Camping

Many of you that know me personally know that my family and I rarely went to hotels growing up. Instead of going to hotels/resorts, we stayed in our family trailer at a campground. Yes, today I’m going to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of going camping. 

Disadvantage

Messy

It’s no secret that camping can be messy. A large percentage of the time you are outside in the sand/dirt walking around. If you have a campfire then your hair and clothes smell like it. Depending on how hot it is outside and if you decide to go on a hike, you could sweat a lot too. Now, our trailer growing up always had a shower but if you camp in a tent, you have to use the community showers at the campground. Which can be concerning in and of itself. 

Advantage

Nature

Okay so nature can be messy but it can also be beautiful. You may see a butterfly, a deer or a flower you’ve never seen before. Some campgrounds even have nature trails where you can walk around and explore. Some are even right on or near the beach. Camping helps you really get outside and experience mother nature. You can see the stars at night, see the sun set/rise or enjoy the sounds of bugs and animals around you. Some of my most calming moments in my life have been sitting by a campfire and looking up at the stars.

Disadvantage

No Technology

Depending on what you are going camping in and what campground you are going to, there’s a chance that you will have limited access to technology on your camping trip. For example: Our latest trailer has a small television with surround sound, dvd player and radio. But we only get a small number of channels on the tv. Sometimes these channels don’t even come through properly. Typically, we will bring a few dvds with us when we go there for a few days. That way, they are there for when we do want something to watch when it’s raining or when we just want to be inside for the night. 

Although a lot of campgrounds are progressive and have wifi, you are still going to find some campgrounds that don’t offer wifi at all. My point is that when you go camping, you can’t expect to rely on technology the entire trip like you might if you stayed at a hotel. The biggest suggestion I can give you is to bring books and board games with you for entertainment.

Advantage/Disadvantage

Family/Friend Bonding

Whoever you decide to go camping with, know that you will be getting to know them a whole lot better on this trip. Whereas sometimes kids and parents have separate rooms in hotels, there are no separate rooms in trailers/tents. Our trailer is pretty much all one big room together in one space. The couch is in the kitchen area, the bunk beds are right near the bathroom and in most trailers, the only thing standing between your bed and the rest of the trailer is a curtain. Now the close quarters of trailers/tents can be considered a good and a bad thing. Let’s review both sides of this.

Good

For a lot of families, taking a vacation is difficult. Typically, parents only get off 1 or 2 weeks off from work a year. Camping is a way to spend time with your family outside of your regular routines. Some of our greatest inside family jokes have come from camping together when I was growing up. Being in such close quarters together makes it impossible to avoid each other. If it’s rainy out, you may play a family board/card game together. Or if it’s nice out, you might sit by the fire and tell stories. Camping really slows you down and helps you get to know the people around you. I would say that I’ve probably had some of the deepest conversations with people around a campfire. Which to me, is priceless. 

Bad

If you are spending a week camping with your family, this could be considered too much togetherness. You are probably going to get on each other’s nerves. When one of you is angry at the other, there is nowhere else for you to go but outside. You can’t slam the door and go into another room. And if you two are in a tent together? Forget about it. Camping will also help you discover all the things that annoy you about your family/friends. Maybe your brother chews too loudly or your dad snores. All annoyances will be discovered on a camping trip.

Advantage

Humble

I believe that taking kids camping every once and while makes them humble. Say you are a child that frequently goes to 5 Star Resorts with room service, cable, multiple pools, etc. If you are used to that and you go camping, it’s going to be a humbling experience for you. You are going to learn that money doesn’t grow on trees and that frankly you can’t always get what you want. You may learn to cook s’mores or hot dogs on the fire too. Or maybe you’ll learn how to gather sticks from around the campground for the campfire. Either way, the experience will change you for the better.

Disadvantage

Inclement Weather

Most of the time when you go on a vacation, you hope and pray that the weather stays a perfect 75 degrees and sunny throughout your entire trip. But the majority of the time, this never happens. Typically one or two days of your trip will have rain. This could be concerning if you are camping in a tent. I think personally, I would be uncomfortable if it was thunder storming while I slept in my tent. But hey, I’m sure others are okay with it.

In the event of massive winds, tornado watches or hurricanes, camping in a trailer can be dangerous. A trailer is mostly sturdy but unless it’s a permanent site, the trailer is not bolted into the ground. My suggestion in this case would be not to chance camping in those extreme conditions. Check your weather before putting yourself in this situation.

Advantage

Cost Effective

Camping can be a lot more cost effective than getting hotels, especially if you are camping in a tent. If you are thinking of buying a trailer, pricing on that can be rather expensive to begin with. But once you have the trailer, the cost of campgrounds per night is typically cheaper than hotels. A lot of times with camping, you are making your own food as well which can save some money. Even if you have a tent, you can bring pans and cook beans, grilled cheese, soup, hot dogs, and marshmallows over the fire (typically each campsite comes with a fire pit). When you stay in a hotel, often times you don’t have a full kitchen. So you end up eating out or ordering room service more frequently. 

Disadvantage

Bugs

When you go camping there is a 99% chance that you will see bugs. You will find them in your tent/trailer and you probably will see bugs that you’ve never seen before. Make sure to bring a fly swatter. Also, DON’T forget bug spray on your camping trip. When you are taking that hike or when you are sitting around the campfire at night, you are going to need it. I can’t even count the number of mosquito bites I’ve gotten over the years from camping. 

Also, if you are eating outside on a picnic table, try to get some plastic covers for your food until you are ready to eat. If not, the bugs will get to your food before you do. Bugs can be alarming if you haven’t seen them much before but if you take the precautions that I listed above, then you should be a pro at dealing with them in no time.

Advantage

Experience

The biggest thing that camping gives you are experiences. You may learn to cook over a fire for the first time, take your first real hike up a hill, catch your first fish or go canoeing for the first time. I guarantee that camping will bring you experiences that you will never forget. So much of camping is exploring and learning. Personally, I think you will learn a lot more staying at a campground than you will staying at a hotel but hey, maybe I’m just biased.

Now I just want to say that in my experience, camping can be just as fun as staying at a hotel. Just because you go camping doesn’t mean that you can’t go to amusement parks, restaurants or shops while you are in that area. When I was growing up, we rarely stayed in the trailer all day. We always went to the outlets, restaurants, boardwalks, beaches, amusement parks, water parks, antique shops, etc. We never stayed in one place. We always explored places in the area that we camped. Camping doesn’t have to be boring and it definitely wasn’t for me growing up. 

I hope that this helps you decide on whether or not you would like to try camping in the future. As someone who grew up camping, I hope I wasn’t too biased. Let me know some of your vacation experiences in the comments below.