Roughing it | Pad Patter 8.17

The most camping I've ever done was sleeping in a cabin with a concrete floor. It had beds and a window unit. That was roughing it for me, as we had to trek across the campground to use the bathroom!

 

@AnneofAlamo lol@ its true! i have a friend who goes every chance he gets... after work, after church, all the time. in fact, idk if he ever goes to work. he takes his kids, too. His wife never goes. I was feeling like maybe she felt left out and i asked him about it.. What does Susan do when you guys go camping? His answer was simple... She enjoys peace and quiet with them gone

 

That's why we opted for a little shorter!

 

@bellbird Justine, I hope your hubby gets well soon

 

says it all

 

I would like to go camping but have almost never done it.

I think the closest thing to camping my family ever did when I was a child was renting a motor home and spending a couple days in the desert when I was around 6 years old.

The first time I have any memory of was around late high school, when my sister and her then-boyfriend brought my brother and me camping in the Laguna Mountains (east of San Diego). We used a tent and I only remember enjoying it.

In college my boyfriend and I went camping in Yosemite and the Anza Borrego Desert and again, my few memories of it are all positive.

The last time I went camping -- or at least tried -- was with my husband and one of his college friends in 1996 or 1997, up by Sacramento. Unfortunately, he ended up having an allergic reaction or something, perhaps to the bug spray (?)

I don't know why we haven't ever taken our kids camping. In general we, and especially my husband, likes tidier activities. My daughters don't care for the woods, especially my younger one, who abhors bugs. And when we have been able to afford travel, we've always flown back to San Diego to visit my parents and stayed in a hotel.

I enjoy the woods most of the time. My Saturday morning walking friend and I often walk on various trails around Virginia. But I've found that I prefer walking in the city a little bit more. Less likely to run into spider webs strung across a trail. Feet tend to stay drier. While I enjoy seeing the sights in nature, I'm more excited by the color and liveliness of the city.

However, I'm not averse to the simplicity of camping. On the contrary, I'm very intrigued. I've got a lifelong dream of driving a motorhome across the United States for several weeks, visiting lots of interesting sights and just enjoying being on the road, moving from place to place. But maybe not a motorhome. A couple months ago, I discovered Van Lifers, people who fix up Sprinter vans or other models with beds and mini-kitchens and live in them, some year 'round. I've been mostly watching Eamon & Bec but also a few other channels. I'm thinking I'd definitely enjoy doing van life part time, while maintaining a small home base somewhere, like a small apartment. I can't store all these scrapbooks of mine in a van!

Thanks for the great journaling prompt. I'm putting this on a scrapbook page as soon as I have a chance to scrap again. Finally, I chance to use some camping themed digiscrap elements I've collected!

 

I'm not a fan of camping.
I absolutely do not have hosophobia but people use it as a tease sometimes. I just care about cleanliness. (like who doesn't first wash their hands when they come home?) And with camping, I dread the bathroom/toilet situation the most. I just want it clean. And private.
This is also the reason why I do not attend music festivals btw.

I have been on camping vacations when I was little. In a tent or with a caravan. I liked it then. And then we switched to mobile homes that were already on the campground and had small, but proper bathrooms. And then we started with renting apartments. I think I was over 18 when I first stayed in a hotel.
When on vacation I don't need luxury, but I need my room/cabin/whatever to be clean. We've stayed in amazing apartments that were just not properly clean and it ruined the whole stay...

 

Two nights is my max for camping. We usually go with friends who are regular campers so they have all the extras (tables, lamps, cooking stuff) but I hate having to use communal showers and toilets - drop toilets in an australian summer are especially unpleasant...
I don't need much luxury when we are in hotels, clean rooms, a decent bed, a shower and a central location are all I ask. Camping gives me none of these

Hope your household is feeling better this week @bellbird - we've got colds here - so looking forward to warmer weather

 

Normally I love camping! This year, with the slipped disc, the sprained knee, & all the overtime I've been working--NO! I figured we were doomed when we were all just lounging around the day we were supposed to leave. We left so late & we started off with dinner at a diner. Barn & I ended up pitching the tent in the dark. I ended up not being able to sleep in the tent cuz of my back & knee. So, I slept in the backseat of the car while the boys slept in the tent. The 4 of us decided that next year we're going to Tahoe instead. We'll stay at a hotel, go kayaking, & eat at a buffet. We'll still go camping with the scouts, but we're skipping our family camping trip next year.

 

I love camping. We did a lot of it when I was growing up as it was a cheap way to holiday. Two weeks down the coast in contact with no one else but the friends we were with...bare feet, braided hair, living in our swimmers (bathing costume), sausages for dinner, the smell of wet gum trees in the early morning dew...bliss.

Not so blissful: using the toilet bucket in the pouring rain with only a dripping canvas beach umbrella for protection.

 

The luxury was the toilet paper!