How We Became Happy Campers
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Sean and I did not initially set out to trek across the United States with our children, pick-up truck, and camper. However, we love all kinds of travel, and RVing happens to fit into our travel niche very easily.
I could probably live on a cruise boat, but Sean has found this massive love for camping. The fact that Sean loves camping makes me love camping more than I probably would have otherwise. I talked Sean into camping because my grandparents had a camper when I was little, and the family would camp at DeSoto Falls in the North Georgia mountains. So I suppose camping is nostalgic to me.
Sean has Camping-Ophilia (a word I just made up, meaning Sean’s major love of camping). I want to share with you for a few minutes how we became Happy Campers.
Becoming a Happy Camper
Sean and I were in school for ten years straight, so we didn’t take many vacations. When we did travel, it involved a car, hotel, and a weekend or maybe a cruise ship, if we were lucky.
In 2013, my parents bought a truck and a camper. They seldom camped, and the RV usually just sat in their yard. My son, however, loved their camper, and he even named it Davy Crockett. Come to find out, my mom hated the smell of campfires, and my dad was not crazy about pulling the travel trailer. It turned out that camping was not my parents’ idea of happiness.
One random Thursday afternoon in March 2015, my mom called and asked if we wanted to buy Davy Crockett and their truck. I called Sean, not knowing what to say. Like many decisions we make in life, Sean and I rolled the dice and bought the camper and truck without ever camping together! Actually, Sean had never camped at all! We had no idea how this purchase was about to change our lives.
Sean and I were very green to camping! I took pictures and made a PowerPoint of my dad teaching Sean how to hook up and unhook the camper. We were so afraid that we would screw up towing, so Sean and I pulled the camper to a local middle school. Sean learned to drive a truck pulling a camper behind it in a school parking lot. We crossed our fingers and jumped off the cliff…kind of like we always do!
Our first trip was three weeks later, and it was a disaster. The campground was local and supposedly “kid-friendly.” What I didn’t realize about kid-friendly was that kids would be running through the campground at 2:00 a.m., shining flashlights into our camper windows. However, this trip was the worst camping experience to date, and it was going to get a lot better. But, like anything else that you jump into headfirst, you rise up and persevere. Our first camping experience was not going to dictate our camping future.
Living the Happy Camper Lifestyle
Since 2015, Sean, the kids, and I have camped at more than 80 campgrounds throughout the United States and made some fantastic family memories. We have learned incredible lessons, and it is now one of our most common ways to travel.
Usually, in my life, at least, just when you think you have things figured out, God has other plans. I love that we spontaneously purchased our camper. I love that we can fill Jackson and Lucy’s childhood with camping memories. I love campfires and burned marshmallows. I love camping.
This is how we became happy campers.
Do you camp? Would you like to try camping? We would love to hear from you! Please drop us a line in the comment section below!
Would you like to rent an RV to see if you are a happy camper? Click HERE to learn about Outdoorsy’s selection of available RV rentals!
Check out our articles on not keeping up with the Joneses and our tips for planning family vacations!
