RV Living, Tent Camping, and Car Camping
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As we progress toward the joy and comfort of RV Living, we remember the times we’ve camped in a tent, as well as sleeping in the back of a Chevy Trailblazer more than once. In this article, we will discuss the pros and cons of both Tent and RV camping, and how we expect it to change from place to place.
Tent camping is different than RV living. Tent camping is a lot of work with setting up and tearing down. We imagine the same will be true with RV living, but it might be a tad simpler in setting up and tearing down. When we mention tearing down, it is exactly as it is written: We tear down camp while making sure we are putting things back where they belong. Our tent is currently sitting on our porch with the fly out. Why, you may be asking? It was wet when we tore down camp last year. You shouldn't put a wet tent in the carrying bag, and that is something we hopefully won’t have to worry about when RV living, besides the awning. The good thing about tent camping is: If you want to camp someplace where there’s no room for a travel trailer or motor home, you’re able to do it. Also, it is super hard to take the pup tent camping with us. We can’t go to certain states where it gets warm, or even be able to go enjoy stuff without bringing her along. Do not get us wrong, we love bringing her places with us. But museums, restaurants, theme parks, and similar places frown upon taking her with us. I don’t know why, she is the cutest thing ever! Also, the weather really could cramp your style when tent camping. When it rains, it pours. Literally countless times, we have been soaked and couldn’t put our tent completely in the bag, or if we did, as soon as we got home, we pop up the tent and pray it dries before the next rains come.
We are getting ready for our RV living adventure where we can take the pup with us. So when we go someplace where she isn't allowed (sad face), she will be able to have the comforts of a house, but on the road. This means A/C, a nice comfy bed, and of course, her favorite food! We all enjoy the comforts of home, so we will need to make it home. Home is where our heart is, that has always been traveling and seeing the USA. We will need to learn how to tow the travel trailer, which doesn't seem awfully hard, but that backing up can be kind of a tricky thing. So that is something we are not used to doing. All we had to do was put some poles in some fabric and pop it up! Also, sleeping will be kind of a change. Currently, we have a king size bed. Even though we have a travel trailer now, we still have a smaller bed as if we were tent camping. That’s how it worked out; we have a smaller rig, but it will have the needs that we have right now. It will also be a lot easier to bring our nephews along if they want to camp with us. Last year, we brought one of our young nephews camping with us in a tent in bad weather. When we say bad weather, we thought the tent was going to collapse because of the wind and rain. We all stayed dry because of the tarp over us, but it was super crowded and uncomfortable, with no room to keep him entertained. Luckily now, all we have to do is go into the cabinet and pick out a board game for them to play!
When going between tent camping sites, and even before tent camping, we slept in our Trailblazer. Now sleeping in the car or SUV is actually frowned upon in many states. When we traveled before, we would try to get to our destination and set up as quickly as we could so we could enjoy the couple days we had. You know, that work thing we adults have to do always called us back way too early. So, the SUV was the perfect place to sleep before getting to the destination. All we had to do was move the bags up front, climb in the back where our futon was, and lay our heads for the night. You may be asking, “Well, where did you park?” The answer is: Truck stops were a saving grace. We would go in, grab a shower, fill up the tank, and then head back to the Trailblazer with the gas receipt in the window. We always practiced safe sleeping in the SUV. When we say safe sleeping, we mean that we had the windows cracked, the doors locked, and always made sure we had the keys readily available if we were asked to leave. Which only happened once, but we found another place nearby. One state, in particular, has strict rules on sleeping in your car while at a campground, and that’s Florida. So we always suggest calling or looking up the laws and regulations when in a state. We have camped in our tent in four different states: New York, Florida, Louisiana, and Washington State. Our favorite, by far, was Washington.
We hope, with this article, it gives you some information on Car Camping, Tent Camping, and RV Living. Drop us a comment if you have any questions or advice. And as always, we hope you continue to Follow Your Internal Compass.