How did you begin this hobby?

Similar story to many others. I grew up in Wisconsin, camping with my parents and brothers in a popup. Most of our family vacations were to Yellowstone, or Banff/Jasper, or the Black Hills, in addition to the local weekend trips. I remember as much about the camping as I do about the parks we visited. Specifically, I remember camping at Rafter J in the Black Hills, somewhere back around '78 or '79.

One set of grandparents had a little Wilderness travel trailer. The other had a series of motor homes.. a Winnebago, a Foretravel, and finally a Bluebird. Even as a kid, I was jealous of those. But we seemed to have just as much fun in our simple little popup.

Decades later, I live in Rapid City, SD. I've always wanted to pass the same kind of memories on to my two sons. So we bought a travel trailer. Now I get to take them to the same places, and with Rafter J in the Black Hlls, the very same campground, that I went to as a kid. Watching their excitement when we go camping stirs up all those memories of my own childhood. Every camping weekend is both new and exciting, and a trip down memory lane at the same time. And hopefully they're building the same great love of camping that I did.

We had spent 10 years worth of vacation time renovating an old house, only occasionally taking a trip with our 2 young kids. On Thanksgiving Day 2010, we were sitting around talking with relatives about how big the kids were getting and it made us realize that they were going to remember nothing but our house being torn apart and rebuilt. We decided that day that something had to change.

Within a month, we had purchased a new popup camper. That year, and every year since, we have spent nearly 30 nights on the road. We have camped in 8 states so far and will be adding 4 more this year. We love camping in KY and IN State Parks and have been to all but 2 that are within a 3 hour drive from our house. This year we sold the pop-up and purchased a larger travel trailer that will better support long distance trips, all so we can venture farther and see more.

Our kids are now developing tons of memories that are more positive than working on a house. It has taught them tremendous problem solving skills and outdoor skills that many of their friends don't possess. My son loved camping so much that he joined Scouts and is nearly finished earning his Star rank. The only regret that we have is that we didn't start sooner.

We started a lot because of cost. When we started. A motel in the mountains was $100.00 per night. A campsite at Julian Price was $3.00. Hmm. A no brainer for us. Counting gas, and the site. We could spend a weekend in Blowing rock for $26.00.

Also a room at the beach was $150.00 per night. A campsite on the beach was $15.00 per night, or $100.00 for 7 days. Another no brainer for us.

We couldn't afford a motel. So camping allowed us to go places we would have NEVER been able to go. Even after the pup turned into a TT. It is still very much less than moteling, or condoing. The way we camp / RV / vacation saves us thousands a year

Thank you for starting the post and for sharing the stories. I am enjoying reading them. Mine is simple. I started camping with my Dad most trips. We camped out under the stars. We bought a used tent and thought it was great. We put it up in the backyard where my friends and I could sleep in it. We joined family reunions where most of the family was in tents. We always fished. After my mother passed,my father and his new wife bought a mini winnie. After a few years of joining them, my family bought our first TT. It was 30 years old when we sold it and bought our first TT new. All our friends miss the old trailer. My husband, son and I enjoy pulling and setting up the new one! Great memories with friends and family.

I grew up tent camping with my parents. All the way up through my teenage years. When I met my husband his idea of vacation was a hotel. Never camped a day in his life. We tent camped a couple of times he liked it ok but wasn't thrilled. So we got a pop up. Then the camping bug bit him hard. He loved the pop up and wanted to go somewhere all the time. Over time the kids came and we traded up to our first travel trailer and now we have our Rockwood.

We still camp and we both love it and the kids grew up and they love it. Husband often tells his story of getting into camping and says it is just one more thing he appreciates me exposing him to. :D

Happy Camping.

My mother met my step-father when I was 1, and he had a truck camper. My mother, my soon to be step-father, two older sisters and myself packed into that truck camper. I remember, when I was a little older, chatting with my parents through the sliding window. Every Birthday (mid July) was spent at Eighth Lake Campground in the Adirondacks and every family vacation was in a camper (Truck Camper > Popup > Big Ass Bunkhouse Prowler > Jayco TT).

Fast forward, I bought my first popup in 2005 when I graduated from college. Eventually traded that in and bought my parents 1992 Jayco 265FS. Now married with two kids and a big ass trailer of my own that we bought last summer. And like myself growing up, every summer seems to be spent at some campground enjoying life.

I am an Eagle Scout and my father was my Scoutmaster, so we did a LOT of camping when I was a kid. Our family also couldn't afford expensive vacations, so we would go tent camping during the summer. As I became a teenager, my parents bought a Nimrod PU, which was nothing more than beds on wheels, but it was a huge upgrade to tents on the ground.

Before we had our first child, we camped in a tent on a site where my in-laws had a beat up old TT. After we had our first daughter, we decided it was time to get a PU. We ended up owning 3 PUs over the next 15 years, each time upgrading with a bigger unit with more options. 10 years ago we made the move up to a base 24' TT. 2 years ago we upgraded again to a 28' TT with a big slide and many more options, we LOVE this unit, and plan to have it a very long time. In addition to our many trips to various campgrounds, we are now debating placing the unit on a campsite at the Jersey shore for all of August. We've never had a unit anywhere for more than a week, so this would be interesting.

Ironically we know no one that camps or owns an RV now. Everyone rents shore houses or goes to hotels and resorts. But when my extended family goes to the Delaware shore for a week in July, they rent a house and we bring the TT and stay at a campground nearby. This gives us our own homebase, beds, bathroom, and a place to get away from all the drama. And it also costs us about a third of what they pay for the house rental. :)

We had never camped at all, but we were avid hikers sick of dirty motels and bad food. So in our early 50s, we bought a little used trailer as a mobile motel room, just as an experiment. If it did not work out, we would re-sell the starter trailer.

As it turns out, this hobby has taken over our lives, in a good way. We camp between 60 and 80 nights a year. Because we got a 4 wheel drive SUV (and later a truck) for towing, we go places we never could or would have gone. We boondock in remote areas of the national forests, miles away from any other person, for days at a time.

When we realized we were hooked, we sold our starter trailer and bought a new one, outfitting it with a lot of boondocking modifications.

Our only regret is waiting till the kids were grown to start trailering. On the other hand, the privacy is delightful -- it's just the two of us in our "rolling empty nest!'

I grew up through the Scouting organization, and so was tent camping, backpacking and canoeing for all of my adolescent and teen years. That continued into married life, introducing my wife and children to the joys of camping. So, this is not a hobby as much as it is a lifestyle.
For a few years we even owned and operated an Outdoor store, selling backpacking/canoeing, clothing and gear.
Eventually we graduated to pop ups (several of them over the years) and then to the travel trailer scene when a neighbor had a TT for sale at a price we couldn't refuse.
We still have many fond memories of the tenting, and pop up days, but at our ages, (especially mine) the TT scene is the way to go. We still refuse to camp in the side-by-side, one on top of the other urban campgrounds, and would rather stay home. We always go to the Provincial Parks, or the more "rustic" State Parks that we can find in order to get more privacy, and be closer to nature, even though we are in our air conditioned, umpteen thousand dollar TT and TV.
We used to shake our heads at rigs like ours and wonder how it could be called "camping", but now we get it! :)

As a kid I used to use an old hand me down sleeping bag and throw it in the back yard. My parents bought me a small tent, when I got older I was a Boy Scout. I have camped, fished, hunted all my life. Got married, wife said, Potty needed!!! We bought first pop-up, then TT, then bigger TT, and now own a 5th wheel. I cannot imagine not enjoying the outdoors. By the way, when hunting I stay in old hand me down pop-up. Works just fine for me and buddies.