No camper ever says “I’m so looking forward to going camping in the rain.” Mostly rain happens, and you deal. You hope it doesn’t last. You hope it doesn’t come suddenly and drench everything you left out. You hope it doesn’t go on for so long that your tent, your gear, whatever you had–is soggy and muddy. You hope it clears up so that you can get outdoors and off to whatever hiking and exploring you were planning and back to the real camping.

But now with the T@B, I’m realizing that I might like to actually camp in the rain. The camper is snug and it sounds lovely to listen to the rain on the roof. It’s nice to have the windows cracked open and a cool breeze coming through and still feel no dampness inside the camper. You can smell the negative ions in the air.

You can use the stove to make a hot cup of tea or coffee and snuggle up in the dinette or bed and just sit and listen. Or read. Or watch something. Or nap. You can hang up your wet jacket in the bath to dry. You can stay in the camper and not have to run out if you need the bathroom.

Coming out to sit in the camper when it rains is now one of my favorite things to do at home. And it makes me think that I might look forward to some rainy days on our upcoming camping trips. I might even go ahead with a weekend trip where the entire weekend it was going to rain rather than cancel!

We’ve come a long way from those days in a soggy tent trying to keep the sleeping bags from hitting the wet floor…