RVer or Camper?

I’ve been out camping for almost 25 Years and I try to be out as many days as I can. It started out with tent camping, went to a trailer  and ended with class A Motorhome that we sold 4 years ago when we moved to Europe. However we are now going for trailer camping again and I do think whatever we did in the past it was camping. Of course like Outbound says there is a big difference between hiking just with a back pack and a couple of friends in a remote area and camping at a place where you have all the convenience of modern life with a full size RV. I personally do love hiking just somewhere remote and putting the tent up where ever you are when it’s time for the night especially with friends. But not all the time and not with my family as long as the kids are as young as they are right now.

Anyway as long as I’m in a place where I have enough space around me I would not like to miss that kind of convenient camping we do and I also still consider myself as a camper like I was at the very beginning. The basics are still the same. We are outside as much as we can and basically the only big difference is that we are sleeping very comfortable and if there is a very bad day we enjoy the dryness and warmth of that hard walled vehicle.

If I retire one day I might end up with living in a RV but even than I think I would consider myself as a camper.

For me, camping involves a backpack, perhaps a canoe, a lightweight tent and sleeping bag, some basic foods, an ultralight stove, a wineskin full of water, one change of clothes, several pairs of socks and underwear, and some sturdy boots.  It involves a solitary campsite beside a lake, a tiny fire made with slender deadfall that was broken-up by hand.  It involves a glorious starry sky, the sounds of crickets and katydids and unknown animals rustling in the underbrush and the occasional trout splashing.  It involves the company of a good friend, sometimes two-legged, but most often of the four-legged variety.

Nothing compares to that feeling at the end of an exhausting but rewarding day as you sit by the fire, sipping on a too-hot mug of cocoa, taking in - being a small part of -  nature's boundless glory.

We've had occasions of sitting outside at a campground when a big rig pulls up. Pretty soon you start hearing the Jeopardy theme song and the sound of the microwave dinging. But you never actually see the people. I never considered this camping and resented these people parking next to us. The article helped me see that these are just people who want to travel and take their house with them rather than enjoying the camping experience.

Ditto SylviaBlue!

I've tent camped, and RV camped. It all seems like camping to me.
The best parts being cooking outside, and around the campfire in the
evening. You can't really get that anywhere else other than going camping.
I feel a RV is camping.