Growing up, my only camping experience was Girl Scout camp, which I really enjoyed. But it was an organized group camp — a good introduction! My parents were not outdoorsy that way.
I don’t think I really camped until my 30s when I traveled a bit on my own, and then the first year my husband and I were dating, we backpacked through Zion for four days. That’s *true* camping! It was exciting and exhausting and I’m glad we did it. Since then I’ve done a lot of car camping by myself — or tent camping with a site in a state or national park, and sometimes boondocking in undeveloped areas (in the states the Bureau of Land Management encourages low-impact camping in many parts of the west).
Fifteen years ago, I bought a tiny teardrop camping trailer and towed it across the USA and back, for 2+ months, camping solo and photographing along the way. The trailer is basically little more than a tent on wheels. A perfect shelter to sleep in campgrounds or dispersed camping sites plus I carried a little cook stove and essentials for small meals.
I don’t tent camp much anymore but I wouldn’t rule it out — we still have all our gear. Ten years ago, I did tent camp when I rode the RAGBRAI bike ride across the state of Iowa (500 miles in a week), but the tents were provided and set up by a local company that also provides meals and portable showers each night. It was a blast, but sleeping on the ground after riding 70 miles in a day may be a thing of the past for me now.
In 2020 during the early months of the pandemic, my husband and I bought an Airstream trailer and have taken it on large and small adventures, with the dogs. It’s fancy camping! We prefer dispersed camping rather than campgrounds for the solitude. We use Hipcamp and Harvest Hosts to find interesting places to stay along the way.
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