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I've never understood travel trailer "camping" and really don't consider it to be camping. Doesn't having the travel trailer with all of the same amenities that you have at home sort of defeat the purpose of being out in the woods?
Not at all. Once you step out of the RV you're still in the woods. But you don't have to go out and bury your...er,...um.. human waste every time you have to "go". Not pleasant in mosquito season or when it's 30 degrees, especially in the middle of the night. Lugging Porta-Potties to dump isn't much fun either. When people get older most of them want some comforts when camping. And even with a small RV you don't have all that stuff to lug around, set up, take down etc. Us seniors will leave that to the younger folks.
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Not saying it's wrong or anything, I'm just curious as to the rational of the folks that haul all of their creature comforts with them in a travel trailer or toy hauler when heading out into the wilderness as apposed to setting up a tent and building a camp fire. If you're going to watch TV and cook on the stove in the travel trailer, why not just stay home?
I can see you never "camped" with an RV. RVing and tent camping are two different things. I've done both and choose RVing over tenting any day. RVers can and do make a fire and cook outside all the time. You never noticed? When the rain drives the tent campers inside their damp tents for a cold sandwich or a drive to town for a restaurant meal, we're in our snug dry RVs, looking out at the beautiful scenery and cooking on our propane stoves. While you have to bury your waste, day or night, or hike to the public toilets which may or may not be filthy and smelly, we have a nice clean bathroom right with us. A rainy day or two doesn't bother us as we can curl up in our comfy beds with a good book or turn on the TV. When it rains we've seen tenters pack up and leave the campground or wherever. The RVs stay. Maybe one will leave. And remember that many of those RVers you see are not into outside cooking and smokey fires. Some live in their RVs so making a fire and roasting a weenie is no longer a biggie for them as it is for someone who is just a camper.
We boondock with ours, I don't see going to a campground just to have neighbors closer than we do at home, that's socializing not camping.
You've been to the wrong campgrounds. We like state parks and COEs because the sites are almost always wooded, larger and further apart. It's hard to boondock with our 28' TT. Boondocking out west is easy. The east coast is a whole other ballgame. There are few places to boondock. And we do like to have water and electricity, especially my husband though I can do very well without it.
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We use our camper as a base-camp then we hike into the wilderness or go Mountaineering, then we use the tent.
People enjoy their RVs in all kinds of ways. Neighbors in the CGs don't bother us as we live in the boondocks. It's sometimes nice to have human company other than each other and the 4 cats, but we still choose the CGs with larger spaces that are heavily wooded.
Ditto to what the other said about having comforts as we get older. (arthritis hurts enough without the dampness and hard ground under a tent)
We do all our camping in the wilderness, NOT in a trailer park with neighbors on each side.
And some of us are more social and enjoy the camaraderie of other campers - as long as they're not too close. That's why we avoid private CGs. They pack you in like sardines. But there is a place for those types of CGs also. They're great for people spending the night who are just passing through. Or people there to sightsee or visit family or attend a wedding and couldn't care less how close the other RVs are. Not everyone in an RV is looking for great scenery or cooking some burgers over a fire or grill. RVeers are a very diverse group of people.
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Just being up off the ground on a bed is wonderful. Cupboards instead of boxes for supplies, a table instead of squatting on the ground (really roughing it), a furnace for those chilly nights or cold, rainy days, a flush toilet and a sink with hot running water to do dishes in makes life much easier.
Amen! I would never go back to tent camping.
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BTW, we never watch TV when we're camping in our trailer. We don't even have one in our trailer. The beautiful call of the loons on the lake are entertainment enough in the evenings.
The RV we have now came with a TV so we do watch it at night when we come in. We like to catch the News and local weather. We may pop in a DVD movie. It also came with a DVD and CD player as do all the newer RVs. When we snow-bird in FL for the winter we do watch more TV at night as the thrill of campfires has worn off with us. We do use our outdoor grill a few times a week though. We also bring our satellite dish for sat' TV and our own mifi for the PC. Come a few rainy or lousy windy days there in FL and we have plenty of indoor entertainment. This coming winter we found a CG in the Ocala National Forest with larger treed sites we'll be staying at. So we're more RVers than what many would consider "campers."
And.....when we're traveling to visit friends/family or just traveling, we prefer to stay in our trailer in a lovely campground as opposed to renting a motel room. Some might say..."why are they choosing to rough it in an RV instead of staying in the comfort of a hotel room?"
I guess it's all relative.
Same here. We always stop to visit DHs family on the way to FL and back. We get to visit and not feel we're imposing on them in any way. We'll stay a night or two. And as for Motels and Hotels.... we went that route for awhile and it wasn't for us.
I didn't know something like that was allowed on Public Lands, but then I'm from the east coast.
I believe it. Those wood stoves put out a lot of heat. How long were you "stuck" there with the heavy snows? Surely you couldn't hunt in snow that deep.
Outfitters routinely use those set-ups on pack trips. In fact in wilderness lands you can't have anything mechanized. Not even a chainsaw. The Bob Marshall complex is over 1.5 million acres with another 1mm acres in adjacent roadless forest lands. That's bigger than Delaware.
and I wasn't stuck, lol. I could still make it out with the truck with chains on. And hunting is fantastic when that snow hits! I have snowshoes so no biggie for me. The elk will move down from the high country in droves seeking less snow pack. As a matter of fact I watched over 100 head hightailing across and down a ridge the day after the snow stopped. They never stopped! Kept running and running!
Outfitters routinely use those set-ups on pack trips. In fact in wilderness lands you can't have anything mechanized. Not even a chainsaw. The Bob Marshall complex is over 1.5 million acres with another 1mm acres in adjacent roadless forest lands. That's bigger than Delaware.
and I wasn't stuck, lol. I could still make it out with the truck with chains on. And hunting is fantastic when that snow hits! I have snowshoes so no biggie for me. The elk will move down from the high country in droves seeking less snow pack. As a matter of fact I watched over 100 head hightailing across and down a ridge the day after the snow stopped. They never stopped! Kept running and running!
Whewwww..... and I dream of palm trees and soft warm breezes. The snow is not for me. What a boring world it would be if we were all alike. Nice pic BTW.
I've never understood travel trailer "camping" and really don't consider it to be camping. Doesn't having the travel trailer with all of the same amenities that you have at home sort of defeat the purpose of being out in the woods? Not saying it's wrong or anything, I'm just curious as to the rational of the folks that haul all of their creature comforts with them in a travel trailer or toy hauler when heading out into the wilderness as apposed to setting up a tent and building a camp fire. If you're going to watch TV and cook on the stove in the travel trailer, why not just stay home?
You'll undestand alot better with age, that sleeping low down on the ground can become a problem when your older.
We were professonal tent campers for years,even lived in one in the Florida Keyes, one of the best times we ever had. Lived in it with 3 kids back in 1973 aged,3,4 and 5 1/2. Back then they were canvas,heavy and hard to put up. Went through some severe storms in one several times.
Camped in tents in the mountains too. Still have our tents 'not canvas' and would set one up again if we need to. Last time was about a year and a half ago .
Tent camping on Turtle Island,Fl once a Squal came ashore,try to locate the exit with one of those slinging you all over the place,a potty hitting you in the shins,and its pitch black dark! Or layign on the ground with lightening popping all around you and the tent slappinp you in the face. Yep we have had some real fun in our tent days.
There's my truck camper and there's my friends tent. It was a really, really hard decision to decide where to sleep at hunting camp. Camper or tent.. camper or tent.. decisions, decisions...
Ahh well- sleeping in my bed won out over having to sleep in a cot next to a dirty old woodstove, lol
So cool!! Actually that tent would be more roomy than a lot of travel trailers.
It really just comes down to what someone wants to do at the time. I've seen tent campers with 8-12" thick air mattresses that it seems almost more roughing it to be in a camper with a thin foam mattress on a plywood board.
I used to go back packing in the high Sierra's in my 20's. I'd hike in all my gear/food and stayed for several days. I was always dirty, had to shat in a hole in the ground, had to take extra precautions with my water to keep it from freezing overnight, had to make sure I had no fruity lotions on to keep the bears from thinking I'm food (they will anyway, which is why I carried defense weapons should a bear emergency arise). Hiking 45 pounds on your back with with a 1500' elevation over the course of a few miles is BRUTAL work (for me at least, even in my prime shape). It was cool to do at the time, but now I have zero interest in it. I've never done "car camping" which I suppose some people consider that "really roughing it."
I'm not in my 20's anymore and sleeping on the ground would result in a sore body and sleep depravation for me. RVing is obviously a stark difference from backpacking but it still a good outdoor experience along with being able to be with your friends/family with the comforts of a good bed, cold beer, a clean bathroom of your own, and cable.
I just got back from camping in my travel trailer. I met up with some friends in their class c motorhome and another group with their tent. We camped at a state park and spent most of our time outside the RVs. We cooked outside, on the fire and a Coleman stove, even in the rain. We put up a rain cover over the picnic table. About the only things we did in the RVs was sleep. We spent a lot of time fishing, walking dogs on the beach and crabbing with an inflatable boat. My friends use their RV bathroom to store the crab traps, fishing poles and waders. They don't even bother hooking up the water. They do dishes outside at the hose bib and use the parks very clean restrooms. The RVs offer plenty of storage for all our outdoor gear. The bed in my travel trailer is really comfortable. I still have my tents for more remote camping. Tents have their place.
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When the rain drives the tent campers inside their damp tents for a cold sandwich or a drive to town for a restaurant meal, we're in our snug dry RVs, looking out at the beautiful scenery and cooking on our propane stoves. While you have to bury your waste, day or night, or hike to the public toilets which may or may not be filthy and smelly, we have a nice clean bathroom right with us. A rainy day or two doesn't bother us as we can curl up in our comfy beds with a good book or turn on the TV. When it rains we've seen tenters pack up and leave the campground or wherever. The RVs stay. Maybe one will leave. And remember that many of those RVers you see are not into outside cooking and smokey fires. Some live in their RVs so making a fire and roasting a weenie is no longer a biggie for them as it is for someone who is just a camper.
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Or layign on the ground with lightening popping all around you and the tent slappinp you in the face. Yep we have had some real fun in our tent days.
