Okay, okay… I like “camping!”

I am what some people call an “indoorsy” person. Sure, I enjoy a nice hike, bike ride, swim (pools only) or cookout but I also enjoy a bed, a toilet and a hot shower. I’m not high maintenance but my “sleeping in a tent”, “cooking things in cans days” are long behind me. I think there may have only been a small window of time where that was enjoyable. So, when my husband started getting into this idea of camping, I always had a reason why I couldn’t participate. The first summer he decided our daughter was old enough I was pregnant with our son. I could barely sleep in a bed so roughing it was not happening. They enjoyed their overnight camp and I enjoyed my pizza and Netflix on the couch. The next year our son was an infant and who wants to take an infant camping? Not only do you need a truckload of camp stuff but you need a truck load of infant stuff too. So again, I stayed home, watching tv and snuggling my baby. 

The following year was the first year that it might be feasible for all of us to go. I went back and forth but just didn’t see any appeal in sleeping in a tent. I work at a homeless shelter, what’s the appeal in sleeping outside? So again, I chose to stay home with our then one-year-old. My husband and daughter called us frequently and shared all the fun and excitement they were having. They sent pictures of them biking, napping in the hammock, visiting a lighthouse, sitting by the fire… and for the first time, I felt a tinge of jealousy. “Man, I’m really missing out,” I thought. “Here they are making memories and having a blast and I am sitting at home watching tv and making trips to Target.” 

When my husband came home from that trip, he created a video of their time together and watching it made me deeply regret not having joined them. I told my husband that I was saddened I had not chosen to go and he became excited at the prospect of making this a family thing. That February at our local convention center was an RV show and my husband convinced me to go. We had gone the year before but at that point I said, “we are not wasting money on an RV.” This time around, I was a little more open to the idea but still rather concerned that this would be something we would use a couple times and then have to pay maintenance, storage fees, etc. the rest of the year. 

While we perused all the travel trailers and climbed in each one, our two and seven-year old climbing the bunks and imagining what it would be like, I started to feel more receptive. I could imagine sitting at the table, cooking pancakes on the stove, watching tv (yes a theme of mine okay), playing board games and stepping outside to sit by the fire. We spent hours that day narrowing it down to the trailer we liked the most. We came back the next day to survey our top five. We went back to the one we had our eye for the third time and while inside a woman started chatting with me. Not knowing me at all, she started to tell me how skeptical she was of getting an RV but after having had it for a year, she changed her mind. She said her kids love it, they camped so much that year, made so many memories and even took it to her parent’s house when they visited to have their own space. Instantly I imagine all those things happening for us. This woman told me they owned the same camper and it was perfect for their family of four plus dog. How ironic? We just got a dog the month before! Suddenly I pictured it all! 

Our Trailer os a Grey Wolf 26DBH

So my husband did the research, we saved some money and the next month we went to the dealer and bought ourselves a 26 foot travel trailer. That summer we took our first trip to a KOA campground in Cape May, NJ. That was the first of many trips. We probably visited ten different sites that summer and a few of those we went to multiple times. It was a busy summer. I sat out two trips and let my husband take just one of our kids. We both work full-time jobs but I often refer to his job as “fluffy” because he has more control over his schedule than I; although don’t use the word “fluffy” in front of him, it has become a trigger word in our marriage. 

And now I guess I can say that I love camping. Okay, I love RV-ing. I guess some people do not consider having an RV camping but it was a big step for me. We are looking forward to this season. We did our first trip to Hershey, PA and had a blast. Our kids are now three and eight. I hope to share with you our adventures as well as our struggles because anyone with kids knows that it isn’t all sunshine and roses. I hope you join me on our “camping” adventures!