Camping is one of those things that many people never try. It’s something that lots of people crinkle their nose up when you mention. Others look wistfully away when you talk about it and then shake their heads and say things like “Joe would never agree to do that.” It takes organization and planning to camp enjoyably and maintaining a good attitude when something doesn’t go well. Because inevitably, something somewhere doesn’t go well.

It’s not always comfortable and there is rarely (actually never) anyone to clean up after you, but it can be a really fun and rewarding time. You can learn a lot about the world around you and about yourself. It is a great way to spend more time in nature. It is a great way to test your creative abilities.

Here are some of the things we love about camping:

• quiet
• fresh air
• listening to the birds
• watching the fireflies
• early to bed
• away from it all
• lots of interesting outdoor things to do
• play hard, sleep hard
• eating outdoors
• cooking simple foods
• snuggling up inside
• listening to the rain
• watching TV or movies on the iPad in the trailer bed
• early (or late) to rise
• sitting by the fire contemplating the world
• camp coffee at the picnic table watching steam rise from the lake
• being in the mountains or near the water
• quiet time to reflect on yourself and the world
• limited connectivity that forces you to consciously disconnect
• time to read
• having hammock time
• proven to be good for your mental health

And there are some things we hate that come up from time to time:

• tent connectors make people crazy
• backing up the trailer to position it with people watching
• bathhouses that are too far away for easy midnight pee runs
• when the dog needs to pee in the night in the rain
• neighbors who are noisy/obnoxious and think only their experience matters
• having it rain unexpectedly and having to get out of bed to put away chairs
• smoke in your face from the fire
• bad bathhouses (this one is really key)
• seasonal (permanent) campers who are mean to transient ones
• when rain through the screens leaves a damp bed
• when rain goes on for too many days straight
• when there is the combination of no connectivity and terrible storms so that you don’t know when they might pass