Camping is a little like Marmite; people either love it or hate it, it seems. But the people who do enjoy it tend to be hooked, to adopt it almost as a lifestyle. Still, there are many different reasons people love camping, and every one is equally valid.
Camping is, really, or oldest way of staying somewhere, at least after cave-dwelling, if you look back through time. Permanent structures arrived later. So camping puts us in touch with some primitive part of our collective past. That might be one strand of its appeal, at least on some level, but for most, it’s about other things.
Camping And Nature
There’s little doubt that camping, even in a commercial campground, brings us much closer to nature. Even there, you feel the morning and evening in a way you can’t in a house or hotel. You’re not removed from the elements (although that’s not always a good thing on a sodden morning). You come out of the tent to walk on grass, to cook in the open air and feel the weather, the smells of nature.
The farther you go from civilisation, the more intense those feelings can become. With no sound of cars or voices, at times the experience can be almost spiritual, especially at night if the sky’s clear and thousands of stars are on view. That can be a real reminder of how insignificant we all are, and offer perspective on our tiny place in the universe.
Camping And Leaving The Rat Race
Going on holiday by boat or train to a resort or hotel, there are always people around. It might end up being relaxing, but there’s always entertainment and noise around. With camping, and particularly wild camping, all that is left behind. For the time you’re away, the rat race simply ceases to exist.
That’s a great way of removing stress and simply existing in the moment, which can be the ideal break for many people. That removal from the bustle and the hurly-burly can prove to be a great way to recharge the batteries, whether it’s for a week or simply a weekend away in the country somewhere.
It’s also good for families, taking the kids away from television and video games, and all the other stimulation that’s part of daily life, getting them out of the house to do things in nature. It makes them aware of a larger world, and can build a lifelong love of animals and the countryside that will stand them in good stead for the future.
Camping And Cheap Holidays
Certainly one of the major reasons many people end up on camping holidays is because it’s a cheap way to get out for a few days. Compared to, say, a week in a Mediterranean resort it’s definitely a way of saving money, even if you drive to Spain and camp. But it’s more than that; it’s an entirely different experience.
It offers the chance to explore places you might not otherwise consider, going into the countryside instead of a beach, for instance. So, besides saving money, camping opens up all manner of new horizons. It’s perfectly possible to spend years camping and not see all of the UK, let alone Europe!
Whatever your reason for loving to camp, it’s the enjoyment of it that’s important. It could well be a combination of reasons, or beginning with one and discovering the others; it really doesn’t matter in the end.