There is no right way to enjoy the outdoors. I could walk forever with a pack on my back listening to the sounds of wildlife. It is nice to have our RV parked nearby to provide a dry place to sleep and storage for clothes and food. Backpacking, tent camping, rv life, a cabin or hotel room…I have enjoyed them all.

I am happiest, closest to nature. We sit outside when we camp until time for bed. In the late afternoon, a hammock and a lounge chair are good places to regroup after an active day. The fire is eventually stoked and cooking begins over the flames.

I channel my ancestors and cook in cast iron over the open flames. Biscuits and bacon is the preferred breakfast. Nothing can beat campfire coffee on a chilly morning. Dinner can be chili or bbq and a hot cherry cobbler. Sometimes we make steak smothered in butter and garlic over the fire. If you ask me, everything tastes better cooked over the flames. However, if the day is busy, simple fare such as cheese and berries can also be delightful. We take the time to savor.

When we camp, we are usually active. A bike ride around the campground or a stroll to the lakeside provides relaxing entertainment. Along the way, we talk to fellow campers. I also talk to the squirrels, deer, and birds that live in the area. It is good to be outdoors.

My husband and I don’t always agree on the best way to spend our time camping. I have never seen a trail that I didn’t want to explore. Sometimes he isn’t all that interested. Some days I really want to paddle the lake. He can’t seem to find a kayak he likes. Some days he wants to sit in the creek and I find the water too cold. Some days he wants to sleep late, and I am usually up with the dawn struggling to be quiet so he can sleep. Our idea of a perfect day can differ. But we make it work, because there is not a right way to camp.

I’ve been camping my entire life. Luckily, my parents and grandparents also ventured outdoors. It is part of me. Within the past two years, however, I have noticed a subtle shift at campgrounds. The rigs have gotten steadily bigger. The campers seem more interested with their toys than the environment they came to enjoy. They leave behind more trash. Everyone has facing hiking gear and expensive recreational equipment. I want to weep when I am on the trail and hear the buzz of a drone or the whine of an atv. I can’t help the nostalgia for an earlier and simpler time.

RVs with outdoor televisions and loud speakers overshadow the sounds of the owls and crickets. Our neighbors for the last four days didn’t even come outside their giant RV. The man stepped out once each day for 10 to 15 minutes. One afternoon he used his outside time to power wash his campsite pad. The next day he polished his car fender for 10 minutes before heading back inside. I suppose the idea of being in the woods gave him joy, even if he spent his daily 10 minutes of outside time trying to rid his site of all traces of nature. There is no right way to camp.

I must admit that I don’t understand those who drive to the woods with a miniature house and never step foot outside. I don’t understand how you could declare a campfire too dirty to mess with. I am unsure why, if you are not coming outside, that you have to light up the night with lights that make your campsite look like spotlights after a prison break.

However, there is no right way to camp, if it gives you joy and you aren’t ruining the experience for everyone. When our children were little, we traveled in a small camper van. I didn’t cook on vacation. It was too hard with two small children in a van. We lived on juice boxes and cheese sticks until we could find a restaurant. We would roll into camp at evening and be gone in the morning (because the van was our transport for the day). It worked for us in that season.

This past camping trip, college students formed a tent city just down the hill. They were loud and reckless. They rode motorcycles too fast and chased each other with water guns. One of the girls confused me with someone’s grandparent (a first experience that I am not sure how to process). And they were also polite and friendly (except for the “sorry, I mistook you for my boyfriend’s grandmother” comment). They had a great time but respected quiet hours.

While there is no right way to camp, you do need to respect your neighbors. I understand my need for solitude and the sounds of nature and so we always try to select sites that are large and facing the forest. If I park next to “bring my home to the woods and have an outdoor theater/dance party” family, we try to make friends early and realize that solitude may not be on the menu. If our neighbors have small children, we try to befriend them and enjoy their antics as they encounter nature. It is hard not to smile when you hear a child shouting, “come see…come see….it is a GIANT ant!” If we set camp next to the “rolling fortress couple” and no one emerges from inside, I shake my head and wonder why they made the effort. You do you. At least they won’t be loud … although I may have to endure their neon nightlights. There is no right way to camp.

There is definitely a right way to be fellow camper…friendly….accepting….courteous….and conscious that you have joined a voluntary community of people seeking respite from their everyday life. Happy camping, neighbor.