RV park "camping"

[jimlj]

Is there anyone who actually camps any more?
As a youth camping meant loading up the '55 Ford pickup with tents and sleeping bags, the old Coleman ice box and stove and heading for the forest. When dad bought the first camper it was a single axle '66 Shasta with modern things like a refrigerator that needed no ice and a water heater. Since then I have owned several TT's. Until March of this year I had never stayed anywhere with full hookups.


As an electrician, last week I located and repaired a broken underground wire at a RV Park and it got me thinking about "camping". Talking to a few of the customers at this park made me realize this was not a stop along the route to empty the holding tanks and fill with fresh water, but the destination. I do enjoy having the fridge and a hot shower, and the last few campers I've owned even have a bed that is not part of the dinette or couch. but staying in a RV park is not "camping" as far as I'm concerned. Anyone else camp where there is no wireless internet and the closest electricity involves putting gasoline in a generator and pulling the rope?

[BizmarksMom]

You'll only find me in an RV campground for an overnight, or to catch up on laundry and service the tanks. Otherwise I am off grid on one dirt road or another. That's my current version of camping.

That is not most people's version of camping. And that's ok.

Personally, I cannot imagine getting to central Idaho and pulling into what is essentially a parking lot with pedestals, when there are gorgeous dispersed sites all over the place. The people pulling into those full service sites probably cannot imagine bumping their rig over a dirt road and voluntarily doing without a microwave and air conditioning.

[BarabooBob]

I don;'t care how other people use their campers, it is up the them what they do and enjoy. What I don;t understand is the people that drive up in their huge unit, hook up the electricity, water, sewer, and cable and then you don't see them again for a couple of days.

[DiskDoctr]

Still primitive camp a couple times a year, including an annual 3-day canoe trip with different overnights along the way. (Plus an additional pre-trip day in my yard as everyone pulls in the day/night before)

No pre-planned stops or sites, just collect firewood and pull in about 2hrs before dark.

The rest of the time is spent navigating the waters in "paddle powered" canoes or floating with the current, LOL.

Half the time we stay up all night fishing and sleep on the river the next day.

By the end of the trip we look like we've been out for a month.

Some whitewater, but mostly just unpopulated areas.

[benr0]

Same here, all types of camping.
I enjoy most all, ground and tent to painful now for the most part, enjoy the RV for daily use, yet I still go backpacking and canoeing in the BWCA.

[afidel]

A few years ago I spent 20% of my time in a tent over a 8 month period. That's when I made the decision to start looking at a TT, I realized I enjoyed the places I was visiting but not the being there in a tent part. This was after 30+ years of tent camping. I'm still involved with Boyscouts and will get my monthly fill of tents for the next 7 years but after nearly 40 years I'll not be sad to give up the tent so long as I can get out near nature with the TT.

[rbpru]

There is no particular merit to any particular type of "camping".

In my opinion, if you are not using a canoe and tent in the wilderness, you are not "camping".

When I get up and warm up my coffee in the microwave, I am RVing.

Camping or RVing; in reality I love both. The canoe and tent get me closer to nature. RVing gives me the freedom to travel and see many more sights and scenery in relative comfort.

[Bobbo]

When I was 20 years old and sitting by my tent, I derided the people who drove up either in a motorhome or towing a travel trailer. Now, at 63, I let the 20 year olds deride me, and don't give it a second thought.

[mckind]

I guess everyone uses their RV/Camper in different ways. I have no allusions that anything we do in our RV is "camping". Sometimes we like to get away from the city at a State Park, COE campground or NFS campground (glamping). Sometimes a city or a particular area is our destination and we may stay at a resort or KOA. In those instances we are essentially towing our personal hotel room with us.

[Camper_G]

Funny how things change over the years.

State parks here in pa used to not have any electric hook-ups and I always considered that "real" camping. Now a lot have electric and I love having that electric. No need to worry about how long you leave lights on inside and running the battery down. Some sites now have full hook ups. I've also tent camped, but don't sleep well in a tent anymore.

There's no right or wrong. Camping is all good regardless of your preferences. I like State park camping with electric only, best but that's just me

[Community Alumni]

This topic comes up every so often. Different strokes for different folks.

My style of "camping" requires all the conveniences found in a modern RV. I'm just as happy being "tethered" at an RV park as I am dry camping at campground in a national park. Did I mention an internet connection is a must everywhere I camp?

[toedtoes]

There are people who camp in the more traditional sense, it's just that RVing has expanded to encompass a lot more.

On a forum like this, you get a lot of travelers vs. campers. They aren't looking to go out into the wilds and hike, fish, etc. They use their RVs as a hotel on wheels. They are sightseeing and traveling rather than camping.

There are a few of us who use our RVs to camp, but there are far more travelers here. Add in full-timers and snowbirders, who are actually living in their RVs, and the campers are even more in the minority on this forum.

I do think it's important to distinguish between camping and traveling as answers to questions will vary dependent on how you use your RV. Others disagree and see no difference.

For a camping perspective, I visit camping forums and talk to tenters. However, I have noticed that most of them actually have much higher demands for electricity and modern conveniences than I do with my clipper. I find that my style is much more simplistic than most.

[Samsonsworld]

74 degrees out. The rain tapping on the top of my trailer. An old dog at my feet. View of oak all around. Cold brew at hand. My wife gone shopping. Doesn't get much better than today.

[BarabooBob]

For many years, camping to me involved a tent, sleeping bag and a single duffle bag strapped on the back of a motorcycle. I could pack and be 10 miles down the road in under 20 minutes. I don't do that anymore because I don't want to. I enjoy sleeping in a dry bed and eating food that came out of a refrigerator without concern that my cooler may not have been cool enough to to safely keep food.
My wife and I do most of our trailer camping without hookups most of the time. My favorite spots are my families tree farm, BLM property and the Bighorn Mtns in WY.

[Samsonsworld]

westernrvparkowner wrote:

Huntindog wrote:
Some of the highly abrasive people on forums camp in campgrounds..... It is a good thing I do not.

If I can see another camp, it is too close.:B

And some of the most dangerous people are anti-social living their lives in solitude. I am not interested in the Deliverance or Ted Kaczynski esperience. I'll leave the squealing like a pig to actual swine.

You wear lace with that?

[profdant139]

And he did stir the pot! And what emerged was a strong consensus -- almost all of us agree that we can define camping for ourselves, and many of us agree that RV camping is not as rigorous as backpacking, which is exactly why we prefer RV camping. If I wanted to backpack, I would already be doing it, and I am not.

To paraphrase Mark Twain, "Whenever I feel the urge to go backpacking, I lie down till the feeling goes away." (He said that about exercise, but you get the idea.)

Having said all of that, I do envy the hardy souls who can carry everything they need and travel into the wilderness. There is a lot of territory I will never get to see. We "camp" on the edge of the wilderness and then day-hike, but we never cover more than about ten miles a day (on a good day).

Last year, we were day hiking on the Pacific Crest Trail, which runs from Mexico to Canada. We came across a young couple and asked if they were doing the whole trail. They answered, "Yes, we are through-hikers."

I replied, "So are we! Every afternoon at 5 pm, we are through with hiking, and it's time for cold drinks!"