When visiting with others about our travels, we are sometimes asked, “Do you like to camp?” The question always throws us a bit because we don’t see ourselves as campers. We see ourselves as adventurers.
Many folks who RV camp want to be in nature but they also want some of the conveniences of home. This type of camper will typically secure an organized campsite and stay there for several days. For them, the ideal campsite includes water, electricity and a sewer management system. When we stay in campgrounds, we think it’s fun to see how each family at the campground personalizes their campsite. They often create the home away from home with rugs, special lights, creative sitting areas and special cooking equipment.
There is nothing wrong with this type of recreational camping and we certainly aren’t judging it. It’s just not our style. Although we do like the conveniences of electricity, water and sewer services we really don’t like sharing our time surrounded by strangers. We are much happier with more privacy and less noise.
Truth be told, we view Alice as the vehicle that gets us where we want to be and also provides us with a bed and a kitchen. That’s about it.
Our motivation and source of fun is to explore new places we have never seen. We seek adventure wherever we go. For this reason, we tend to be on the move a lot. Camping in one place for multiple days isn’t our thing.
As an example, on our last trip to Michigan, we we away 13 nights, and stayed in an organized campground 4 nights. The other nights we boondocked.
Our Favorite Type of Adventure
The activities we consider adventures will vary from place to place but often include:
- Finding a hiking trail. We prefer a wooded hike over an open area typically and we like to hike to a designation or a natural highlight at the end of a trail.
- Bike on local trails. Our bikes are hybrids so we do not seek out mountain biking. We prefer local trails in extraordinary places.
- Walk a beach and hang out near water for a while.
- Kayaking. We do not have kayaks with us in Alice but will rent some occasionally. Many times, we can enjoy the water with the blow-up paddle boards with carry with us.
- Explore the local town. We consider these “off” days but sometimes enjoy shopping and eating in a cool local town.
- Stop at historic spots. If we are driving and are not in a hurry, we will often stop at the historic landmarks located all over the country. Many times, these stops are interesting and will lead us on another route or to another town to learn more about an area’s history.
Much of the time, we decide what we want to do once we get there and we like to talk to the locals to find out the best places to go. Although we do visit the hot spots where tourist go many of our favorite spots are less busy.
Our desire to find an adventure will always outpace our desire to camp.
On our best days, we wake up early and find our way to the trail head before the crowds arrive. The solitude of hiking a trail alone makes us want more. The lure of the next destination and the reward of finding a waterfall, a natural feature, a historic landmark or a mountain ridge never gets old.
So, the best answer to the “do you like to camp” question is, “it’s okay”.
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