Usually in the winter, we plan for the summer of camping ahead and often with a certain amount of certainty. We have some idea of when vacations will be and whether there are any big work or personal things to work around. We usually have a pretty good idea of whether we want to go somewhere familiar or whether we are looking for a big new adventure. But 2021 is still proving to be a bit of an unknown and unknowable year as the global pandemic of covid-19 progresses and evolves. 

Back in January during some of the cold and snowy days, I started to realize that though it was still impossible to say when or if we’d feel safe traveling again, we probably needed to get some things booked anyway because SO MANY campgrounds were starting to be booked up. So we booked a couple of spring weekends close to home for shake-out trips. We also booked a June trip a little farther afield unsure of whether the dates would really work or not. And we planned an August vacation with 2 weeks of camping–in places we knew we could do with keeping things simple and distanced.

As we got to March and got vaccinated, we started to feel a bit more safe about the idea that things could improve enough with covid to make a bit more camping seem like a good idea. But at that point, it was becoming clear that all those people who had jumped on the bandwagon to buy campers, had also booked most of the prime spots for summer. It is starting to look like camping everywhere will be a bit busy this season. It is also looking like week to week there are starting to be cancellations as people realize that other things are opening up and plans are changing everywhere.

At this point, we’ve had two spring shake-out trips and feel pretty prepped for camping season.  Looking forward, we’re starting to sort things out so we can see what gets canceled or what work schedules will look like before we pickup a couple more weekend reservations. We took these first couple of trips super easy–go with the flow, do what feels safe, check out a few sights, enjoy some quiet time at camp reading and writing and sitting in front of a fire and chatting. Getting away these days is not so much about going and doing, but about having a break from the reality of the times we are living through. Camping makes that easier, even if you are just curled up in a blanket watching other campers out the window, which is always good entertainment!