“Work is the curse of the camping person,” to really twist around a quote attributed to Oscar Wilde.
Necessary, perhaps, at least for most people. You’ve got to pay for your outdoor experiences, in some fashion.
For us, a series of COVID furloughs in 2020 and then full retirement in October 2021 opened the door of the camper and led us to what we hope will be a great adventure. The goal is two years of full-timing in our tiny trailer.
We’re close to the two-month lower limit for duration that I always held out as possible. That bit has been easy.
It could even become a permanent lifestyle, but we don’t really expect that to be the case. It’s still a possibility, though.
Vicki camped regularly in her school years, when her parents packed all five kids into a big ol’ Chrysler Newport and a none-too-spacious travel trailer. They did a lot of weekend camping, mostly on lakes in western Arkansas.
My first experience was with a church group camping at Haw Creek Falls in Johnson County, Arkansas, wrapped up in a blanket folded into thirds, just like the Boy Scout Handbook showed me.
That was followed by a bit of backpacking just after college. My biggest regret on downsizing for this shift to full-timing was giving away the REI down sleeping bag and internal frame backpack. Not so much the letting go, which was easy, but the fact they weren’t worn out from use.
Two Sheeps to the Wind 