Are you a minimalist?

[Gonzo42]

Way, way back in time before the Chrysler building was tipped over and put on wheels, there was a point in time when those with limited funds found ways to go camping. Some of the rigs were quite unique and I'll bet you a doughnut they didn't cost an king's ransom:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxUpDrtBCO4

[crosscheck]

At times we are minimalists when we are not carousing around the country in our luxuriously appointed, squished(that is the name my wife calls all pop-up TC's), TC.

On these minimalist occasions, we go back to the style of camping we have been doing since we were teenagers.



Nice green grass, no bugs, hot showers, we order fresh bread and buns for the morning breakfast,sometimes we score a table and chairs, beer and wine are available at the local store.

TransAlp cycling trip July/13. Austria.

We call this Glenting= Glamorous tenting.



Same style of tent, same mattresses, same stove, same pots.

No hot showers, no fresh food, no booze, lots of bugs, crappy weather, no table and chairs, and no people. Carrying food for 8 days, 165km of hiking.

Great Divide Trail, Michelle Lakes, Canadian Rockies, July/2011

We call this Wenting= Wilderness tenting.

These are the trips that we remember the most.

Dave

[rbpru]

Minimalist camping and RVing are not mutually exclusive. One can do both as the occasion requires. If I want to RV the state parks in a TT, this does not mean I cannot canoe the Minnesota Boundary Waters with a week’s supplies and a tent.

Heck, I do reenactment where we use nothing invented after 1830; that means flint and steel for fire making and candle lanterns for light.

They are many different favors in the world of outdoor recreation.

As for all the lack of safety features and limits in the video; back when that video was produced I rode my bike (no helmet) on old US route 30 and a passed by perhaps a dozen cars in an hour. The news broadcasters we talking about Americans quickly becoming two car families.

Different time, different place.

[Gonzo42]

John & Angela, kudos to you!

[swilly]

John and Angela, that is awesome, almost kills it with the step and its own awning mat, but I get it and its still awesome.

I am not a minimilaist by some of these demosmtrated standards but I do like to keep it simple. I like my TT, but I don't need it to be as big as or as convenient as my house.

We still to prefer to spend most of our camping time outdoors, but my days of spending many nights per year in a tent are almost over.

Still like a couple of backpacking/trout fishing trips per year, but I can't sleep comfortably on the ground and must admit to liking a hot shower in the morning.

We've moved from tents to pop up to travel trailer. Each time with some regrets or feeling like we were domesticating ourselves but also each time I ended up more comfortable and ultimately enjoying it more.

[John___Angela]

wmoses wrote:
Okay John & Angela - you win! This is brilliant. 🙂

Heh heh. The only down side is towing the trailer drops the mileage of the little diesel down into the 50's. 🙂

[wmoses]

Okay John & Angela - you win! This is brilliant. 🙂

[John___Angela]

Sometimes. 2 or 3 day Kayak trips. Does a porta potti count as roughin it? 🙂

[wmoses]

michigansandzilla wrote:

Gonzo42 wrote:
there was a point in time when those with limited funds found ways to go camping.

They're called tents, and we had one until we could afford the TT. 😉

Agreed. 🙂

In my opinion, the minute one decides to move away from a tent (better yet carrying everything on one's back and hiking) and start using an RV of some sort then it is pointless to talk 'minimalist', as one is then not minimalist. Next thing you know there will be varying levels of minimalism and surely some will be tempted to look down their nose at those of us doing it "wrong". :h

One cannot claim to be a camper or a minimalist if one is dragging any sort of RV behind my truck. To say otherwise would be oxymoronic. You are not camping - you are RVing.

My 2 cents of course. 🙂

[profdant139]

People accuse us of being minimalists because we camp in a 12 x 7 foot box for weeks on end. This is not minimalism -- we bring fine wines, we enjoy three ice cubes a day in our evening cocktails, we brew fresh Starbucks every morning (using the artisanal pour-over method because it requires no electricity), we sleep on a queen sized memory foam mattress that converts to the dinette, we have a shower that I can almost stand up in that uses less than a gallon of water per shower, we cook barbecued meat that we bring from home, etc.

Minimal is a sleeping bag on the ground, drinking plain water, taking a sponge bath, eating freeze dried food, etc. I wish I could tolerate that level of discomfort -- it would enable us to break completely free of the forest roads to go into the deep wilderness.

Life is a series of compromises.

[RWDIII]

I am a minimalist,I traded down to a TC,went to the Dark Side
Pic of my rig 4 wheeling at Anza Borrego desert.
:B

[Caveman_Charlie]

AirForceAngler wrote:
In addition to the helmets for mom and dad but not for the kid. Did you notice no safety chains or light wires? And between the side car, three riders and trailer, that Vespa had to be way past its GVWR! LOL.

Oh and I bet the tires are overloaded and too much hitch weight on the back of the Vespa. They need a 3/4 ton pickup for sure.

jk jk Nobody get all bent out of shape now please.

[AirForceAngler]

In addition to the helmets for mom and dad but not for the kid. Did you notice no safety chains or light wires? And between the side car, three riders and trailer, that Vespa had to be way past its GVWR! LOL.

[rbpru]

I am extremely lucky, about the time I got old my grandkids got bigger. “Grandpa’s carrying fishing poles” is the rule now.

About the time I get ¾ of the way down the portage trail, they are on their way back for a second load.

These kids have been canoe camping since before they were a year old and all that lugging of kid’s stuff is paying off all these years later.

[Gonzo42]

I suppose I am more of a purist at heart. I like backpacking. One takes with one whatever is needed for the entire trip.

I have two quotes for you.

1. Take nothing but photographs, and leave nothing but fingerprints. Whatever you pack in, you pack out.

2. Good experiences come from good judgement. Good judgement comes from bad experience.

Now in my old age and because DW thinks roughing it is checking into the Waldorf-Astoria, we now have a class C.