My Thoughts on Camping

Mike and I are no strangers to campgrounds. My mom and dad had a camper, starting with a small pop up and getting bigger with each purchase. When we moved away from our hometown, my parents drove their camper to make those long 10-11 hour drives. They enjoyed having their own space rather than staying with us and we would visit them at the local KOA Campground. Mike’s mom and stepdad had a camper as well and left it set up at a local campground. The kids have great memories of staying with them during the summer months and enjoying time at Delaney Park. 

When Covid19 cancelled our vacation plans this summer, I started with the idea of renting a camper for a vacation. I checked with a rental place and they didn’t have any available for the week we needed. I then started looking at RVShare and realized that although we had a hitch on our suv, we didn’t have the hitch and brake needed to pull a camper. As the idea grew, we began looking online out of curiosity at small campers. Realizing the $1000 spent on a rental would be money well spent towards a purchase, we began shopping. With a 5,000 pound tow limit on our Toyota Highlander, we found it a little difficult to find something large enough to be comfortable but small enough to be lightweight. The camping stores were busy and the inventory was low. So when we found one we liked less than two weeks before our scheduled vacation, we had to move faster than I like with the decision to buy. 

This was our thought process as we considered buying a camper. 

1. We enjoy the outdoors. 
2. When we travel, we enjoy getting groceries and cooking in instead of going to restaurants. 
3. We enjoy hiking and there are so many great hiking places that are little too far to make as a day trip. 
4. Hotels are not dog friendly and charge a pet fee. 
5. We typically stay in cabins when we travel but they normally require a 2-3 night stay and like hotels, charge a pet fee.
6. A camper would allow us to spend more time with our son, daughter-in-law, and step grandson who live in Alabama, the way my parents traveled to spend time with us. 
7. Even though I am far from being a germophobe,  something about staying in dog friendly hotels or cabins, makes me a little uneasy. 

So we did it! We picked up the camper on a Saturday morning and after a short training session, we drove it home and left on it an hour later. I think our neighbors were worried about us when they saw Mike trying to back it into our driveway and told us good-bye saying, “it’s been nice having you as neighbors.” I have to say, we were a little nervous as well. 

We went to Alabama and had a nice visit with the kids. They even did a short hike with us. We then spent three nights in South Carolina and three nights in North Carolina. Even with a few problems that first night (propane gas alarm going off, smoke alarm going off, and a few other things), we had a good time. We enjoyed having our own bedding and our own space to come back to after hiking. 

So after a week on the road, buyer’s remorse set in and here are my thoughts on camping. 

1. Campgrounds are crowded with lots of people, pets, and children. 
2. Campsites are close together and I like my privacy. It’s much different from cabins we normally stay in when we travel. 
3. Campers are friendly, helpful, and like to wave at each other. 
4. It’s hard to stay low carb when camping. Potatoes go with every meal. 
5. A small camper has a really small shower. Showering in a bathhouse is not as bad as I thought it would be. 
6. Outdoor cooking is the way to go and Mike is really good at it. 
7. Gas mileage is awful when pulling a camper. 
8. We have one of the smallest campers in most campgrounds. Most RVs are really big and are like second homes. 
9. We keep saying, we need . . ., we need . . . , we need . . . , there are so many things we need to buy for the camper. Getting set up is expensive. 
10. It was a lot more difficult than I thought it would be to park the camper in the backyard. We got it back there and now we have this big eyesore in our backyard. We found a storage place and will be adding a monthly storage fee to our budget (not fun).

One more thing and we thought of this before we bought the camper - weekends are great but we have to be careful not to let camping take the place of Sunday morning worship. We love our church family and we don’t want to be those people who miss church more than we should because we are always aware camping. 

Did we make a mistake buying a camper? I’m not sure yet. Mike had to remind me that we didn’t do it as a less expensive way to travel, we did it as a more enjoyable way to travel. I don’t know if this will be something we only try for a few years and then take our losses or if it will be something that we continue into retirement. All I know is that Covid19 won’t keep us from enjoying another vacation. 

“Since the LORD your God walks int he midst of your camp to deliver you and to defeat your enemies before you, therefore your camp must be holy; and He must not see anything indecent among you or He will turn away from you.” ~Deuteronomy 23:14