Question of The Day. Sunday 3rd of October.

[Norachan]

Hi, welcome to the first weekend of October.



Do you like camping? When was the last time you camped? If you don't like camping, why not?

Camping is really popular in these parts, even more so for the past couple of years. I think a lot of people believe camping is safer than staying in a hotel because it's easier to keep your distance from other people. Although of course you have to share the same shower blocks, toilets, water taps and BBQ places as everyone else on the campsite, so you're no safer than you would be in a hotel. Glamping (Glamorous camping) is popular too. For those who want to try camping, but don't have the nerve to actually sleep in a tent.



I used to go camping a lot when I was a kid. In those days it was pretty basic, but we still had fun. I think the last time I slept in a tent was at Glastonbury festival about 20 years ago. I don't fancy doing it much now. my cabin in the woods is pretty similar to glamping any way.

How about you, what do you think about camping?

 

[Katie M]

My parents recently bought a camper, and I went with them on a weekend trip last month. I do enjoy it-as long as there's hot water and an electric fireplace

 

[Lari]

It's been years! I used to do cabin camping in my 20s with a friend, but that campsite closed down (there were no toilets in the cabin, we had to walk a ways to get to the latrines, so it wasn't super glam). I was a girl scout, so I've done tent camping as well, both platform tents and on the ground.

It's okay, but I'm not a huge fan of creepy crawlies, so I don't love it. If J becomes a girl scout and they need adults to come camping with a troop I totally could/would go, and I'd be game for it if my husband wanted to go.

 

[LTS3]

I've only been camping once. I was in high school and this group I was part of went on a weekend camping trip to the mountains. It was fun but I could have done without the constant group activities and being social.

 

[Willowy]

I understand camping if you're visiting another area and don't want to pay hotel rates or put up with sticky rooms, etc. Or if you're on a cool extended hike, obviously you have to camp. That's fine. And maybe one night sleeping outside, having a campfire, is fun.

I don't understand camping if you're at a campsite 10 minutes from home and, idk, just want to sleep in a tent? I don't get it. I know lot of people who will just go camping for a week straight like that, and will even go home once a day to feed the cat, take a shower, do some laundry, etc. and I just don't get WHY that's a thing. There are bugs, heat/humidity, smoke, uncomfortable sleeping mats, and obnoxious fellow campers. I don't get it.

But it's their vacation, if that's what they like to do it's not my problem, I just don't care to join them for more than one night, lol.

 

[Jem]

I love camping! We grew up camping so I'm comfortable with it, I know how to use camping gear, and how to set up a site so it's fun and easy for me. I take pride in the fact that I can start and keep a fire going even in the rain.
I'll admit, that as an adult, I'm not one for "back woods camping" where all you have is a small tent, a few cans of beans and you use leaves as toilet paper. But I do love going to private or provincial parks. I don't need a bunch of amenities but I do want pluming...bathing in a lake and pooping in a hole I dig in the ground just isn't my thing anymore.
It's been a few years since we've gone due to the health of our previous cats (they've since passed) and then of course covid and all the poop that came with it, but hopefully next year we'll be able to take our annual camping trip we used to always do.
Even though we still use a tent to go camping, we do have a really good set up where it's quite comfortable. Our tent is a 10 man tent (we're only 2) with a 7 foot high clearance at it's center. No more attempting to change or try to find our stuff all cramped and crouched. We have a double thick queen air mattress for sleeping and even a full size percolating coffee machine that fits on our propane stove....no instant coffee for us! We have all the gear we need to make our site a home away from home...even if it sometimes gets a bit cold or damp...we're great.

 

[susanm9006]

I haven’t camped in years. A prior Bf had a boat that we used to take on the Mississippi River and camp on its shoreline. Just a tent on patch of sand, peaceful and beautiful at night. I loved that kind of camping. I also used to camp at campgrounds when I took my son on trips. Didnt like the noise and people nearby but hot showers, indoor toilets and a camp store were nice.

 

[game misconduct]

i love camping but stopped all of my outdoor activities since my stroke. i do want to try that fake camping they call glamping though

 

[neely]

I've only been camping once when close friends invited us to join them with their group of friends. I didn't mind it and actually thought it was fun but DH prefers his privacy when going to the bathroom, lol.

 

[denice]

The first time I went 'camping' was in the Army. That kind of turned me off on the whole idea. The only way I would want to do it would be with a large RV with all the amenities. Given the cost of the RV and fuel for it I don't think it is any cheaper then a clean moderately priced hotel. Some retirees just live in an RV and travel year round. They have services to use as a mailing address and when they are stopped somewhere long enough they can have mail forwarded to them. Given that so much is done online now I don't know that is necessary though. It could be necessary though if someone needed a permanent 'residence' so they could continue to vote. Good luck on those pesky jury notices though.

 

[strider rose]

i love to go camping ! the last time i went was back in the late 90's

 

[Willowy]

I love camping! We grew up camping so I'm comfortable with it, I know how to use camping gear, and how to set up a site so it's fun and easy for me. I take pride in the fact that I can start and keep a fire going even in the rain.
I'll admit, that as an adult, I'm not one for "back woods camping" where all you have is a small tent, a few cans of beans and you use leaves as toilet paper. But I do love going to private or provincial parks. I don't need a bunch of amenities but I do want pluming...bathing in a lake and pooping in a hole I dig in the ground just isn't my thing anymore.
It's been a few years since we've gone due to the health of our previous cats (they've since passed) and then of course covid and all the poop that came with it, but hopefully next year we'll be able to take our annual camping trip we used to always do.
Even though we still use a tent to go camping, we do have a really good set up where it's quite comfortable. Our tent is a 10 man tent (we're only 2) with a 7 foot high clearance at it's center. No more attempting to change or try to find our stuff all cramped and crouched. We have a double thick queen air mattress for sleeping and even a full size percolating coffee machine that fits on our propane stove....no instant coffee for us! We have all the gear we need to make our site a home away from home...even if it sometimes gets a bit cold or damp...we're great.

But then what do you DO all day?

Granted, she's a teenager so everything is boring, lol, but the 15-year-old kid of a family I know who likes to camp is constantly whining about how boring it is, how they do nothing all day except poke sticks into the campfire, etc.

 

[NY cat man]

I like camping; I just haven't had all that many opportunities to do it- the last being in 1975. I loved it when a bunch of us went for a week of fishing on an island in a Quebec provincial park. We were about 20 miles from where we put the boats in, and we never saw another boat all week. At night you could hear the loons calling, as well as the moose splashing in the water, and you could pick wild blueberries by day. We had a big wall tent for sleeping and another, smaller one, for cooking. Those were the days.

 

[denice]

Granted, she's a teenager so everything is boring, lol, but the 15-year-old kid of a family I know who likes to camp is constantly whining about how boring it is, how they do nothing all day except poke sticks into the campfire, etc.

Teenagers are in a perpetual state of boredom as well as embarrassment when they are doing things with parents. I think it is in the Teenager's Rulebook.

 

[CatladyJan]

I camping in my bed in my house

 

[Willowy]

Teenagers are in a perpetual state of boredom as well as embarrassment when they are doing things with parents. I think it is in the Teenager's Rulebook.

Well, sure, but that's also been my experience when camping, haha. Now it might be fun to camp by the lake and jump in the kayak every time I get the notion (for a day or two anyway, no idea what people do for a full week), but otherwise it seems to be a lot of sitting around poking the fire.

 

[Silver Crazy]

I spent years every second weekend camping out in the bush riding in Motorbike Enduro events and no more camping for me, Motel rooms or a cabin for me!!

 

[lizzie]

We did the camping thing quite a bit as a kid,and for many years we had a big tent and we each had a fold up cot.My folks were big fly fishing lovers,and their favorite place to go for the trout fishing was in Keene,NY.There was a very nice camp ground that was right across the road from an arm of the Ausable River,and it was such a beautiful place!The swimming was great,water very cold and clean,and the fishing was pretty good.Mom went back and forth between cooking over an open fire to the coleman cookstove she had.Great meals as I recall!They branched out.... when I was in my early teens they bought a scamper which was really cool.They used that for a few years but loved that area so much they ended up buying a house.I always enjoyed the camping (not so much when it rained tho)but the fishing just wasn't my thing.

 

[LTS3]

But then what do you DO all day?

While camping? Depends. I went camping in the mountains so we hiked up a mountain on one day. We didn't get to the top but it was still fun. I think the next day we just went exploring in the neighboring area. I remember one place that had a pond with ducks and there was a dispenser thing you put a quarter into and get a handful of food to feed the ducks with. The ducks were trained only to eat the purchased food and not random bread pieces and stuff tossed into the water

I would have been perfectly happy just sitting in the wilderness and just observing the surroundings for hours. Lots of people don't get that.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

It depends on your deffinition of camping.

My family had a camp in the mountains when I was a kid. It was jointly owned by my grandparents and my great and and uncle. So sometimes we would absolutely pack it out with people and it was a BLAST!

It was nothing fancy; just an old trailer with an addition added on. They even had to build a roof over the roof on it. Behind the camp they had a concrete brick fire pit area. Somtimes wild strawberries grew in the grassy area behind that.

The only un-fun part was using the outhouse. It had a septic; but getting it serviced was an issue so the inside bathroom was only for night time use. And no showering.

My cousins and I would play in the woods all over. Sometimes deer would walk through but I never saw bears. They only saw those once or twice I guess. There were a lot of camps on that road and a few year-rounders. They only plowed to a little past our camp because of those year-round residents. So sometimes in the winter we would go up and use the roads for sledding. In the summer we would head down to the lake to swim. The beaches on the lake belonged to peopel who had camps in certain areas. So it was never crowded. There are 2 little islands in the lake that we would boat over to once in a while too.

So that's my deffinition of camping and something I'd do in a heartbeat.

If you want to sleep in a tent at a campground...nah. We can light the fire pit at home and then go sleep in our beds. We can kayak nearby. Tent camping is deffinitely nothing I'm interested in. RV camping could be ok; as long as I can bring Mooch. I do see people hiking and camping with their dogs and that really appeals to me. Maybe someday.