What is the point of a "camper"?

[Dick Whitman]

My cousin fancies herself a big camper. She posts the pictures from her campground - it looks like they are staying in a rolling five-star hotel.

WTF? Pitch a tent and crack a beer, people. What the hell is the point, otherwise?

 

[MisterCreosote]

"Camping is a tradition in my family."

"Well, it was a tradition in everyone's family until we came up with the house."

-- Jim Gaffigan

 

[cranberry]

I camped one night along the Delaware River with a few friends about 30 years ago. The fire never got going very well in the rain shower, so we ended up eating wildly under-cooked steaks, and the clothing that got wet when tipped over the canoe didn't thoroughly dry overnight on the makeshift clothes line. Plus, I didn't sleep very well in the sleeping bag. I don't get the attraction.

 

[Dick Whitman]

I camped one night along the Delaware River with a few friends about 30 years ago. The fire never got going very well in the rain shower, so we ended up eating wildly under-cooked steaks, and the clothing that got wet when tipped over the canoe didn't thoroughly dry overnight on the makeshift clothes line. Plus, I didn't sleep very well in the sleeping bag. I don't get the attraction.

The attraction is not being a huge *****.

 

[JC]

My cousin fancies herself a big camper. She posts the pictures from her campground - it looks like they are staying in a rolling five-star hotel.

WTF? Pitch a tent and crack a beer, people. What the hell is the point, otherwise?

Comfort, simple. All the joys of the outdoors and dry and comfortable at night.

 

[Dick Whitman]

My point isn't about camping in general, though. I mean, if you want to spend your life walled off in your air conditioning, be my guest.

But if you're going to camp, ****ing camp.

That's all I'm saying.

 

[Dick Whitman]

Comfort, simple. All the joys of the outdoors and dry and comfortable at night.

You can buy a fire pit at Wal-Mart. Stick it in your backyard and spare yourself the drive.

 

[User 11148]

Ever tent-camped in the summer in the deep South, ****? Give 'er a go sometime and I think you'll see what a camper's good for.

 

[cranberry]

The attraction is not being a huge *****.

So camping is good for people with self-esteem issues? Isn't it easier to go buy a pickup truck with big tires?

 

[JC]

You can buy a fire pit at Wal-Mart. Stick it in your backyard and spare yourself the drive.

Sure, then you can't hike, fish, swim or whatever else you want to do during the day.

 

[Dick Whitman]

Sure, then you can't hike, fish, swim or whatever else you want to do during the day.

Yeah, I guess.

The friends who go with us to the Indy 500 flat-out refuse to camp at the track the night before. They'll come out on Saturday night, cook out and toss beanbags for a couple hours, then head out back to the one guy's house to sleep in comfort and shower in the morning. Seems like a huge hassle to me just to avoid sleeping in a tent, which, for whatever reason, a lot of people seem to have an aversion to.

 

[User 11148]

Oftentimes the camper isn't for the person who likes camping. I don't have a camper, but I'd like one ... because I'd like for MommaQuant to come along sometime.

 

[Dick Whitman]

Oftentimes the camper isn't for the person who likes camping. I don't have a camper, but I'd like one ... because I'd like for MommaQuant to come along sometime.

I do understand RVs at racetracks or college football games. You can pack quite a party into one of those things.

 

[The Big Ragu]

I love tent camping. I don't get the people who show up with the big home on wheels with appliances. For me, the idea is to get outdoors, start a fire, cook on the fire, go hiking during the day, sleep under the stars at night.

 

[Dick Whitman]

I love tent camping. I don't get the people who show up with the big home on wheels with appliances. For me, the idea is to get outdoors, start a fire, cook on the fire, go hiking during the day, sleep under the stars at night.

Sometimes it really does feel like you and I are one person on here.

 

[The Big Ragu]

Sometimes it really does feel like you and I are one person on here.

Fer sure.

 

[User 149557]

My parents have a big-ass house on wheels. They have it so they can travel across the country (relatively) cheaply in retirement. They'll take off for three or four months at a time and live out of it. I understand it for that reason. I prefer roughing it for a weekend. My wife finds all of it pointless and refuses to do it in any form.

 

[Dick Whitman]

My parents have a big-ass house on wheels. They have it so they can travel across the country (relatively) cheaply in retirement. They'll take off for three or four months at a time and live out of it.

Yeah, yeah. I understand the point of an RV. I don't understand the point of driving 30 minutes to a campground with a McMansion on wheels attached to your car.

 

[User 11148]

I'd like a pop-up camper. It's really just a tent on wheels, but it does allow for air conditioning. Plus, it lets you keep your camping **** in one place and at the ready. Even though I have a lot of my camping stuff already in storage bins in the garage attic, it still takes a helluva lot of effort to gather everything else up. I get the urge to go camping and then I start thinking about all that work ... and I say, "Maybe next weekend."

 

[MisterCreosote]

The fundamental misunderstanding driving this thread: Staying in a "camper" is not "camping," nor does it really pretend to be, other than in similar name.