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.
Magilla
2005 Holiday Rambler Admiral 37' Gasser
