A story about getting my wife to like "camping"

[MagillaGorilla]

I grew up camping. Actually I grew up in the middle of a city. One day when I was about 10 my father came home with a tent and said he was taking his boys camping. My mother did not want to be left out so the 4 of us went camping. None of us were boy scouts so we were not prepared at all but we still had a great time. Soon we were seasonal campers at a campground about 25 miles from home. I loved getting out of the city and made several life long friends while camping.

Fast forward to me getting married when I was 23. My wife had never been camping but in my infinite wisdom I went out and bought a tent trailer. I told her that we were going to use it for our honeymoon. Yeah I was that dumb. So although we used the camper a few times we did not use it for our honeymoon. Instead I got on a plane for the first time in my life and we flew to a beach.

So as you can guess my wife was not into camping. We went from time to time but it was not her bag. We tried a seasonal camp at the beach in Maine for a few years but we both got burned out on the travel every weekend. Due to this we sold our camper and stopped camping for years.

Then in 2007 we took a road trip down the eastern seaboard. We covered 17 states in the comfort of our car. We stayed at hotels and we were actually lucky in that every hotel was relatively nice. We knew that was a fluke because we road trip a lot and have not always had good luck in finding a nice place to stay.

When we got home I told her that I wanted to buy a motorhome. That way when we road trip we will always have a nice place to stay and ALWAYS have a clean toilet. Here is where my wife is the greatest. Whenever I get something in my head that I want, she always supports it. She did not want a motorhome or even a TT but she let me do my thing.

I ended up buying a very low mileage 36' MH that was about 12 years old. It needed a little TLC that I was able to do and was soon ready to roll. Our first trip was to the very first place that I had ever gone camping. The place my dad took his boys. It was at a state park at a beach. This was a good move on my part because my wife LOVES the beach. We pulled in and within 5 minutes we were set up. Life was good.

Now we have friends and family that have gotten into camping. They all have TTs and a few even have tents. This helps my wife like camping but its not the only thing. When we camp I do all the planning and all of the set up. So for her its always a vacation. The MH has everything she needs so she is comfortable. Because it is a big unit (we now have a 37' Holiday Rambler) she feels like a big shot. Now she cant wait to go camping.

In the end its all about how you do things. Camping in a tent trailer on your honeymoon was a bad idea. Camping in a luxury MH after 25 great years of marriage is a great idea.

[fla-gypsy]

Everyone is different and we all have a story. I love my wife with all my heart and try everyday to make her happy and comfortable whether camping, sitting on the back porch, or just watching tv. Approaching 38 years of marriage with the girl of my dreams. It was love at first sight. As far as camping goes, I grew up in a semi rural area and my grandparents had a little lake house so camping wasn't really something we did. The lake house was nearly camping as it was very spartan. My wife camped in a PUP with her family and I was included after we started dating. Being young, broke and newly married vacations were not something that were possible until we decided to get a family sized tent. It progressed to a PUP, a TT and then a bigger TT. I believe one more TT is in my future. That one will take us past the age we will be able to do this and I intend to finally give her the luxury our life has never provided her.

[BennieH]

Seems to be a common thread here.
For my wife camping was out. For her roughing it was lack of maid service! Shortly after Walt Disney World opened she and the kids wanted to go. I had zero interest in traveling across the country to an "amusement park" since we had a Great America park only an hour away.
I then threw out a compromise, rent an rv (class C) and stay at Fort Wilderness. Everyone gets something. (I thought for sure that the trip to Florida was a dead subject)
She and the girls agreed!
The trip was a lot of fun, they all had a great time. This led to our first camper, a clean used 18' mallard travel trailer.
The rest is history and now we are in a Class A which she is absolutely in love with and she loves everything about camping.

[eichacsj]

Met wife in our teens, just out of high school. She did not know the word camping. Now my.our comping is more boondocking (a lot of forums trying to define that) but for us it is remote, don't want to see anyone, hear anyone, no kids, no party's. So I took her on a trip in the deep woods of Colorado, it was funny "you want me to go to the bathroom where?", handed her a roll and said find a tree. We camped on our honeymoon and about every weekend we could find. Our first house was a cabin on the divide. 38 years later we now have a TT and go boondocking all we can.

[johnnyrv]

my wife loves to camp and cook.

[vjstangelo]

Similar story. In my younger years we camped in an 8 x 10 cabin tent, then moved to an Apache Hard walled pop-up.

After marriage, wife wasn't interested until she saw we could camp on the ocean @ Outer Banks for $50/night so we bought a brand new Jayco Kiwi which we pulled with our minivan. Moved up to a TT with double bunks for the kids and friends.

Now that we are empty nesters, we decided to move up to a motorhome and we are currently looking to buy hopefully used, but are prepoared to bite the bullet for new.

As a posted noted previously, I do the cooking, driving, and she gets a vacation from such. Win-Win as I don't mond cooking/driving. Also, we bring along the dogs in our rolling hotel so we get to enjoy their companionship.

[Dog_Folks]

My darling wife led me down the "camping" road. When we were dating in 1972, her mother allowed me to accompany them on the first trip of the year. My wife's mother was an avid camper and camped most weekends when the weather would allow. We went to a local state park, in a truck camper, and proceeded to set up. It was the very first trip of the year and the camper had been in storage all winter. My future mother in law started the refrigerator on propane. A bird's nest in the flue caught the camper on fire! Not a great introduction to the world of camping. The camper was ruined and no camping took place that weekend.

A year later, we married, and with the very last of our wedding cash, bought a tent, and some supplies for camping. As is the case with many camping couples, we “upgraded” as time went on. We had a series of tents, a truck camper, a pop up camper, and four different travel trailers during our working life. Each unit was a little bigger and more complex.

So I started camping to be close to my wife. After 42 years of marriage, I still want to close to her.

[scbwr]

A long time ago when our boys were 4 & 8, I suggested to the DW that we should think about camping. She replied "I'm willing to give it a try, but I won't sleep in a tent or on the ground. I had enough camping that way as a girl scout!" About the same time, a local RV dealer was having their annual used RV show during the month of March. We went to the show and decided to purchase a year old Starcraft Meteor (8' box) popup camper. That Memorial Day weekend, we had our first campout at Four Mile Creek SP (Youngstown, NY) and we had a great time. We've been camping/RVing since then. We work together well and share the chores, so our trips are vacations. Both of us would rather be in the trailer than having to put up with hotels. As long as we can safely travel with an RV, I think it will be a part of our life.

[2112]

Thanks for sharing. My story goes something like this:
I was an avid tent camper with all the gear when I met my future DW at 23yr old. She had never seen a tent before that time nor had any interest in crawling into one.

I talked her into a weekend trip to Canyon Lake, just try it you might like it.
By 10pm on the first night it started raining. By 2am I was packing up soaking wet gear in a downpour heading for a hotel. She didn't make it through the first night before saying never again. And I married her anyway. Was it that pretty smile, great cooking, not sure.

Fast forward 7 years and I have a DW and a four year old DD#1. I want to introduce DD#1 to the great outdoors and the adventure of camping but DW is playing 3rd base. We compromised by renting a PU.

That first trip was a challenge mostly due to coolmom42's list but DW endured for the sake of DD#1 really enjoying the whole adventure. I realized this is anything but a nice vacation for DW so ground rules are applied and things were better moving forward.

We started renting TT's for the onboard facilities and increased comfort.
Over the years DD#2 and DS came along and DW recognized the appreciation the family has for camping. In other words, she warmed up to it. We finally bought our first camper in 2002.

Kids are all grown and gone now and we enjoy the camper more as a rolling condo for traveling. It has been some time since I have built a campfire or roasted marshmallows.

[coolmom42]

I think there are several reasons many women don't like camping/RVing (not necessarily in order). This is based on comment from women I know, and my own personal experience.

1) lack of clean toilet facilities and hot showers
2) having to use a communal shower
3a) uncomfortable sleeping situation
3b) having to cook and clean just like they are at home---NOT a vacation--men you can remedy this by doing some of it, being willing to eat out more, and lowering your expectations
4) hassles with set-up resulting in cranky hubby/fights
5) dislike of spending that much time with hubby (if you don't get along at home, you won't enjoy traveling together)
6) nothing to do they are interested in
7) unwillingness of hubby to do what wife is interested in
😎 general dislike of travel and a strong feeling of wanting to stay at home

None of this is intended as a commentary on the male gender, husbands, or marriage. But I see lots of men commenting their wives don't like to camp/RV. If you fall into that category, go down the above list and see if you can figure out what the problem is. Don't guess, ask your wife.

If #8 is the stated reason, it's quite possible some of the other reasons are at the root of it.

Those of you with compatible traveling companions are very lucky.

Extreme issues with 3a, 3b, 4, & 7 are the reasons I am no longer part owner of a RV and no longer travel with my former boyfriend. I hope to be in a financial position to purchase my own small motor home or DIY van-camper conversion. But I will not be spending my vacation budget in a travel situation that is not fun for me.

Just a comment that will hopefully lead to a better travel/RV experience for some of you.

[sdianel_-acct_c]

yep. Love glamping!!

[MrWizard]

My "X" and I took our honeymoon camping in a vw camping micro bus
To the Smokey mountain's in early November
Later we bought a used dodge van, and built our own camper van
And took a trip to Florida and Disney world.. I think This was before..fort wilderness, we stayed at a koa in Kissimmee
Our divorce had nothing to do with camping
The kids grew up camping

[rexlion]

I'm happy for you guys with willing (to camp) wives. My wife says her camping days are over. Mainly she just doesn't get enjoyment from camping or traveling. She would rather sit at home.

But she doesn't mind me going camping! So I go alone. And you know what? I love camping alone!! I eat when and what I like, go where and when I like, do what I like. No compromises. It's a win-win. She's happy, I'm happy.

[naturist]

I grew up in a family that camped for vacation trips. Dad was a scoutmaster for many years, and both my brother and I did the Boy Scouts thing. The family camped for vacations because that was the only way we could afford to take the vacation trips we did. Yup, tent all the way.

When I got married, my bride had never been camping, and it took me a while to convince her that she wouldn't die, but we borrowed my parents tent, and went one weekend to a state park we'd camped at often when I was a kid. We got there Friday evening, and there was only one site left. It was a low spot at the bottom of a hill, and right away I saw that it was a loser of a site if it were to rain, as all the water off the hill and from all the surrounding sites would pool there. We planned to stay a week, no rain was forecast until at least monday, so we took the site with plans to move on sunday when all the weekenders went home.

You guessed it, gully washer that very night. Fortunately we were sleeping on cots, and though I was awaked when it started raining, I knew there was nothing I could do about it and fell back asleep. I was awaked a bit later by something bumping into my butt, flipped on a flashlight, and it was the suitcase under my cot floating in the lake.

In the morning, the floor of the tent had a couple inches of mud on it, and all our stuff that wasn't up on the cots with us was wet. We dragged the tent, all 10,000 lbs of it, across the road and into the creek to wash the mud out, and headed for home with the trunk of the car dribbling water. It took me several years to convince her to try it again.

We've been married now for 46 years, and she came to accept tent camping although one of her requirements was that wherever we went, she had to have her daily hot shower. As long as I picked places that had one, she was willing to go. Half a dozen years ago we bought our travel trailer, and she has been much happier with that compared to the tent, not least of which was due to having her own hot shower!

It didn't hurt any when I put a new foam mattress in the TT last year. That bed is even more comfortable than the one in the sticks 'n' bricks, so it's been fairly easy to get her to go camping lately.

[Executive45]

Wow! You went from a 36' to a 37' and she feels it's bigger...:h...how's that possible....:)....Dennis

[Gonzo42]

I have camped all my life starting in the Cub Scouts. My wife has never camped in any fashion. However, buying our RV was a mutual decision. I have to do all the planning and setup, etc, etc, etc.

She always drags her feet running up to a trip, yet after the trip she's always enthusiastic. Its taking a long, slow warmup.