Trip of Destiny '09

[MrsPete]

Second, I can't stand sitting in a hotel room....I don't care if it's a 5-star resort or a Motel 6. Just can't stand it. But I thoroughly love sitting around my tent, with my lantern, reading a book, watching people, watching nature, watching the sunset, etc.

You can do the same thing at a hotel: You can take your book out to the pool while the kids swim. You can sit in the lobby or the breakfast room. Often hotels -- Hampton's particularly good about this -- offer manager's socials during the week, and that's free dinner and a great chance to chat with fellow guests.

I have timed myself numerous times and I can tell you that it takes me all of about 10 minutes to set-up camp and about 15 minutes to take-down camp the next day. To be honest, it doesn't take all that much longer than it does to take my stuff to my room and pack up in the morning. Just make sure you get a tent that goes up/comes down easy and after practicing a few times, you'll get a good routine.

I know tents like the back of my hand. I worked in a small, upscale camping store while I was in college, and the owner put us through our paces regularly -- he wanted the customers to have the idea that putting up the tents was effortless. Still, even with this expertise and even with my kids working too, I can't do it in 15 minutes.

I regularly leave items at my campsite if I'm going to explore for the day. While I don't leave anything really valuable behind, I will leave my stove, lantern, chair, etc. out.

I've never had anything taken, but I've seen people walking from campsite to campsite looking around while the occupants were gone. And I have bad memories of one campsite (with the worst fire rings I've ever seen) when a foolish camper left a campfire unattended, and we neighbors had to put out a fire that was spreading!

I maintain that tent camping is wonderful, but it isn't suited to road trips -- unless, of course, the whole purpose is to camp in a variety of areas.

[PNW Judy]

I think we need to agree to disagree. I'm just trying to point out that we're all different. Yes, you can go sit at the pool or in the lobby. Sorry, but that's my point. I don't want to sit, not by a pool or in a lobby or anywhere else. I want to walk around. Walking around a hotel and walking around a campground are two different experiences and I would rather walk around the worst campground than the best hotel. And I usually find people in campgrounds to be more friendly to strike up conversations with.

Gosh....and I can do the tent AND sleeping bags AND sleeping pads AND pillow in about 10 minutes up/15 minutes down. I've done it dozens of times and I've done dozens of roadtrips using 1-night camping stays as my choice of lodging very successfully. No hassle at all.

I've also done roadtrips when, for various reasons, I've mixed it up and camped some nights and done hotels other nights. This is usually because of the convenience of the location of the hotel vs. the location of the campground. This is especially common in cities. If I'm visiting a bigger city and want to explore the city itself, the campgrounds are usually too far out to be convenient. But I always enjoy my evening in the campground far more than I enjoy the evenings in a hotel. Far more. No contest.

I've also done trips where our entire trip is spent in a hotel (using flying trips where a car isn't needed, in places like WA DC or if we're just doing Disneyland and using the shuttle from airport to hotel, for example) and the only reason for staying in a hotel is convenience for that particular trip. So I'm not anti-hotel. But I don't enjoy staying AT the hotel at all and only use it as a place to sleep and dress. I never spend any time at the hotel itself. (Caveat to this...when the kids were younger we would take an afternoon break from the rides at Disney and go back to the hotel for a swim because the kids needed a break. I, myself, prefer to go-go and not do this because I can swim anywhere so why waste prime vacation time doing it, imho. YMMV.)

Anyway, there's no one right way to travel. Roadtrips and camping may not work for you. That's cool. But it works for me and many other people. So we just need to agree to disagree on this.

[metsno1]

It's funny how we all have different tastes and different perspectives. That's what makes these discussions fun.

Personally, I love both camping AND decent hotels!

I've been thinking a bit about this particular group, and the more I think about it, the more I actually tend to think that camping is the right way to go. I definitely agree with Judy that setup and takedown can be a very quick experience. I have a family of four (an 8 and a 10 year old who are total camping veterans), and we can be completely set up in about 15 minutes (and that includes three full size air mattresses!). But again, it all depends on the type of gear you choose.

It's funny how people have different experiences. Mrspete has worked with higher end camping equipment, and finds that it takes more time than I would personally expect. My experience has been quite the opposite. The better the equipment, the easier and quicker setup has gone! I can set up my Marmot Halo tent in literally less than five minutes from start to finish, but that darn Coleman cabin style thing takes half a day!! But they're different things with different purposes!

But I also hear what Mrspete is saying. If you're planning on preparing meals at the campground, that means a lot more equipment and more time. I'm making the assumption that the campground is nothing more than a place to set up the tent, grab some sleep, shower up in the morning, and hit the road.

I thought of one other thing too. If it were me travelling with this particular group, I'd be bringing my own one-man tent for privacy's sake-just to get away from everyone else for a while. Now, most campgrounds limit each site to two tents, so that may be a problem, but I've also stayed at many places that won't have a problem if you ask up front, and explain that they're small, one-person tents. YMMV on that.

Ultimately, on the type of trip that you're talking about, I'd do everything possible to pack all my gear in one large backpack; tent, pillow, and sleeping bag and pad included. If everyone does that, you create more space for other "stuff" that might make things more pleasant-including larger coolers for food.

[Midwest Michael]

I maintain that tent camping is wonderful, but it isn't suited to road trips -- unless, of course, the whole purpose is to camp in a variety of areas.

While tent camping might not be suited to your roadtrips, it really doesn't make sense to say that tent camping doesn't mix with roadtrips. Clearly many of us on this forum make camping a regular part of roadtrips.

Many of my roadtrips have been of a similar nature as the original posters plans. A group of friends, on a limited budget, looking to see a number of things along the way and camping has always been the backbone of our trips, and we almost never stay in the same place for 2 nights in a row.

It is fair to say that there are "hidden" costs with camping. You do have to deal with gear, and there are extra expenses like firewood, propane, or ice (all of which are under $5), and certainly the weather is much more of a concern.

However, hotels aren't always the deals they seem on the surface either. Hotels almost always have a significant room tax in addition to sales taxes that can easily add $5-10 to the face value of a room. If you are staying at a budget motel, typically your "free" breakfast will not be much more than a plate of donuts, toast, and coffee. Its also a bit challenging to cook your own dinner while staying at a budget motel, so it become very tempting to go out for dinner, which costs far more than you save with the "free" breakfast.

I also think in motels the atmopshere is rarely condusive to meeting fellow travelers. While some places might have "managers social," or other amentities that would draw people together, you usually have to be in the mid-range class of hotels (like Hamptons) that you aren't going to find for $40 a night. I can't think of many times where I've had a good conversation at a motel, but I've met lots of fellow campers in my travels.

There are pluses and minus with each option. I will deal with heat or cold when camping, but if its raining, I'll look for a motel. If you are going to be on the road for weeks at a time, then a real bed is a nice treat once and a while. And If I'm traveling late into the night, and on a very tight schedule, there will be times where I don't want to deal with setting up and tearing down camp.

But I also say that the time spent at a campsite at the end of the day, while on a roadtrip, can be one of the most satisfying parts of the day, even if you are setting up and tearing down every night. Its not for everyone, clearly, but for many it is a perfect complement to a roadtrip.

[Midwest Michael]

But I also hear what Mrspete is saying. If you're planning on preparing meals at the campground, that means a lot more equipment and more time. I'm making the assumption that the campground is nothing more than a place to set up the tent, grab some sleep, shower up in the morning, and hit the road.

Actually, I don't necessarily agree with this either. One of our tricks for eating while camping is to simply bring a small tabletop propane grill ($20) and then we can easily grill most any food we want. It doesn't take up much room at all, and it doesn't really require any more time. If we're hungry, we'll have one person get the grill going while we're setting up the tent, and within 15-30 minutes of stopping, everything is set up and our food is ready to eat.

Of course there are times where on roadtrips where I'll also go "all out" with the full campfire feast, with food cooked in cast iron skillets and dutch ovens over an open flame. Certainly that adds a whole extra element that does take more time and space than just a budget, quicky setup.

[PNW Judy]

(Gosh, we would travel well together, I think, Michael. LOL)

In my experience, it takes far less time to prepare your own meal than it does to sit in a restaurant and wait for your order....unless you're eating fast food, that is.

Sometimes when on caravans with other people, some will want to stop for lunch at a restaurant. If the weather is good, the idea of sitting in a restaurant after sitting in the car, drives me crazy. So I might go to a nearby park to meet up with them after they're done with their meal. I have found that I can usually prepare my meal (whether something cooked or just sandwich/salad type things), eat, clean-up and put-away, and have a nice walk and explore a bit in the same time that they've just sat there waiting for their meal and eating. And I think I've usually had a better time in the process.

Same applies for at night. I have often gotten out the stove, got dinner cooking, put up the tent, and by the time I'm done with the tent, dinner is ready. Pretty simple really.

I'm also like Michael that sometimes the miles I'm traveling that day will make me get a hotel instead of camping. But that is purely because it is tough to set-up your tent in the dark and I want to be considerate to other campers and not wake them up with my late-night set-up. Although there have been a few times, very few, when this is when I've decided to just catch a few hours of shut-eye in the car at a truckstop or similar location. I have never done this when my husband is with me because he just won't sleep in the car. While I can sleep anywhere, I don't think it's as restful either but, when traveling solo, it has been an option for when I'm traveling until late at night. I don't recommend it as a regular nightly routine though.