Sure there are a lot of vacations to take but here are 10 reasons to go camping.
Photo Credit- Unsplash, Michael Guite
“I really want to go camping this summer. Preferably” by myself in a hotel with a spa and room service.”
I have to admit, this was me.
My family didn’t camp when I was younger. I was at the bottom of 5 children and quite a bit younger than my siblings. The boys went camping, with my Dad, in the scouts. By the time I came around, no one went anymore. Oh, and we lived in the middle of the city in Chicago.
Now, we did do some low maintenance cabins and such. I remember them fondly, LOOKING BACK. At the time, I was very afraid of the, what seemed to be, HUGE spiders (daddy longlegs)! And hotels seemed just so much more fun…THE POOLS!!
But then……
I married a man that grew up camping and had two boys.
So what’s a girl to do?
Now I will admit there are times where I am tempted to just send the boys on their way for a guys weekend. “You guys can bond.” Sometimes I do, but most times, I go and here’s why………
MY TOP 5 REASONS TO GO CAMPING
- FAMILY TIME/MEMORIES –Camping is something that brings you closer together as a family. I don’t know if it’s the fresh air, games, injuries, no electronics, or what. The stories we can tell from these trips are invaluable to me.
- INEXPENSIVE – You can’t beat the cost. We have a VERY OLD pop up tent trailer!!! It was $300 10 years ago old. If you break that down plus the cost per night of the spot and gas, we paid about $25/night. Plus, we didn’t have the air on or use the water at home so there are savings there. Can’t beat that! And if I went on a traditional trip (in a hotel) we would have all the eating out expenses.
- UNPLUG- Yeah, you can’t match this kind of unplug anywhere else. When you go on a trip, you have your cell phones to take pictures and guess why, free internet from the hotel. When you go camping, no free internet. In fact, no internet in a lot of places. All we could do was take pictures! NO EMAIL, NO FACEBOOK, NO INSTAGRAM! Sorry guys..love ya but need a break every now and again
- NATURE – Let’s face it, camping is in some awesome parts of the world. You are surrounded by amazing birds, flowers, sunsets, sunrises, trees, lakes, rivers, on and on. You can hear the birds in the morning and the insects at night. It’s peaceful. You can see a short video we took on our most recent trip, HERE.
- SLOW DOWN- There can be a lot of downtime in camping. Sitting around the campfire, sitting by the lake, sitting after a meal, sitting after a bike ride, etc. It’s a great time to enjoy nature, your family, and God. When we are still we can hear the voice of God.
5 MORE REASONS
- FACE FEARS – Remember the spiders I was talking about. Yeah, I still don’t like them. In fact, I could do without a lot of bugs, to be honest. The more I go camping, the better this becomes. In fact, many years ago, on a “glamping” type trip, I got freaked out about a spider The Mister hit with a stick. I couldn’t see where it went and had nightmares all night. Believe me, this is a story that will go down in family history. The last time we went camping, I think I had a dead spider (be it small) on our little mattress thing we sleep and I was like oh well! For me, that is one step toward conquering this fear. But even if spiders aren’t it, there are other fears that get conquered in the great outdoors like heights, dark, water, wildlife, hot dogs.
- COMPASSION – There are a lot of things that can go wrong on a camping trip. If for instance, your son gets stung a bunch of times, husband falls on some rocks, another son burns his hand, and you inadvertently fall over the handle of your bike, there’s plenty of time to be compassionate toward each other. Not that we would know or anything. But seriously, when I need to stop, my kids stop and wait. I think that it’s good for them to learn how to wait for others.
- CHALLENGE MYSELF – I push myself a little harder. If the trail seems a little harder, I am going to go and try. I’m not going to be the only one that didn’t make it. I also believe my boys can see that I am going a little outside my comfort zone and hope they will as well (like maybe antique store with their mom).
- LOWER STANDARDS
When I am on a regular hotel vacation my standards don’t change nearly as much as they do when camping. No makeup, spit cherries seeds on the ground, and easy paper plate dinners. There is an element that you are dirty, or going to be, anyways so “If the food falls on the ground, Oh well!” attitude. This, I think the boys love the most.
- GOOD WORKOUT – Hiking, biking, water sports, and more can be found out there. They are a great workout and generally, you are doing them with other people, not in a hotel workout room, which makes it more fun.
BONUS
- It might have looked like we failed to mention tasty food. Well, there was a camping incident with Smores that we don’t like to talk about.
- Here is a few more posts of our beautiful state: A Weekend in Astoria, Oregon, and Visit Natural Bridge Southern Oregon
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Can you believe that I have never been camping–live close to Chicago myself, so we would have to buy and store a lot of the gear for a family of 7. Maybe we will someday!
Tammy @ creativekkids recently posted…Thoughtful Thursdays, Week 19 #linky
Tammy, What part of Illinois? Yeah, a family of 7 is a lot but if the kids are old enough get them involved. Our oldest can completely setup on his own now as he has been helping since he was young. Hopefully you all will get a chance to go someday! Our little cabin that we would go to when I was little was on a lake in Wisconsin
I can identify with a lot of those reasons, but my favorite is unplugging, not just from devices, but from expectations, errands and housework, too. I love to truly get away!
Terra recently posted…Where’s Grandpa? A hidden pictures game for family
Terra, AGREED! It’s so hard, when one of your job’s is on the computer, to step away. It is such a great blessing to just relax in nature.
I am just like you! Camping is not my idea of a good time, but I do it for all the reasons you listed. Great post!!
Jenn recently posted…Food Friday~ Thornhill Farms Rice Bites & Cheddar Ranch Dip
Jenn, It’s sometimes something you have to learn to love if you haven’t grown up with it!!
My hubby used to joke…. my idea of camping is a hotel without a VCR. Well, over the years, I have slowly turned him into a camper. I love it!
Annette Browning recently posted…Resist Felting – Part 5 Felting Techniques
Annette, Good job! It’s tough when you haven’t been a camper, but the rewards and delightful! Thanks so much for stopping by!
I haven’t been camping in years. We bought a tent and everything just haven’t gone yet. We are always slammed packed during the spring, early summer and fall. By the time we slow down it’s way to hot to even think of camping.
I’m going to use this post as inspiration to plan a trip for this fall though. By God my girls are going to know what camping is.
Felicia recently posted…5 Great New Blogs
Felicia, I hear ya. We were in Arizona for 15 years and had to travel about 3 hours to get away from the heat. I hope you can find some place cool to go to.
Deborah recently posted…10 Reason I Go Camping
I LOVE camping, but a hotel is definitely more comfortable, and you can even have breakfast prepared for you, lol! Hope you find some fabulous places to camp there in OR, I recommend checking out Crescent City, there is a little out of the way campsite called Big Flat that we loved:)
Laura, Thanks for the tip. We were just over at Brookings this past weekend talking about going over to Crescent City. Will definitely check it out!