I know I’m a little late seeing this post but you are so so right!
I can’t even tell you how many times I have had to endure that wonderful mold smell when camping with my Boy Scout Troop because the previous users didn’t dry the tent out completely or properly!
Sincerely,
Eric
I know I’m a little late seeing this post but you are so so right!
I can’t even tell you how many times I have had to endure that wonderful mold smell when camping with my Boy Scout Troop because the previous users didn’t dry the tent out completely or properly!
Sincerely,
Eric
If you had told me six months ago that I’d be spending Thanksgiving with my family on a cruise ship, I’d have thought you were crazy. We usually spend that week camping at the beach and, after all, we’re still a bit young for the cruise ship scene. Or so I thought.
Four days on the Carnival Paradise® changed my entire notion of what cruise ships are all about. This was an extended family vacation, so our kids had cousins, aunts, uncles and Grandma to keep them entertained, but I was surprised by the number of families onboard the ship and the number of kid-friendly activities that were available.
We landed on Catalina Island on Tuesday morning. After setting the kids up with family for an afternoon of parasailing in the bay, Lisa and I headed off on a hike towards the Wrigley Botanical Gardens to checkout some of the local flora and fauna. It was clear and sunny, with temperatures well into the mid-70’s by noon, so even on the 24th of November I was glad I had the hydration pack. There is a lot of vertical terrain on Catalina, so come prepared.
The next morning we docked in Ensenada and our family piled onto a bus and headed south to Bahia Todos Santos to see the infamous La Bufadora, or blowhole, where the ocean geysers some 60-feet into the air as it crashes into a narrow channel in the cliffs. It was interesting and sure beat spending the day in Ensenada.
Living onboard the Carnival Paradise was a lot like RV camping. We had a queen bed with two fold down bunks on each end. A small bathroom with a shower, toilet and sink is just inside the door. We’re used to tight spaces, so we found our modest interior cabin quite comfortable.
It was a fun vacation and a lot different than pitching a tent at the beach! The kids had a great time and, I have to admit, I kind of enjoyed being pampered by the crew for four days. For a family of five, we spent less than $2,500 on everything. That’s a lot of camping trips, but it’s fun to splurge once in awhile.
See also…
Resources: Free eBook: Introduction To Family Camping
Camping on the High Seas
If you had told me six months ago that I’d be spending Thanksgiving with my family on a cruise ship, I’d have thought you were crazy. We usually spend that week camping at the beach and, after all, we’re still a bit young for the cruise ship scene. Or so I thought.
Four days on the Carnival Paradise® changed my entire notion of what cruise ships are all about. This was an extended family vacation, so our kids had cousins, aunts, uncles and Grandma to keep them entertained, but I was surprised by the number of families onboard the ship and the number of kid-friendly activities that were available.
We landed on Catalina Island on Tuesday morning. After setting the kids up with family for an afternoon of parasailing in the bay, Lisa and I headed off on a hike towards the Wrigley Botanical Gardens to checkout some of the local flora and fauna. It was clear and sunny, with temperatures well into the mid-70’s by noon, so even on the 24th of November I was glad I had the hydration pack. There is a lot of vertical terrain on Catalina, so come prepared.
The next morning we docked in Ensenada and our family piled onto a bus and headed south to Bahia Todos Santos to see the infamous La Bufadora, or blowhole, where the ocean geysers some 60-feet into the air as it crashes into a narrow channel in the cliffs. It was interesting and sure beat spending the day in Ensenada.
Living onboard the Carnival Paradise was a lot like RV camping. We had a queen bed with two fold down bunks on each end. A small bathroom with a shower, toilet and sink is just inside the door. We’re used to tight spaces, so we found our modest interior cabin quite comfortable.
It was a fun vacation and a lot different than pitching a tent at the beach! The kids had a great time and, I have to admit, I kind of enjoyed being pampered by the crew for four days. For a family of five, we spent less than $2,500 on everything. That’s a lot of camping trips, but it’s fun to splurge once in awhile.
See also…
Have you subscribed to my newsletter? I publish it once a month with articles that are unique to the newsletter and not found in the RSS or email feeds. Subscribe by December 11th for your chance to win a Panasonic Lumix ruggedized digital camera!
I also had an experiance where we were camping at a hot spring in Montana and a rain storm came in fast and furious. We rolled up camp in a hurry and the next time we got the tent out it had mold, it just so happend that I was setting it up in the yard to let my kid play in before we went camping and I was able to deal with it before I was at the camp site. Enjoy the outdoors!!
I also had an experiance where we were camping at a hot spring in Montana and a rain storm came in fast and furious. We rolled up camp in a hurry and the next time we got the tent out it had mold, it just so happend that I was setting it up in the yard to let my kid play in before we went camping and I was able to deal with it before I was at the camp site. Enjoy the outdoors!!
Is it that time again, already? That right, we’re just a week away from carving the turkey and hitting the stores on Black Friday to stock-up on all those great outdoor gift ideas at low, low prices. If you’re like me, though, shopping online is a lot easier and more enjoyable than fighting the crowds at the mall, so here are five inexpensive gifts for the outdoor person in your life.
Peanut bars can take you so far, before you start craving something a bit more substantial, and there’s nothing that will scratch that itch quicker than bacon flavored meat sticks! Don’t confuse these with the Slim Jim™, produced by ConAgra Foods® and sold in convenience stores. Pop’s Authentic Snack Sticks are made with lean pork and beef, so they taste great and they don’t leave your fingers all greasy. A dozen sticks are $16.80, including shipping, direct from Pop’s Authentic. www.popsauthentic.com
I’m a big fan of these magnesium fire starters, after I picked one up earlier this year (see The Backcountry Essentials). They are easy to use, even when your hands are cold, and throw off plenty of hot sparks to get your tender going. I know a lot of people who carry windproof lighters, but the way I see it, steel and magnesium won’t ever break so it’s just one less thing I have to worry about. Coghlan’s Magnesium Fire Starter sells for under $6 all over the Internet – $5.98 on Amazon.com® was the best deal, if you are an Amazon Prime member, since shipping is free. www.coghlans.com
For my RV readers out there, FoldTuk makes a line of collapsible cookware that at home in the freezer or the oven. These are great for pop-ups and RVs where space is a premium and you don’t want a bunch of ceramic or metal kitchenware rattling around, when you are driving. FoldTuk kitchenware is made from a petroleum-free polymer and is safe to use in ovens to 500-degrees. FoldTuk offers different shapes and sizes to suit your needs and each comes with a sealable lid for food storage. The 4-cup round version, shown here, is $15.99 plus shipping. www.foldtuk.com
If you’re a bit reluctant to spray your kids down with DEET, there is a patch available that uses Vitamin B1 and Aloe to ward off mosquitoes. Unlike sprays and lotions, the patch doesn’t leave any messy residue and, according to the manufacturer, it lasts up to 36 hours. They claim the B1 and Aloe combination works for 8 out 10 people and swimming or showering will not degrade its affectivity. A box of 10 patches is $7.99 plus shipping. www.dontbitemepatchstore.com
Looking more like something your Grandma knitted than just another mass-produced beanie, the Shred Alert™ is a great looking hat that will let you stand out in the sea of synthetic black beanies. One thing the Shred Alert has, that your Grandma’s probably didn’t, is a super-comfy fleece lining. The Powerlines beanie is $29, plus shipping. www.shredalert.com
See also…
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Several weeks ago, I started seeing stories about this stylish tent trailer designed by Belgian architect Axel Enthoven. The stories kept coming; Treehugger on November 2nd, Gizmag on November 3rd, Gadgettastic on November 4th – everyone is fawning over the pop-up that, “takes obvious cues from the Sydney Opera House in Australia.” (Dvice, October 30th). Despite all of the excitement, there is scant little tangible information available on the ‘Opera’ tent trailer, other than its lavish accoutrements. Evidently, those are real hardwood floors and there is a wine cabinet in there, somewhere.
The Conestoga-like interior appears to have a small bathroom in the front, with narrow beds on either side. A stovetop on the left and a sink on the right frame the open back of the Opera. It’s unclear from the few pictures available, whether the rear of the pop-up closes for protection from the elements. One thing’s for sure, with hardwood floors, a wine cabinet, hot and cold running water and a porcelain toilet, the Opera is not going to be one of the lighter tent trailers.
I’m a big fan of innovative products, like SylvanSport’s ‘GO’ multipurpose trailer and the Coleman Switchback tent trailer, but the Opera strikes me as more of a design exercise than a serious offering designed for the backcountry. For something that appears so gargantuan on the outside, the interior shot of the Opera displays a surprising lack of useable interior space. The friends I have who were drawn to pop-ups are family campers who like the large bed platforms, which provide plenty of sleeping space. The Opera does not even have a convertible dinette bed.
The Opera is supposed to go into limited production in 2010, most likely in Europe although the iconic design is sure to tickle the fancy of at least a few people here in the States. It’s sure to draw a crowd wherever it pops-up, which is likely the primary reason someone would purchase one.
See also…
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I just spent the weekend in Fayetteville, NC with a dozen of my fellow Paratroopers, who served with me in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. They had seen CampingBlogger.net and several commented on how once they had vowed never to sleep on the ground again, once they had gotten out of the Army.
Interestingly, I too shared this attitude when I returned to civilian life. Understand that in the five years I served (some of my friends are still serving, which is amazing), we had been bitten by ants in the jungle, bitten by flies in the desert and bitten by the bitter cold in the Arctic. Five years of this could leave anyone a bit jaundiced to the idea of camping in the outdoors.
They say that time heals all, but I think in my case the motivation to get back into the outdoors was having kids. One of my buddies posited that maybe I just want to make my kids suffer like I had, but, in all seriousness, letting my kids experience the outdoors just seemed like one of those basic parental responsibilities that one has to do.
Of course, I’ve since learned that experiencing the outdoors with my children is nothing like enduring the outdoors with my Paratrooper buddies (sorry, guys!). The kids don’t like to get cold, but they don’t mind a little rain and they sure don’t mind getting dirty. Watching my kids have fun on a hike, or challenge themselves on a difficult rock face fills me with pride and makes me happy to be there with them.
Modern technology has alleviated many of the hardships associated with camping in the outdoors. We can now camp in tents, tent trailers, RVs, or cabins and be nearly as comfortable as we are in our own homes. No matter how you choose to experience the outdoors with your family, take solace in the fact that the memories you are creating are enduring ones that will influence your children when they become parents, themselves.
See also…
Resources: Free eBook: Introduction To Family Camping
Reluctant Camper to Responsible Parent
I just spent the weekend in Fayetteville, NC with a dozen of my fellow Paratroopers, who served with me in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. They had seen CampingBlogger.net and several commented on how once they had vowed never to sleep on the ground again, once they had gotten out of the Army.
Interestingly, I too shared this attitude when I returned to civilian life. Understand that in the five years I served (some of my friends are still serving, which is amazing), we had been bitten by ants in the jungle, bitten by flies in the desert and bitten by the bitter cold in the Arctic. Five years of this could leave anyone a bit jaundiced to the idea of camping in the outdoors.
They say that time heals all, but I think in my case the motivation to get back into the outdoors was having kids. One of my buddies posited that maybe I just want to make my kids suffer like I had, but, in all seriousness, letting my kids experience the outdoors just seemed like one of those basic parental responsibilities that one has to do.
Of course, I’ve since learned that experiencing the outdoors with my children is nothing like enduring the outdoors with my Paratrooper buddies (sorry, guys!). The kids don’t like to get cold, but they don’t mind a little rain and they sure don’t mind getting dirty. Watching my kids have fun on a hike, or challenge themselves on a difficult rock face fills me with pride and makes me happy to be there with them.
Modern technology has alleviated many of the hardships associated with camping in the outdoors. We can now camp in tents, tent trailers, RVs, or cabins and be nearly as comfortable as we are in our own homes. No matter how you choose to experience the outdoors with your family, take solace in the fact that the memories you are creating are enduring ones that will influence your children when they become parents, themselves.
See also…
Have you subscribed to my newsletter? I publish it once a month with articles that are unique to the newsletter and not found in the RSS or email feeds. Subscribe by December 11th for your chance to win a Panasonic Lumix ruggedized digital camera!