gamergirl23: That's not camping. That's a luxury resort with an unusual theme.

SRSLY. From TFA: "Pricing begins at $1,135 per night for two adults."

I'll be the first to say, I don't go all the way back to nature camping either, because we basically build a sort of tent contraption around our SUV, and we have re-configured the thing with dual batteries so it has a transformer with regular house-style plugs, so yeah, we have a fridge these days for the beer, and the back has a handmade flat sleeping surface containing all kinds of storage, so the sleeping happens in the car. We carry water and propane, and have a little portable water heater that will consume propane to heat up some water to boiling, if we feel the urge to scrub grime off every so often. We've built a pretty good portable stove container, eat pretty well with whatever we've brought (or caught).

But it's about not having to pay for anything ELSE, because we just drive into the middle of public forest land somewhere along our route, park the car, deploy the tent, and there's no charge. Well, occasionally some of the state-owned lands want $5 for the week, but...

Kinda like tailgating in the middle of nowhere, I guess. But next to free (other than the gas money). Sit, drink beer, possibly break a few laws, have a fire, listen to crazy radio, hike around.

"Glamping" sounds like something that someone who's into medical play would perform.

I would stay in a teepee, sounds kinda fun. I don't consider it camping though.

Gazumping while glamping...

Okay, I just wanted to say gazumping.

Tent, sleeping bag, gas or propane stove, fishing rods, cooler with food, tissue, water, and flashlight. That's all you need. You can collect firewood from woods if you don't want to bring your own fire wood

I bet when people head back to work after 'glamping' they tell their coworkers they've been 'camping'.

GreenAdder: I first heard of "Glamping" earlier this year when my wife and I were contemplating a camping trip. We were told to check out some place in Canada. I looked and rolled my eyes. I thought the whole idea of camping was to get away from things and "unplug" for a while. Apparently the people in the RVs with flat-screen televisions beg to differ.

I thought the idea of camping was to get out of the damn city and close enough to trails and forests that you can explore them. Someday, when I can afford a house and land, I won't need to camp at all. Cause that's what I really want... a house with heat, a/c, hot water, etc, where I can just step out onto the patio and look at birds and deer and such. Ideally, enough land to go on hikes too, but land is expensive so who knows if I'll ever get that.

Meh, Sometimes I don't want to "rough it". I still go backpacking and camping solo or with a friend or two, and I'm talking about deep woods camping where you're a 20 mile walk from the road, no campsites. But I also like to just head up to a cabin, go shooting, 4 wheeling and fishing in the day, but still be able to go indoors and shower, watch some Tigers or Wings game, and drink.

As long as people know this doesn't really count as camping, it doesn't really matter what they like to do with their free time. Fun is in the eye of the beholder. Carrying everything you need to survive 30 miles out in the middle of nowhere on your back is not everyone's idea of fun.

Ah, the memories. Dad acting shocked to find a US National Forest campground charged $2 for a campsite, "Don't you have any family sites for $1?" as if anyone with kids should get a pass as therefore too poor for such extravagance. Faced with choosing two campgrounds and not knowing which charged more, picking the one without flush toilets because he assumed it might be a few cents cheaper per kid. Never stopping the car except for fuel and setting up in the dark every night to get that magic maximum number of miles a day.

Family vacation

I used to live in Colorado. I received and endless supply of mockery from my outdoorsy-type coworkers because, despite my best efforts, I couldn't 'understand' camping.

It was about a 45 minute drive to get up into the mountains - I think Estes Park was the nearest town or whatever. A bunch of us all were going to go camping/hiking. Now, hiking, I enjoy. It sounds like fun. But camping....I don't get it. What's the appeal? And I'm not talking about people who go into the middle of nowhere, I'm talking about campsites. Where you pay money to sleep in a tent that you provide, surround with other people who are also camping.

Screw that. I got a hotel for my wife and I. It was a five minute drive and we were able to hike with them.

But I couldn't believe how offended some of them seemed. Like I had personally pissed in their cornflakes. It was like religious people trying to convince me my God was fake, but their GOD was real.

If it's supposed to be enjoyable and I am enjoying it - aren't I doing it right?

drjekel_mrhyde: Tent, sleeping bag, gas or propane stove, fishing rods, cooler with food, tissue, water, and flashlight. That's all you need. You can collect firewood from woods if you don't want to bring your own fire wood


Cooler?

Luxury...

I seriously don't get this shiat. It is literally camping for people who hate camping. Ok... Why? I mean I understand not liking camping. I don't. Well if you don't, then don't do it. Real easy. If you do like camping that's also great, but then, well, go camping. This shiat? Not camping. If you want to go to a resort with a spa and all the amenities, go for it. However don't kid yourself in to thinking it is "camping" because the rooms look like teepees.

I also can't see why you'd want to pay more for a resort like that, and from what I can tell they are more. Go to a regular resort, you'll pay less and be happier. Yes, they have regular resorts out in nature areas so you can get your hike on and all that.

These really strike me as things for pussies that want to claim they camp, but aren't willing to actually go camping. fark that. I don't like camping, so I don't. Easy answer, I've nothing to prove.

I'm pretty sure that if you camp, you have to travel to a location with few or no amenities, and set up a campsite. This is to say, you must bring your shelter with you. This can be as primitive or as fancy as you want, BUT IT CAN'T BE A PREEXISTING HOTEL. "Glamping" resorts are just hotels with nature walks.

/Camping sucks. The only time I'll ever sleep in a tent is when the military sends me someplace with nothing better.

Fark_Guy_Rob: I used to live in Colorado. I received and endless supply of mockery from my outdoorsy-type coworkers because, despite my best efforts, I couldn't 'understand' camping.

It was about a 45 minute drive to get up into the mountains - I think Estes Park was the nearest town or whatever. A bunch of us all were going to go camping/hiking. Now, hiking, I enjoy. It sounds like fun. But camping....I don't get it. What's the appeal? And I'm not talking about people who go into the middle of nowhere, I'm talking about campsites. Where you pay money to sleep in a tent that you provide, surround with other people who are also camping.

Screw that. I got a hotel for my wife and I. It was a five minute drive and we were able to hike with them.

But I couldn't believe how offended some of them seemed. Like I had personally pissed in their cornflakes. It was like religious people trying to convince me my God was fake, but their GOD was real.

If it's supposed to be enjoyable and I am enjoying it - aren't I doing it right?

I love camping. I don't care if there are people who don't like it. I don't care if there are people who stay in luxury cabins, or RVs with flatscreen TVs. I don't care if people stay in hotels. I don't care if people like poodles, or Snuggies, or hard candy, or watch vampire movies, or think professional basketball is a sport.

I like to go camping to get away from people as much as possible, and hear the sounds, and the silence, of the forest. I can't imagine what connection there can be, however tenuous, between that, and what anyone else does, or doesn't do. If I'm in a forest, and I'm thinking about other people, I'm doing it wrong.

I went glamping and all I got was this blumpkin.

if it's a blumpkin on the blivet, it could be serious.

we may need to operate.

/nurse? scrub please

SwiftFox: Ah, the memories. Dad acting shocked to find a US National Forest campground charged $2 for a campsite, "Don't you have any family sites for $1?" as if anyone with kids should get a pass as therefore too poor for such extravagance. Faced with choosing two campgrounds and not knowing which charged more, picking the one without flush toilets because he assumed it might be a few cents cheaper per kid. Never stopping the car except for fuel and setting up in the dark every night to get that magic maximum number of miles a day.

Family vacation

Heh. I camped with my grandpa a lot when I was a kid and you never heard someone gripe so much about expenses, bless his heart. I recently found the "daily log" from our longest camping trip. Every expense is noted. Toll Bridge 1.00, Ice 0.85 (Canadian), Newspaper 0.50, etc.

The never stopping part was what made me think of the trip, tho. We'd already camped everywhere north of us in the US so, since I had my brand new license on this trip, we switched off driving for 46 hours straight, not stopping until we were well into Canadia. I know the exact number of hours because it's in the log.

drjekel_mrhyde: You can collect firewood from woods if you don't want to bring your own fire wood

Most places prohibit this so the area can "rebuild the natural humus".

Camping used to mean really roughing it. Sleeping on the cold ground, killing and cooking your dinner, using Mother Nature as a bathroom and forgetting about showers.

No, that used to be called Life.

I lived in a fraternity house for a year. After that I didn't have much interest in "roughing it".

Fark_Guy_Rob: I used to live in Colorado. I received and endless supply of mockery from my outdoorsy-type coworkers because, despite my best efforts, I couldn't 'understand' camping.

It was about a 45 minute drive to get up into the mountains - I think Estes Park was the nearest town or whatever. A bunch of us all were going to go camping/hiking. Now, hiking, I enjoy. It sounds like fun. But camping....I don't get it. What's the appeal? And I'm not talking about people who go into the middle of nowhere, I'm talking about campsites. Where you pay money to sleep in a tent that you provide, surround with other people who are also camping.

Screw that. I got a hotel for my wife and I. It was a five minute drive and we were able to hike with them.

But I couldn't believe how offended some of them seemed. Like I had personally pissed in their cornflakes. It was like religious people trying to convince me my God was fake, but their GOD was real.

If it's supposed to be enjoyable and I am enjoying it - aren't I doing it right?

I will only camp if we have a good area to ourselves.
Paying money to be right on top of another family and their ghetto blasters, etc is ridiculous.

The best parts of camping are A.) the places that one can get to, B.) the people you get away from, C.) the people you go camping with.

For those who don't like camping, see B.

wademh: The best parts of camping are A.) the places that one can get to, B.) the people you get away from, C.) the people you go camping with.

For those who don't like camping, see B.

That isn't camping. That's a vacation. You can still get away from people if you check into a 5 star hotel.

Regarding the "camping isn't camping if you ain't suffering", no one awards points based on discomfort. I get the "do more with less" thing, and specially the "let's save some money" thing, but intentionally put yourself through suffering just to make things the right way is dumb and pathetic.

robmilmel: I worked in a summer "camp" that was like that. back in the 70's. Cost $1800 a month for the rich parents to park their darling Hebrew children there

I did the same thing in the early 90s, then it cost $1000 for every year old your kid was so 10 years old 10 grand. I actually heard that summer "I thought I was going to miss the start of camp but my father booked me on the Concorde to get me here in time."

Yeah well it figures a bunch of yuppie scum would come up with new ways to be assholes.

The article doesn't describe camping anywhere. The definition of camping is to live in a temporary shelter for recreation purposes. If a shelter isn't temporary then it isn't camping; it's taking a vacation in a hotel. It may be a specific sort of hotel which caters to a very specific market but it's still a hotel.

Conversely, the assorted activities that some people do while camping also don't represent camping. Killing your own food isn't camping. Having to sleep on the floor isn't camping. Taking a dump behind a tree isn't camping. Not taking a shower isn't camping. If you insist in doing any of those things when you do have the option to avoid them then you are a fool and quite possibly even a masochist. But that doesn't mean those who aren't as fool as you aren't camping.

I, for instance, enjoy camping quite a lot. Yet, whenever I go camping I do take my 40m² walk-in tent, inflatable mattress, gas stove. And I do take showers and I do wash my clothes. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Bob16: Yeah well it figures a bunch of yuppie scum would come up with new ways to be assholes.

So, it appears you are afraid of the competition.

I'd prefer they just stay in their concrete jungles where they're happiest.

GreatBunzinni: The article doesn't describe camping anywhere. The definition of camping is to live in a temporary shelter for recreation purposes. If a shelter isn't temporary then it isn't camping; it's taking a vacation in a hotel. It may be a specific sort of hotel which caters to a very specific market but it's still a hotel.

Conversely, the assorted activities that some people do while camping also don't represent camping. Killing your own food isn't camping. Having to sleep on the floor isn't camping. Taking a dump behind a tree isn't camping. Not taking a shower isn't camping. If you insist in doing any of those things when you do have the option to avoid them then you are a fool and quite possibly even a masochist. But that doesn't mean those who aren't as fool as you aren't camping.

I, for instance, enjoy camping quite a lot. Yet, whenever I go camping I do take my 40m² walk-in tent, inflatable mattress, gas stove. And I do take showers and I do wash my clothes. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

A real Scotsman camper doesn't use a gas stove, that's not camping.

wademh: The best parts of camping are A.) the places that one can get to, B.) the people you get away from, C.) the people you go camping with.

For those who don't like camping, see B.

GreatBunzinni:
That isn't camping. That's a vacation. You can still get away from people if you check into a 5 star hotel.

Regarding the "camping isn't camping if you ain't suffering", no one awards points based on discomfort. I get the "do more with less" thing, and specially the "let's save some money" thing, but intentionally put yourself through suffering just to make things the right way is dumb and pathetic.

What the hell are you talking about? Do you think I'm defining camping? Because I didn't and no competent reader of English would think I did. And then this left field introduction of suffering is attacking a perverse strawman. Unprepared and unskilled campers may suffer privations but it is hardly required to be uncomfortable unless one's head defines comfort as "not camping". In that case, I simply wish you well with your Leona Helmsley clones.

I built my own stove, and yes, I love camping. But I can understand wanting to camp in luxury, there are some trips where, halfway through backpacking through the middle of the rugged nowhere (Continental Divide Trail style), I just want to throw up my hands and find a damn hotel for the night.

That said: suffering builds character!

/Calvin's dad is my role model in life

This is a worse word than staycation.

If you're not taking a dump in a hastily-dug pit toilet, it's not camping.

oldfarthenry: GreenAdder: I first heard of "Glamping" earlier this year when my wife and I were contemplating a camping trip. We were told to check out some place in Canada. I looked and rolled my eyes. I thought the whole idea of camping was to get away from things and "unplug" for a while. Apparently the people in the RVs with flat-screen televisions beg to differ.

A place in Kitchener, ON has yurts with WiFi and a chef. It reminds me of Rudyard Kipling `roughing it' in the jungle with a contingent of servants & slaves.

As someone who goes to Kitchener every single summer to visit family, I have an interest in this.

http://www.amazon.com/Fine-Pleasant-Misery-Patrick-McManus/dp/08050003 21/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1324735044&sr=8-1

Ironically, I am reading this very book. I love Patrick McManus.

I have only one question: Why isn't there a season and bag limit on these people? They need to be culled from the herd just like everyone that uses the term "baby bump".