When I was younger I used to love going camping with my family, but as an adult I don't care to do it as much. Living on an acreage has corrupted me a bit, It's almost like full time camping every day. I have a huge fire pit in the back, lots of trees and forests all around me and I'm far enough from the highway that I barely hear the highway noise.
I have neighbors but they don't live that close to me and I don't hear them doing anything and they don't hear me, we can't even see each other, which is why I understand the need to go camping if you live in the city. Having neighbors wall to wall and in such a tight area is my idea of hell.
What I can't seem to fathom is the campers that decide to pack up all their stuff and go camping for the long weekend, or any other weekend for that matter and decide that when they find a lake or campground to go to, they park right next to another camper. You have basically traded one full time neighbor in the city for a part time one in the country. I thought the whole point of camping was to get away from it all.
Why on earth would you drive hundreds of kilometers to the country and then decide to park in a cluster of other campers? That seems like insanity.
My buddy decided one year that he was going to go camping full time in the summer and still go to work as well. He found a site along a river on crown land and away from any people, he lived in town and wanted some peace and quiet and some privacy for a while. He set up his secluded site, put up tarps to cover him from the rain, a place for his dog, and all of his camping gear.
He was quite happy with his setup until one day after work he came back to his private camp spot only to find that another camper had decided to park right next to him. There were miles and miles of spots these people could have camped at but they chose to set up camp right beside his campground. These people then decided that they needed to complain that his dog was off leash and in their camping area, and that he needed to be leashed. That was only the beginning, and later it turned into a full circus.
This story goes on for a while but in the end my friend ended up packing up his stuff and going home due to the ignorance of the other campers. He went by the next day to see if he forgot anything and noticed that the other campers left as well, he was incredibly upset because they gave the impression they were going to stay as long as possible.
My point is if you are going camping to enjoy the great outdoors then do so, but if you can't stand being alone and have to be around people, maybe you should just stay in the city.
Scott Goerz
