Image: Wild Orchard Studios
When out in the woods I have been known to fear bears, imagine giant spiders, trample on boa constrictors (otherwise known as salamanders), and in so many other ways freak out on this natural habitat that is my home. Yet as the years go by and I rack up notches on my hiking stick, I find myself more and more besotted with the rugged pastime that is camping. I no longer pine for my shower on the second day, just the third. I no longer worry about bears, just raccoons. I also no longer bring a watch or a phone with me, time passes with the rising and setting of the sun.
But… I would be lying if I said that Glamping didn’t appeal to some baser nature. The idea was first brought to my attention on Gilmore Girls by the depiction of an elite society at Yale, don’t judge me, we all have guilty pleasures. The idea being that you are technically camping; you are out in the woods but you have a bed, you sleep in a tent but a tent more like one from the wizarding world. It’s a five star hotel in the woods with all the same services provided. If you like the idea of camping but don’t’ want to rough it then this is for you. The scenery, the fresh air, the tent, but no dirt, no bugs and no Styrofoam mattresses. For me, there’s something appealing about walking through the woods in a ball gown, something almost Elvish.
So is Glamping a fun alternative or yet another Oxymoron?
I’m sure there are some tents and yurts that are super-fancy, but many state parks have cabins and yurts that can be rented, and I’d still call that camping.
I have camped with my kids but I always had a blow-up mattress. That broke last year and now glamping looks more and more exciting!
I think that anytime you are sleeping outside, it is camping! It means something different to each person – in an RV or no tent and just under the stars.