Camping is a word with different meanings for different people. For some it means grabbing the tent out of the garage, tossing it into the trunk of your car along with your other camping gear and heading out to the wilderness. There you unpack the car, erect your tent, toss your sleeping bags inside and cook your meals on an open fire. Sleeping under the stars is the dream of a lot of folks.
For others, it means hopping into your RV and driving to a park and connecting your water and sewer lines and electricity and turning on your TV.
For me it's somewhere in between. I have a cargo van that I converted to an RV. But, I don't camp in RV parks. Nor does my van have all the amenities of the large, expensive motor homes. To me, RV parks aren't really camping. RV parks tend to park motor homes so close to each other that you can hear your neighbor snore and they can be quite pricey. My van can carry me into the wilderness, National Forests or BLM Land where I may not even see another camper. Of course, most of those areas have no amenities at all, so you have to plan for carrying fresh water in. If you want or need electricity, then you'll have to plan for that. I have solar panels that capture the suns rays and provides all the electricity I need for my refrigerator and lights. My van has a comfortable bed, so the cold, hard ground if not a concern for me. Further, should inclement weather become a problem, I have protection inside my van.
The National Forests allow this type camping as does BLM Land (Bureau of Land Management). There are Forest Service maps available for free to make finding a suitable camping site like this quite easy. In addition, there are a lot of apps available for your smartphone. These apps show where campsites can be found and give directions for getting there. A couple of things to think about. All the BLM Land that I've been on forbids picking up wood, even dead wood for fires, so be sure to carry your own in if you want a fire and be aware of fire safety and you should check to see if fires are prohibited where you wish to camp. Bring all your trash back out with you, leave your site cleaner than it was when you arrived.
Now, if you're one of those who likes to camp in a tent and be somewhat close to nature, but prefers a campground for security or whatever, then you may want to choose a park with primitive sites set aside for tent camping. This type camping does provide some security as well as bath houses and some semblance of nature.
Some folks like to really go primitive by canoeing into certain wilderness areas. Some enjoy backpacking for miles into the wilderness and tossing a tent or sleeping on the ground under the stars.
People get into camping for various reasons, the most common being to commune with nature. That can be difficult in a big RV in a luxury park while sitting in an air conditioned RV watching TV along with dozens of other RV'ers.
So, whichever you prefer, it's ok, just do it. You'll feel better after spending a weekend or a week out in the wilderness communing with nature.
Source: Most of the photos in this blog are provided courtesy of pixabay.com.
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