours from home, even though we are the "weekend warrior" types (ie we still work full time). Instead we save up our vacation time to do a few longer trips so we can get further away from population centers. No, it doesn't solve the issue completely, but the further away you are from bigger cities, the less likely you are to encounter the party types. We also are well-equipped to boondock. Yes, you can find partiers there too, but at least while boondocking, you don't have to worry about reservations and can get up and move camp if needed.

You might try to remember what you did when you were young---I will be 80 next year and loss of hearing helps, take out the hearing aids! Then to most of my camping has been at the drag races and if you, like me, can sleep through that mess the noise at the camp grounds isn't much. Stop acting old LOL.

Got me to thinking back to the old days when we and another family or two would use our boats to get to the other side of the lake to tent camp. Invariably there were others camped nearby with the same idea who insisted on partying way into the night. Apparently it's more than just an RV issue, it's a disrespectful people issue.

Been camping my entire life and at 60 the wife and I still enjoy camping.

Our 2 adult daughters still join us quite often but no men allowed to stay in RV. Lol

This year in particular has not been all that memorable due to the hords of people but often go in middle of the week.

If we stay healthy we'll continue camping.

A nice state park is about as commercial and dense as we like to get unless we're doing a non-camping vacation but just using the camper as our hotel. Forest Service campgrounds are usually pretty spread out especially the more remote ones, and the remote ones tend to be pretty empty too. Primitive in a nice area is generally our favorite. Your only neighbors are the ones you bring with you, no worries about the kids being too loud or doing a little target shooting or whatever, collecting firewood in large volumes is usually easier, etc.