Other than temporarily escaping the hamster wheel of society, maybe now and Zen finding a moment, or finding yourself in the "middle," there are other reasons to camp. One practical response to the question "Why Camp?" is travel camping.
Except for Backyard Camping, travel is already associated with camping. For this article however, camping is not the reason for the travel or the destination. The camping is secondary. Dottie and I are generally tent campers, so our notions of travel camping are from that perspective.
We started travel camping when Dottie was pregnant with our first child. In her second trimester Dottie felt better. She wanted to visit her out of state parents. We knew she would be uncomfortable traveling for long periods. We divided the ten hour round trip into trip into four days with two overnight stays. Our money was tight. We looked at the cost of hotels and eating out. Dottie came up with another tactic.
We packed light and ate meals that required little preparation or clean up. I remember grapes, boiled eggs, tuna fish and sandwiches.
Our camping experience was pleasant. We looked forward to the camping on the return for the restful quiet.
Between our first and second travel camping trips we made a some regular camping trips a few hours from the house. Our next travel camping trip was more ambitious. We headed out west, to San Diego, California. Apprehensively, we loaded our tent and sleeping bags as luggage on a Southwest Airliner. Starting in Houston, Texas our flight had a two hour layover in Denver, Colorado. The flight from Denver to San Diego took us over the Grand Canyon. I was fortunate to have a window seat on the correct side of the plane. The pilot made no announcement, but I spotted the unmistakable landmark.
Thankfully our gear made it to San Diego with us. We rented a small sedan and found a Walmart.
We bought cheap pillows, a few cooking implements, and some canned foods before heading out to Guajome Reginal Park. This camp is just north of San Diego.
The weather in California was glorious. We enjoyed the fauna. While in San Diego we saw some of the sights.
When a resident mentioned the seals at the La Jolla Beach we headed straight to that sight.
We made a return trip to San Diego with our children. We simplified this trip and stayed at a cabin in a KOA campground. Same approach, less work.
Travel camping saves us money. For us travel camping allows us to take care of business and to rest and enjoy a scenic place. Though the camping is a secondary activity we uncover the real highlight by momentarily unplugging from society. Some camping activities are left unexplored on these trips, but cooking, eating and sleeping outdoors in a quiet, natural setting is a way to wade into the continuum of the endless middle.
Thanks for reading.
MSM
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