Tent Camping or Motor Home: Which Is For You?
Camping is one of the most popular types of vacations to take, particularly for families because it’s much less expensive to take a family camping vacation than any other. There’s also a wide variety of ways you can actually take an enjoyable camping trip too. Two of the most common types of camping are tent camping and motorhome camping. Knowing how these differ will help you decide which is the best for you and your family.
If you’ve never gone camping before, you may want to try tent camping first. For many people, you haven’t really taken a camping trip if you haven’t roughed it in a tent and sleeping bag. Camping in a tent is also one of the least expensive ways to enjoy the outdoors, take a vacation, and just get away from it all too. Tents come in a variety of sizes to accomodate different family sizes and needs as well.
Tent camping is a bit too rough for some people though, so if you’ve never done this type of camping before it’s a good idea to learn as much as you can about it before trying it. If possible, take your first camping trip with someone who has done some form of camping before so you’ll have the benefit of their experience your first time out.
When you go camping with a tent you have to deal with inconveniences not normally found at home. For example, you sleep on the ground usually. Technically tents have a bottom so you’re not in the dirt, but that bottom is not padded like a bed mattress. Some people prefer to bring along air mattresses as a compromise, and others feel a fluffy sleeping bag is good enough.
When you camp in a tent you’re usually limited to cooking over an open fire or using a small propane camping stove. In some cases you may be able to cook with a charcoal barbecue grill as well.
As you can probably see, tent camping is an wonderful way to get away from day to day stress and really relax and enjoy your vacation. If you run into foul weather though, you may decide tent camping isn’t the best idea after all.
Whether it rains, hails, sleets or snows you will find this type of weather makes a tent camping trip much less enjoyable. And this is a primary reason many people choose to camp in a motor home instead.
When you go camping in a motor home, you generally have a more regular bed to sleep in, and you may even have more conventional – albeit small – cooking appliances available. Depending on the motorhome you’re camping in, you may even have a refrigerator, TV, and other conveniences too. Motor homes also tend to have bathrooms of some kind available, and this is a big selling point for people who don’t relish digging a toilet hole in the woods.
Motor homes are of course a much more expensive option for camping, but they can be an investment that lasts ten or twenty years for your family. Since motor homes also tend to be very much like small homes or apartments, this is often an excellent camping choice for older retired couples who want to travel around in both comfort and style.
