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Sargeant column: Camping Is About Getting Away

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Frank Sargeant/The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 2, 2007

There's a little nomad in all of us.

And the concept of carrying your home with you as you travel still has a central appeal, as evidenced by the tens of millions of Americans who leave behind their air conditioning, HDTV and e-mail hookups to trek off to the woods each year. (Though, these days, thanks to air-cards, both the accursed e-mail and the Internet may be only as far away as a squeal of the modem.)

In fact, camping is so common that you have to ask; why do we do it? Why do we voluntarily return to a lifestyle that our ancestors worked for generations to escape? Back to endure the vagaries of weather, wildlife, terrain and entomology? Plus, the special terrors of going to the bathroom in the woods?

Every camper probably has their own particular reasons, but one of the first that comes up at any campfire discussion is 'quality time.' It's time when the endless distractions of daily life are put behind, and when we are left, finally, with only each other; husbands and wives, children and grandchildren, lovers and friends, and the contemplation of smoke rising, coals falling.

And in that subtraction from the buzz of daily life, many seem to find a core of meaning added. Time to make eye contact, really listen to what is said - even when no one is speaking. To share a moonrise that seems the big event that it truly is. To actually see the Milky Way, pick out the North Star. Wake up to dew on the tent, the first bird song, and the smell of coffee perking, and bacon and eggs sizzling over an open fire, cholesterol be damned for a few days.

Camping can be simple and cheap, or complex and expensive. You can find your own comfort level, literally. At its most basic, a backpack camp is a ground cloth and a sleeping bag, with a Mylar space blanket handy in case it rains. You're camping for $50 to $100, complete with all the rocks and hard places that come between you and a good night's sleep. There's a special minimalist appeal to this route and a chance to attain true solitude in really wild places, but it takes both mental and physical toughness to enjoy.

At the other end of the scale are million-dollar motor homes with every imaginable convenience including HDTVs that rise out of the furniture. You sleep more comfortably aboard these 'land yachts' than at home. It's not exactly an outdoors experience, but it's a very comfortable and classy way to see a slice of the outdoors, and also to link up with dozens or hundreds of like-minded people at 'jamborees' around the nation.

Most of us wind up between these poles, camping on our own budget, but bringing along all the comforts we can reasonably afford on our disposable income. A wall tent, a cot with a foam or air mattress, maybe a heater on chilly nights, a gas lantern, a propane stove and even a solar shower all add up to make things pretty comfy in the woods. Yet, none of these accessories is all that pricey.

Camping trailers are the next step up the comfort ladder. Some of these are very comfortable indeed, with all the amenities of a small motel room, right down to hot water, refrigerator, TV, showers and flushing toilets. The advantage of the camper is that you can unhook it in the woods or at a campsite, then use your vehicle for exploring; the challenge of driving a motor home down narrow backwoods trails is avoided. And camping trailers are available at a wide variety of price levels. Smaller camping vans also offer a similar level of comfort, and you avoid the issues of hitching up and towing a trailer.

Whatever you choose to get you there, camping can allow you to get beyond the end of the paved roads and power lines to see corners of America that you would miss otherwise. It allows you to enjoy nature in a new and more intense way.

And, hopefully, to hook up with your loved ones at a level that might be missed in the fuss and bother of life at home.

If you haven't tried it, maybe this should be your year. Head for the woods. Build a few memories that will stay with you when life takes you all your separate ways, as it will surely do someday.

Go camping.

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