 | I asked my friend Anne to write me this guest post. She and her family go RVing, something our family has never tried. She makes it sound good, though! |
Why I love camping…
This photo says it all. Relaxed, hanging out with family. No agenda, no “To Do” list, no itinerary.
This photo says it all. Relaxed, hanging out with family. No agenda, no “To Do” list, no itinerary.
We hike…
We explore…
We learn new things… Here my son and I are reading a monument erected in honor of 15 young Japanese men who crossed the Pacific in a 15 meter wooden boat and landed at Point Arena in 1913.
We go out to eat…
But when we camp, there are few times we feel we “have to,” or say “got to get going” or “better hurry.”
When we camp, we spend about half of our time exploring the local area and about half of the time just hanging out by the campsite. I used to get antsy doing that, although my family has always loved it. I have learned to embrace the slowness, the calm, just being with my family. We read and discuss what we are reading, we nap, and we play games.
When we camp, we spend about half of our time exploring the local area and about half of the time just hanging out by the campsite. I used to get antsy doing that, although my family has always loved it. I have learned to embrace the slowness, the calm, just being with my family. We read and discuss what we are reading, we nap, and we play games.
Games with cards and dice and boards… but we also like to play electronic games. And we watch movies. It’s vacation, so everyone gets to do some of what they enjoy. Our kids look forward to going camping, because they know that it’s their vacation too.
There is still plenty of time for conversation or physical exercise or just being quiet.
There is still plenty of time for conversation or physical exercise or just being quiet.
One of our favorite things is to sit by the campfire.
Just watching it for hours… and making S’mores, of course.
Sometimes we meet and get to know other families. We’ve made lifelong friends at campgrounds.
When I asked my 16-year-old son what he liked about camping, he said he liked the isolation, the being away from all the usual things.
Sometimes we meet and get to know other families. We’ve made lifelong friends at campgrounds.
When I asked my 16-year-old son what he liked about camping, he said he liked the isolation, the being away from all the usual things.
And when I asked what was different about camping compared to staying in hotels, he said that when you camp “it’s your own place, but away.”
There’s something about it being “your own place” that is restful. We can pack lots of stuff on our travel trailer, so we bring all the books we might want to read. Don’t know which outfit to bring? Bring both. Not sure what kind of food we’ll find? We pack our fridge full of the things we like, like berries, olives, cheese and the thick pork chops we like with the special rub.
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Camping for us is about time… time to relax, time to be together, time to just be and to breathe.
Yvonne asked if we’ll keep camping after the kids are out of the house. My husband and I agree that there will be a place for camping in our lives. We enjoy the couple time we have, even when the kids are camping with us. Still, I can imagine that we will probably want to hop on a few more airplanes to see things beyond our driving range.
But the bottom line is that we don’t know what new adventures might be in our future. There are so many things we’ve done that we never expected to do (camping for one, moving across country for another), so it’s hard to say what the next chapter of our lives will be like. All the more reason to savor this season of camping…
We just tucked our trailer back into its storage spot yesterday. I’m always a little sad to leave it there. But we have two more trips on the calendar. We’ll be back by the campfire soon!
Yvonne asked if we’ll keep camping after the kids are out of the house. My husband and I agree that there will be a place for camping in our lives. We enjoy the couple time we have, even when the kids are camping with us. Still, I can imagine that we will probably want to hop on a few more airplanes to see things beyond our driving range.
But the bottom line is that we don’t know what new adventures might be in our future. There are so many things we’ve done that we never expected to do (camping for one, moving across country for another), so it’s hard to say what the next chapter of our lives will be like. All the more reason to savor this season of camping…
We just tucked our trailer back into its storage spot yesterday. I’m always a little sad to leave it there. But we have two more trips on the calendar. We’ll be back by the campfire soon!
Photos are from our last trip to the Manchester Beach/Mendocino Coast KOA.
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