There are some basic things to know about camping that make it easier to enjoy.

Every serious camper has a “philosophy” for their camping year–an overriding plan for what they want to see, where they want to go and what they want out of their trips. This can and will (and should!) change from year to year. There are lots of types of camping and lots of reasons why it might be a good things to do.

Every camping season seems to have a bit of a different set of goals or a different guiding philosophy behind it. In 2010, when we had just purchased the Silver Shadow, it was all about short prep trips to get us and our gear ready for our 3 week sabbatical trip to Maine and Nova Scotia. In 2011, it was about taking easy short trips that wouldn’t be too hard on our elderly shih tzu Tenzin, whose health was failing quickly. In 2012, it was about doing lots of different things and going to new places to acclimate our new shih tzu, Ketu, to the ways of camping.  In 2013 and 2014, it was about balancing short local trips with longer trips to visit with family. In 2014 we also had to take it a bit easy early in the season as I got back up to speed after surgery on both hands and we camped later into the fall than we ever had before. In 2015, we had big aspirations that got scaled back when life got in the way and we decided to move. In 2016 we had plans for a balance of short and long trips and slowed things down when I broke my wrist while on one of our trips (which we continued despite the injury!). In 2017 our trips suited all kinds of purposes–camping with friends, as a means to get to and stay with family, as a way to go to a concert not so close to home and as a long meandering, relaxing trip through the ADK. In 2018 the trips we were about balancing new things and places with old favorites. In 2019, we did a bit of the same–favorite places, new places, balancing friends and family and solo trips.

2020 is a whole new ballgame. Not only are we now on our third (or maybe 40th) plan for the season, but we’re doing it with a brand new camper and a lot of unknowns.

This section of the site also has some good tips to remember as you work to setup your camp and account for different types of conditions you may encounter. It should help gather this general info and keep you informed as our methods change from year-to-year. Camping is always an adventure, teardrop or otherwise.