Your actions at the campsite affects everyone in the campground (photo courtesy of pdphoto.org)
With the global economies heading into the toilet (how’s that for drama?) a lot of new people will be camping next summer, instead of jetting off to Andalucia or Boca Chica. Unfortunately, this new generation of economically displaced jet setters is not quite up-to-speed on camping etiquette; those largely unwritten rules that seasoned campers have come to expect from their fellow excursionists.
Camping is better than Pucca
We’ve gotten several of our friends into camping, but it wasn’t always an easy sell. Here are a few of their arguments that I have compiled over the years.
Splurging with a rib dinner at 9,000-feet in the Sierra Mountains
We began looking at camping trailers in 2005. I was the sales manager for a computer manufacturer with a focus on the defense industry, so much of time during the week was spent on the eastern coast of the United States; a work-schedule that was cutting into the time I could spend with my family. Camping would be a way to stay connected with my family, without the distractions of our modern lifestyle getting in the way. Looking back on it now, I wish we would have grabbed a tent and some sleeping bags and just started! As it was, my time as a Paratrooper in the Infantry had soured me on “roughing it,†which is why we were looking at trailers. I figured if we could be warm, dry and have a refrigerator, the rest would take care of itself. We had no idea what we were looking for, though, and we knew even less about what our family vehicle at the time, a 2002 Dodge Durango SUV, was capable of towing. We spent almost a year searching for the perfect trailer, which ended up being a 26-foot model with bunk beds for the kids and a slide-out queen bed for mom and dad. At the same time, we also traded-in the Durango on a vehicle capable of towing our dream trailer. It took nearly a year, but we finally had our camper!
Plan ahead, to secure the best campsites next year
If you thought the campgrounds were crowded this year, you haven’t seen anything yet! With a slow economy and expensive airfares, more families are planning on camping vacations next year than ever before. Here is how you can get a jump on the competition for those lucrative campsites, or avoid the crowds altogether, while still enjoying some of the best camping around.
Competition for campsites will be fiercest around holidays, so realize that the crowds and noise will be at their worst around Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day.
Private campgrounds can be crowded
There are thousands of campgrounds across the United States, and they generally breakdown into two major categories, public and private. Public campgrounds comprise the vast majority of available sites and include the big national parks and forests, individual state lands, and even your local city or county parks. Private campgrounds range from large national chains, like Kampgrounds of America (KOA), to individually owned sites. Some private campgrounds, like Thousand Trails, are open to members only and not the general public.
Making broad generalizations about campgrounds, even those within the same system, is dangerous, but there are some observations that are generally true: