Have Fun this Summer - Go Camping

Welcome to my series on the joys of family camping. In this series I’ll draw on my own childhood to help you learn why I think that camping is the best family building experience there is. My family discovered camping when I was a young teen and in the almost 40 years since then, I’ve had some very special family experiences while camping. In the process, I’ll turn you on to some great places to camp and help you make a list of the camping gear you’ll need.

One of my favorite things about a family camping trip is the chance to experience nature up close and personally. The first example of this I can remember was on our very first family camping trip. It was the summer of 1969 and my father decided that we would try camping for our summer vacation. Dad decided we were going to visit Ocean City, Maryland and see the wild ponies at Assateague Island National Seashore. Imagine how cool it was for my sister, brother and I (aged 4, 10 and 13 respectively) to see those ponies running around wild. Yes, we could have stayed at a hotel and driven to see the ponies, but it just wouldn’t have been the same as getting up, getting out of our camping tent, packing our picnic basket and then walking to where we could check out the ponies. It felt to me like we were part of the ponies’ world rather than intruders into their world.

Among the amazing wildlife I’ve seen while camping are wild moose in Maine, a spectacular monarch butterfly migration in Long Island (yes you really can go camping in Long Island), dozens of bald eagles and hawks near Harrisburg, PA, a migration of tiny frogs near Myrtle Beach and dozens of deer in one day on the Skyline Drive in Virginia. All of these trips have left me with memories for a lifetime. I only wish that digital cameras were better when I was a kid. That reminds me, don’t forget to take your camera on your next camping trip and when you go, please, please take nothing but pictures and leave nothing but footprints.

Share and Enjoy: