Camping - you're NOT doing it wrong.

I can appreciate the boring aspect of my job because it allows us to have many conversations NOT about work. Some are philosophical, some political, some tell tales of their colorful times in college or the military, other conversations remind me of idiotic debates between Jerry and George from "Seinfeld" or Cliff and Norm from "Cheers".

One topic that repeats itself is the "camping debate".  Living in Minnesota with 10,000 lakes and going"up nort" where it's woodsy -we have what we call a cabin/camping culture. Most families are either cabin people or campers. If you are lucky your grandparents or parents were thinking ahead and bought land on some lake up north while it was still affordable and taxes were low and built a basic but spacious cabin that was functional and has been handed down for the younger generations to enjoy. If not, your family partakes in camping. Campers range from the die hard rugged backpackers who walk and canoe for miles until they reach their destination to the people whose idea of camping is a 35 ft RV with a full kitchen, bathroom, flat screen TV, and AC. That is the debate - what is camping?

I kind of fall in the middle. I grew up camping in an old beat up camper where everything was held together with duct tape, nothing worked, and my dad never let us use the toilet because he didn't want to have pay to dump it.  As an adult I have kind of evolved to tent camping.  Although I have to confess our tent has room for 8 even though it's just the 2 of us and we have 18 inch thick queen size air mattress to sleep on. Our tent has enough room to stand up and even has a hanging ceiling fan with light. We also have room for a folding camp table with chairs which come in handy when it rains and we have a place to play games or eat. I always chuckle at the amount of crap the two of us seem to pack for just the 2 of us. (I can't imagine if we had kids)

I do hope someday to do a boundary waters trip. The Boundary Waters Canoe Area is a vast area in northeastern Minnesota where no motorized vehicles or boats are allowed.  So you travel by foot (portaging) or canoe. You basically carry everything you need on your back. There are no restrooms, no picnic tables, no nothing. You are REALLY roughing it.  They say every "true" Minnesotan needs to do this at least once in their lifetime, so this is on my bucket list of things to accomplish before I get too old.

My experience is that those who tend to like the "roughing it" type of camping tend to be the most judgemental about what camping really is.  Like you somehow aren't doing it right if you aren't suffering and exhausted from your experience and haven't spent a fortune at REI on the latest and greatest of lightweight techy camp gear. I say ANY camping is good for you- even if you have a big luxury RV.  At least those people are still getting out.  They are getting out of their norm- getting out of the house, traveling and visiting new towns, new states, and spending time outdoors even though they take comfort at night. For all you die hards who think we all should do what you do - just think how crowded it would be if all camped where you go.

Get out and enjoy your state and national parks and trails - no matter how choose to enjoy it. Get out see the world and soak in some nature. It's good for the soul, the body, and easy on your wallet.