Camping Versus Glamping

WHY YOU SHOULD GO CAMPING INSTEAD OF GLAMPING

By Guy Sagi

The flicker of a campfire, star-filled nights and the ability to unplug, unwind and regroup draws people outdoors. Getting away from it all is the tired cliché, but it falls short of conveying the true magnetism of Mother Nature’s spectacular show and the multitude of pursuits she eagerly hosts.

Camping is one of them, although opinions are sharply divided on what “camping” really means, or the number of creature comforts allowed before a campsite qualifies as a pop-up Airbnb. In 2016, the word glamping—already in wide use to describe the luxury trend—was added to the Oxford Dictionary. Two years later, Merriam-Webster followed suit.

Many outdoorsmen have yet to find the official boundary separating camping from glamping. It’s elusive, although most agree the former yields more physical and mental benefits than the latter.

Camping also offers a connection to a bygone era, when skill and craftsmanship were valued over hype, and products wore the quality to survive abuse, play a role in indelible memories and earn heirloom stature. The team here at Cole Wheeler understands a thing or two about that, and we believe your next outing should be camping, not glamping.

Camping or Glamping?

It’s often difficult to tell which of these pursuits an outdoor enthusiast has sworn allegiance to. Some—due to age, physical limitations, family obligations or other factors—routinely harness the advantages of modern convenience when they go camping. They’re not considered card-carrying glampers unless they knowingly going overboard just because they can.

There are, however, distinct characteristics unique to members of each tribe. Many of them are holdovers from the era in which Ernest Hemingway and Robert Ruark wrote about the romance of African safaris. Their passionate prose helped spawn a luxury industry, one that specialized in the comfort and indulgence that attracted well-to-do world travelers—with or without a gun—and birthed an early form of glamping.

Gear designed for camping provides reliable comfort in the backcountry.

Clients on those trips never drove a stake, struggled to put up a tent or cooked a meal. Everything was ready when they arrived. Cocktail hours on the plains of Africa often included hair-raising tales of leopards visiting nightly to snack on a servant or two. Today’s version is a wide-screen TV, sometimes mounted on an RV exterior, playing “The Ghost and the Darkness” with a wet bar nearby.

Membership Traits

Today’s extreme glampers check into cabins or established wall-tent camps that are fully climate controlled, with laundry service and pool. A full-amenity commercial campground or a large inventory of effort-saving gear are acceptable substitutes.

Campers, on the other hand, immerse themselves in the adventure. Whether arriving in a 45-foot motorhome, or pitching a tent in a remote area, they savor the experience, and take pride in meeting challenges.

One group loves the sound of rain on a tent or trailer, the other drowns it out by turning up a surround-sound system. It’s either bright lights burning into the night or time spent waiting for the next falling star to wish upon.

There are no dues, secret handshakes or graduation ceremonies, so most participants have no idea where their current allegiance resides. Thankfully, nearly everyone who overnights outdoors falls somewhere between the two.

History of “Camping”

Packing the bare essentials, traveling to a destination and—time willing—putting up a rudimentary shelter to overnight was a matter of survival for early man. Finding food was the primary motivation, but it wasn’t long before exploration, contact with others and even trade became catalysts.

The word “camping” first came into use sometime in the 1600s, but its big break came in 1869. That’s when author William Henry Harrison Murray’s book, Camp Life in the Adirondacks , spellbound readers with tales of trips to relatively remote regions of upstate New York. By the time it was in its 10th printing, thousands were flocking to the area and elsewhere.

Camping became a big pastime in the United States afterward, with an approach that clearly separated it from the woodsmen, trappers and hunters who had been doing much the same for centuries. Their outings were business. This newfangled, sleeping-under-the-stars fad was instead a pleasant vacation from work.

Rise of Glamping

The glamping trend may have been popularized by authors with the means to visit remote places in exotic locations, but it started earlier. Luxury destinations with separate cabins in scenic places have been around for years. Today you can enjoy extended stays in treehouses, floating Airbnb cottages, seaside retreats and much more without ever making your bed.

Here in the United States, a different, mobile approach became available in 1910, when the Pierce-Arrow Touring Landau premiered at Madison Square Garden. The same year similarly spartan, vehicle-pulled camper trailers were introduced by Auto-Kamp Trailers and Los Angeles Trailer Works.

RVs, fifth wheels and bumper-pull versions of various sizes and luxury followed. Retirees, who were finally able to travel at will, found it a great way to continue an outdoor lifestyle.

When the pandemic struck in 2020, they were joined by thousands eager to vacation where forests enforced social-distancing protocol. RV and camper sales boomed and most of the inexperienced newcomers quickly packed every modern contrivance possible. Glamping’s membership swelled overnight when they flooded campgrounds and spent more time with their eyes glued to a screen or inside than savoring Mother Nature’s splendor.

A rugged, multi-function knife is a must-have tool for camping.

How to Maximize Your Camping Experience

Camping—real camping—is an investment that pays big dividends in memories, skills, confidence and knowledge about the world around us. It also presents the opportunity to breathe fresh air, unwind and exercise with purpose.

This doesn’t mean the new travel trailer needs to be traded in for a survival knife, compass and MREs, though. Small steps are big when it comes to reducing dependence, especially regarding addictive, sometimes work-mandatory modern conveniences.

Ditch the wheezing propane fire pit for a real campfire. That warm glow is magnetic for family and friends, hypnotic in dance and meditatively soothing. Chop your own wood or scrounge nearby kindling. Even rudimentary knowledge on how to keep a flame alive is handy when the next big storm drops power lines for miles.

Lighting campfires in less-than-perfect conditions is made easier with a waterproof lighter.

Kill the lights, sit in the dark or lay on a picnic table and look up. That blanket of stars is almost invisible in a big city’s light pollution, but at most campsites the spectacle rivals that seen by the first man. It’s a humbling reminder of the universe in which we live, daunting to think about the vastness of space and even offers some practical applications. Watch the Big Dipper and how it changes with each hour—in the Northern Hemisphere, anyway. With some knowledge, it can be used as a rudimentary nighttime clock.

Turn off the smartphone and take a hike, literally. It’s good cardio, but also a chance to explore, see things from a different angle and discover something new. It’s a confidence-building exercise that, done right, heightens situational awareness. In town, those early warnings often keep you and loved ones out of harm’s way, but it’s hard to see them with your nose focused on a phone’s display.

Learn navigation by heading off trail with a compass. The uneven terrain awakens muscles hibernated too long in an office chair or recliner, and GPS isn’t infallible. That fact, and its unpredictability, was made obvious by the recent solar storm that blacked out navigation systems on farm equipment across the Midwest.

Talk to fellow campers, even glampers. You may have to force the latter group out of their cabin/trailer/tent, but it’s refreshing not to be wearing a rectangular screen on your cheek and ear during conversations. Done in a friendly manner, odds are good they’ll share tips or mention something worth seeing nearby.

Wake before sunrise and watch the wildlife come alive. Ditch the electric can opener. They don’t work in a power outage anyway. Cook over a fire, not the gas stove or microwave. When you’re ready, go remote, far away from established campgrounds. Decompress and thrive alone in nature’s playground. Experience the silence and savor the solitude.

Camping cookware is a key ingredient for memorable fireside meals.

Get Out There

By reducing reliance on electronics and modern convenience when camping, you gain a better understanding and appreciation of nature. The essentials learned and confidence built will also be a great asset if the unthinkable happens, regardless of the situation’s duration.

Best of all, the memories outdoors, when unleashed from electronics and their false sense of security, are the kind that will last a lifetime.

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