This is serious question that I would like everyone to answer

[CajunCamper]

Well, not life or death serious, but I think that answering this question will help us all understand the perspectives of those posting on this site.

There's always been this talk about moving up or moving on from a pop up to some other type of camper and it always seems to create controversy among those that post to the site.

Here's what I'm thinking: I started out as a tent camper both car camping where we drive to a designated campsite, unload the car and pitch our tent for the weekend. I also did a lot of backpacking where you carry everything that you will need for your trip on your back and hit the trail.

We still love both car camping and backpacking as a matter of fact we still do both. The main reason we bought our pop up was so we could have AC in the hottest of summer days here in the deep south extending the length of our camping season to year around.

For me, the pop up is as far up the food chain as we want to go. For us we don't want all the conveniences of home, that's one of the things we try to escape by camping. Sometimes even the pop up is too far up the food chain for us and we just have to cram our camping gear in our kayaks or into our backpacks and hit the trail or water hoping that we don't see another individual the whole time. We bath in rivers and lakes, purify our own drinking water and camp in areas far from roads and campgrounds. So for me I have a hard time relating to the desire to move on or up to a hybrid or a TT or a 5er.

But that's me. I know some people maybe even most would be miserable on a backpacking trip away from civilization and that's okay.

Different people have different perspectives. I remember once we took the boys to Disney World and stayed at Fort Wilderness in our pop up and loved it. We ran into some friends sometime after the trip and they asked us what we did on our vacation and we told them we took the boys to Disney World. They asked "Oh, where did you stay?" and we told them we camped at Fort Wilderness. They had a puzzled look on their face and then asked us "oh my, were all the hotels booked?" We of course said "no, we chose to camp there." And then they of course asked "why?" They have never camped and could not possibly understand why anyone would want to sleep outdoors.

So I was hoping that everyone that reads this thread would chime in and tell us all how your camping life began and what you have come to expect and desire out of a camping trip.

I'm curious; are you  in a pop up right now because it was the camper that fit your budget and you have hopes of moving to a larger unit some day? Or is the pop up a step up for you?

I think it would also be telling to know how many started out in tents and did you enjoy tent camping.

Remember we all love camping and that is really what binds us all together. So please share your thoughts. I think this will help us undertand others that may not share the same views we have on what the camping experience should be.

Okay now let's all hold hands and sing Kum-by-ya (sp).

CajunCamper

[OC Campers]

When I was a kid my parents owned an Apache hard walled popup camper.  We had tons of memories in this camper.  We then moved up to a 21 foot Terry tt that I thought was so cool.   We probably put 30,000 miles on it.

Then as a young adult, I still loved camping.  When my husband and I got married we tent camped all the time.  Our "little dream" as newlyweds was to own a popup camper.  When we started having kids we finally bought a large mini van (1998 Astro Van) but one of the requirements was that it be able to tow a popup (if we could ever afford one).  After being married 11 years and just having our 3rd child we realized that it was time to stretch our budget and buy a popup.  Plus with another baby the tent couldn't hold 5 of us and all you have to bring along for a baby.  
 
We researched and went to see as many brands as we could find.  We finally settled on our Westlake.  It had everything we thought we would need.  We really wanted the Niagra with the slide out but we were going to have to eat a lot of top ramen to afford the one we picked out.  It had 2 king beds, fridge, heater, potty/shower and a hot water heater.  Plus, at the time we lived in a townhome in orange couty, California which meant if we had to store it it was going to cost us a $100 a month.  Luckily our complex had small RV storage spaces.  (A large trailer would of never fit).
 
After 6 years we still love our Westlake and use it as much as we can.  Now that the kids are growing up (16, 11, and 6) life is getting a lot more hectic Especially having a 16 year old).   Now my dh has acquired another past time (dirt bike riding).   We are able to fit the 3 dirt bikes in the bed of the truck and haul the Westlake behind but it is getting increasingly difficult.  A lot of our riding is boondocking.  Which the popup handles  just fine but it sure would be nice to have a larger water tank, gray water tank and black water tank.  I really like the idea of a hybrid because we still camp alot without the dirtbikes.  I really like the openess of canvas bunk ends.  My dh would really like a motorhome or toy hauler.  I am not sold on the toy hauler idea and the excessive cost of a motorhome scares me a little too.  Starcraft does offer a hybrid with an 8ft deck on the front that we would like to take a look at but dealers in our area don't carry them.   We also have looked at the RT series from Starcraft but we are then back to small holding tanks.  
 
We are still 20 years from retirement.  I know how time flies and it will be here before I know it.  I think our ultimate vehicle will some day be a mid size motorhome.  My dream is to travel the US and see what every state has to offer before the Lord calls us home.
 
Jacqui

[GeneF]

Cajun

I enjoyed your post, very enlightening.

I really didn't start camping until I was in my early 40's and that was strictly by accident.  My sister and bl gave us a 1969 tent camper, one of those early models that had nothing in them but two mattresses and a canvas tent.  We really enjoyed the thing.  Only one step up from tent camping, ie this had two wheels and was off the ground

We then moved on to an 8 foot Jayco and promptly did a 49 day cross country trip.  Kids were 6 and 10.  Major difference with this rig was that we had a table and sink in it.  Tons of good memories.

Kids began to grow so we bought a 10 foot Rockwood.  Ahhhh, this was luxury.  We now had a fridge and furnace.

The kids got a little bigger so we bought the 12 foot Mesa.  Alas, the kids were not camping with us that much anymore.

Age began to creep up and retirement came along.  Both dw and I wanted to travel but we were getting tired of the cranking up so along came the hybrid.  Our own litter box and shower.  We did do a lot of travelling over 25,000 miles and 300 nights but

Now we still want to travel but want to do the snowbird route.  So now the 30 foot tt which is bigger, has a queen coil spring bed, two swivel rockers, a nice size tub and some other amenities but is still small (?) enough for us to take trips in.  Also less setup.

So this has been an evolving thing for us.  Although we really enjoyed our popups, I doubt that we would go back to one.  Maybe a htt if the need arose but I believe we will not be going any bigger.

I think you will find that age and health issues will affect just how much and what kind of camping you will do as time goes by.

Do what you love doing now because the mind might be willing but the body may not be able to in later years.

[mountainrev]

This subject is getting a bit of controversy over at PUX lately.  For us, the popup was a step up from the tent, which, after a rain-soaked vacation in Maine 15 years ago, we vowed never to do again as soon as we could afford a popup.  A $500 popup was dropped in our lap a month later, and 15 years and two popups later, we've never looked back.

No, I don't have any plan or desire to own anything else--HTT, TT, 5-er, Class A, Class C, whatever.  

We recently camped in the Tetons with friends who own a 5-er.  We spent quite a bit of time in it, since we tried to eat at least one meal together, and it was rainy, so we had little choice.

I'll admit that it was nice sitting in a beautiful, spacious, carpeted, warm RV during a rainstorm.  But 1) that's not my idea of camping, 2) I wouldn't want to tow that thing!, and 3) there's no way we could afford it, and I don't anticipate that ever changing.

My folks camped in a popup until they were about 70, and would have continued to if a teenage driver hadn't sideswiped them on a mountain road and totalled it.  My goal is to do the same.

Now, ask me 10 years from now, after my kids are all out of the house, and maybe I'll be singing a different tune.  But as of right now, at age 44 and after 15 years of camping in popups, I have no plans of moving "up" or "down."

[Russinator]

As a child my wife camped with her family [at first tents and then a very small TT]. My first camping experience was in 1963, right after we were married. DW and her family introduced me to camping and I loved it [still do].

At first, for many years, we used a tent. Then I converted a van into a [very crude] camper van. As our 3 boys grew the van became too small.

I was on the fire department and many of the guys had trucks and camper units. My captain put his truck/camper up for sale and I bought it. We used that set up for many years.

After we wore it out we bought a Class "C" motor home. We used that unit until I decided I wanted to start exploring Baja with a 4x4 unit [the boys were grown and on their own at this point].

I bought a full sized 4x4 Bronco and fixed it up for camping out of. When it's bed was made up it was 5' wide by 7 ' deep. Under the bed there was storage for all the gear we needed. On one of our Baja trips we saw a couple who had a 4x4 class "B" camper van [by Sportsmobile]. http://www.sportsmobile.com/ We fell in love with their van, but they were too expensive for us.

As luck would have it, I was injured at work. After two surgeries and six months of physical therapy it was decided that I wasn't physically able to return to work so they retired me and gave me enough money [for my injury] to buy the 4x4 Sportsmobile. Which, I thought was the perfect size for 2 people. As we were loading the van up for it's first camping trip, I realized that the truck/camper and motor home had DW so used to taking more things than the van would hold. That's when we went shopping for a PU.

We decided on a PU over a TT because we could keep it in our garage whereas the TT would need to be keep in a storage lot. I didn't want to do that because we used to keep a boat in one of those places. Every now and then things would disappear from the boat [batteries, marine radios, fire extinguishers, etc].

The way we like to camp is to be outside until it gets dark. So, whatever we're camping in doesn't really matter. I've seen, and I'm sure you all have too, people who park their MH and never get out of it. If that's what they enjoy, it's fine with me, but its not for us.

Russ

[garym053]

Well, even though I did a little camping in Boy Scouts as a teenager, my love of camping was started about 9 years ago at the "young" age of 45!

We were bicycling a rail/trail through a state park in Vermont and stopped at a vacant site for lunch. The site overlooked a beautiful pond and I said to my wife, "we ought to try camping!" She said "yeah, right!"
Within two weeks, I'd bought a cheap cabin tent, cookstove, propane grill, sleeping bags, air mattresses and we were READY to go.

Rained all the first night, but I didn't care. Cooking out in the rain was a blast! Falling asleep to the sound of the rain on the tent was great!
We did move up to a PUP the next year, but still go tent camping several times a year.

I have Sleep Apnea, so the prospect of backpacking a Deep cycle battery to run my CPAP on an inverter has pretty much killed any plans for backpacking or remote camping.

The only time I seriously consider moving "up" or "on" or "over" is after spending a lot of time sitting in our tow vehicle during thunderstorms. If we had a hardsided trailer we could safely ride it out inside asleep. Even with a hybrid, we could pull the ends up and ride it out. Anything with canvas, you might as well be in a tent. When I seriously start looking, my wife or I will come up with more reasons to stay with the PUP than go to another, so I guess we're "stuck"!

[austinado16]

Grew up camping in camper in the bed of our Jeep pickup in Alaska. When the Jeep was stolen one winter and totalled (camper wasn't attached at the time) my Dad mounted the camper on a Ford F150 flatbed dually.  We also had a 1920's or maybe 30's vintage log cabin on a lake about 50mi north of Anchorage.  It had electricity and propane, but no running water, and an outhouse.  So that's how I got started.

Right after college I bought all the gear for car camping and went on a 3 week adventure up into Canada and down through Calgary, Glacier NP, Yellowstone, etc.  A couple weeks after that was over, I went out for another 2 weeks and did some of the lower states.  Then that was it for a few years.

My wife and I car camped a few times right after we were married, but she's not one for waking up in the cold, not having a shower, sleeping on mats, etc. so that didn't happen very often.  We tried again after our daugther (now was born, but by the time we got done loading and unloading all the bedding, air matress, blowing it up, bigger tent, and on and on, it was WAY more work than it was camping, and was really sort of ridiculous.  Plus, by the time the daughter and dogs came in and out of the tent a handful of times, there was more dirt inside than outside. And so ended our camping days.

But, I don't give up and camping and the outdoors is really "in me."  I wanted my daughter to experience it and I wanted us to be able to do something as a family.

Then one night I was surfing around on Craigslist just to see what old used Popups might be going for and I stumbled across a $500 Starcraft about 3hrs north.  I didn't know anything about popups.  In fact, when I went to look at it, I was shocked by how huge it was, and then stood back in amazement as the guy cranked it up and it became a 10' tall house on wheels!  Pretty cool!

Needless to say, it was love at first site, regardless of how bad the roof was and that it was missing the dinnette table and carry-out stove.  I had to have it and we struck a deal for $250.  The rest is recent history as you all have seen in my postings.

We really love it and I dying to get it back out to a campground a few more times before winter hits.........and we start skiing!

As for moving up; no, this is perfect.  I agree with the comment that anything else just isn't really camping...and I want to camp, not RV.  In fact, I don't intend to ever be in a location where there are hookups......and if there are, I won't use them.  It's too much fun just letting the PUP do it's thing as best it can.

[wavery]

When I was a kid, my dad always had airplanes. We lived in Minnesota at the time and we would fly up into the wilderness and fish & tent camp.

When we moved to CA. dad bought a fishing boat and we would go over to Catalina Island and sleep on the boat and go fishing. I then got married and we always had a P/U trk & camper, then a Class-A motorhome.

I got real fed-up with city life, bought a sailboat and spent 14 years sailing to different countries, all over the world. We did a lot of back-packing and tent camping in New Zealand, Australia, Africa and too many island countries to name. I even spent 3 weeks in Antarctica (by myself) freezing my butt off (in the middle of summer.

I don't care to ever sleep in a tent or see a BUG again. I am so sick of bugs, I just want to scream whenever I see one. I'm getting a little older now and want a few creature comforts but still want to see the outdoors (without bugs)........did I mention that I HATE BUGS...

We're heading into our "Golden years" now (whatever the heck that means) and we will be looking into a motorhome in about 6 years. I imagine I'll probably die of old-age....still camping in something. For now....we love our PU.

[Tgraham]

I began camping with my dad when I was about 5 or 6. It was always tent camping. I loved it so much my friends and I had a spot on the back of my dads 10 acres that we designated our camp. We had a big rock fire pit, kept a supply of fire wood, built a makeshift table with tarp canopy for cooking in inclimate weather, and about 6 of us practicly grew up in those woods.

Once I found my wife to be we shared some camping trips together and she grew to love it as well. We made several trips a year to places from Canada to Lousianna.

Then came the kids. We kept at through our first child, but two became more of a challenge than we wanted for a "vacation". We bought a Coleman PUP, twin king bunks, sink, stove, fridge, and of course A/C. As mentioned in the previous post, the A/C extended our camping season through the hot summer months that we would have skipped had we been in a tent.

Now we have three children and a dog. We still love the pup and have no plans of moving up. I still take the tent and a sleeping bag down to the lake with my oldest daughter for a night of fishing, camping, and some good quality time together.

I think more folks should spend more time at some point in there life "getting back to basics". The simplicity of it is great stess relief, and you really have more appreciation for even the most basic of creature comforts.

It boils down to what ever works for you, tent or tt, just as long as we are all having fun. :-() . I have enjoyed learning of others exposure to camping and it has really helped jog some wonderful memories.

[Jim K in PA]

Cajuncamper,

Your post is excellent.  I am not sure why controversy would erupt over where any of us may fall within this fun activity.  However, people being people, anything can (and usually does) happen.

We (DW and I) are in our early 40s.  We have camped throughout our marriage.  I camped frequently growing up and have some great memories of waking up in a tent on a crisp morning in upstate NY.  FOr 20 years I used to race cars (road course) at tracks up and down the midatlantic and even in Canada.  We camped at every track we went to.  We roughed it in everything from a box truck to a minivan to a two room tent (luxury!)

Now we have two boys that are both in Boy Scouts.  We are very active with the Troop, and the Troop camps at least 6 times a year.  We have and still do tent camp, including full on primitive where we have to paddle for an hour just to get to the camp site. We love it, and will continue to tent camp.

The pop-up came about as a result of a combination of things.  First, my back has been complaining about sleeping on the ground for the last few years.  I ruptured the L5-S1 disk a couple of years ago, which was not fun.  I have healed well, but I will never be the same.  When it comes to tent camping, some sites are better than others (I hate sleeping on a beach).  However, the idea of getting into some semblance of a real bed, yet still be in a tent, was very appealing.  BTW, I am going to start using a cot or an air mattress in our tent the next time we go.

In July, we went to our first Camp Jeep.  Some good friends of ours were gracious enough to let us borrow their 1997 Dutchmen 1203 to "try out".  It was pure love.  We got off the ground, but we still had our tent.  I also love the sound of rain on canvas.  It (pop-up camping) really seemed to click with me and my family.  It (the PU) was small and light enough to tow with my Wrangler Unlimited, yet MORE than big enough for all 4 of us to be comfortable.

So now we have our 2006 Viking, and we cannot wait to get out and enjoy it.  Will we ever upgrade?  Right now I would say that is highly unlikely.  Like many others, I am a camper, not an RV'er.  I actually find some of the larger pop-ups (like the Fleetwood Avalon) a little absurd due to their substantial size and weight.  If I were ever to find myself lusting after one of them, I would probably just move up to a full on TT.  

To me, the camper is a means to an end, not the end itself.  I want something that will allow me to have a decent night's sleep and a place to prepare and eat food with reasonable ease.  I DO NOT want to feel like I am at home.  If I wanted my camper to feel like home, I should have stayed there!

FWIW, my $.02, YMMV, etc., blah blah blah

 

[cb]

CajunCamper,  I love your thread!!  It's fun reading how everybody got to the PUP stage of life!!
 
DH and I never camped growing up.  We were a couple of hard-working farm kids in different parts of the country.  Although he had no experience with Boy Scouts, DH became a Scoutmaster when our oldest son became active in Scouts.  Their troop backpacked in the Eastern Sierra for one of their first trips, totally unaware they were in one of the best backpack areas in existence!  It wasn't hard to convince me to try a family trip to experience the beauty and solitude, even though we had four kids from 6 to 11.  I made down sleeping bags for all of us, and we were good to go.  We were hooked, and continued to backpack until all kids were grown and gone from home.  When I realized my "tweaky" back was making sleeping on the ground miserable, we went shopping for something off the ground.  We were both still working, and a $4000 investment seemed totally doable, so, on a whim, we bought a PUP at an RV show.  The rest, as they say, is history.  We've had it for nearly 11 years, and have taken grandkids along with us since they were in diapers.  We've been up and down the west coast, and east as far as Wisconsin.  We're retired now, remember the "good old days", and keep popping up.  We still like boondocking best and love the beauty and solitude, wherever we are.  We keep looking for our next trailer, but haven't found anything better than what we have.  Life is good!

[srds]

Started out in tents ,then to pups,and now have tt.We tend to use our pup and dd's tent because of gas prices.We use tt when its's colder,I still would chose pup because it still fills like camping to me.On last trip to Garner we took pup and tent,Trip in oct to Inks Lake then to Arkansas we will use tt and tent because pa paw going with us.Great question cajun.

[campdaddy]

my buddies and I used to camp in the wood along Honey Creek. Didn't make any difference if it was summer or winter. With just  pup tents and sleeping bags we'd head out to "The Creek" for a weekend of camping, varmint hunting, plinking, and fellowship. My dad worked for the Air Force we spent a number of summers TDY to northern Michigan around Sleeping Bear Dunes. We had an Airstream TT and even though we were in the woods it didn't seem like camping, it seemed like a house on wheels parked in the woods. But it still was great fun.

Joined the Air Force in 1974 for an 8-year stint. Didn't do much camping during that time though. My DXW and I did do a couple of camping trips while we were stationed at Castle AFB, into northern California. Usually car camping but occasionally we did some hiking to remote campsites. Perhaps no more than a 1/2 dozen times in 4 years.

Got out of the Air Force in '82 and pretty much gave up camping altogether for about 15years. I had lots of other hobbies during that time like Hot Rods and Rock & Roll Bands.

In mid to late '90's moved to my current place met my DW. One of the activities we enjoyed together in addition to bicycling, canoeing, and hicking,  was tent camping. We did a lot of that, usually in nearby parks and forests. Then when DD '03 was born, I was nearing 50YO and DD was nearing 40YO so we decided that tent camping, even with air mattresses, was just too uncomfortable.

In '05 we borrowed a popup to camp at nearby Indian Lake.  Bought our Rockwood shortly thereafter and haven't stopped camping since. We still don't camp nearly as often as I'd like too because of other commitments -including still playing in a
 Classic Rock Band

I can see us maybe in a number of years going to a HTT as we get older and less able to deal with the physical requirements of popping it up, :eyecrazy:  but I can't see us ever going canvas free. :# We just enjoy sleeping close to nature to ever put a solid wall between us and outdoors when camping. Might as well stay home as to do that.

[CC777]

We started camping a little over 4 years ago.  My brother and sis in law had this neat Palomino they wanted to sell since they were moving on to a TT.  I had heard all their stories about camping so I convinced DH to give it a try.  We had recently been on vacation...rented a condo in Cape May (My first vacation in 15 years).  It was little more than a glorified hotel room and wasn't very clean at all (and I'm not a clean freak).  Also,  it cost us approx $1000.00 for a week and I had to clean it before we left or risk my security.

So with that bug in my bonnet I bought the camper for $1400.00 and found a campground in Cape May where I could stay for TWO weeks for less then $500.00.  I was sold simply on the money end.  Well,  the first year we had it we camped over 30 days!  That was incredible to me.  I went from one short vacation in 15 years to getting away for over a month in one year.

Sometime on 04 we stopped by a local dealer to buy a part for the pup.  DD and I went out to the lot to have a look around.  Many of the pups in the lot were very similar to ours...just a bit newer so I wasn't overly impressed.  Then we happened upon a Fleetwood Hemlock.  I was loving it.  It had everything a TT has with that "I'm still camping" open feeling.  I told DD then and there that this was "our" pup.  Of course we didn't have the money for it.  I told DH about it and he really couldn't care less...but on our first camping trip last year there was a Hemlock parked right across from us.  I jokingly said to the woman who owned it "When are you going to sell?"  She asked me if I wanted to have a look...I told her I had already seen but could my hubby have a look?  Well he did and he was astounded at the amount of room in it and was sold on the idea of "upgrading."

Well,  we came into some money this year and went shopping.  Looked at the Niagara & Avalon and hubby was ready to go for it but I couldn't spend that kind of money like that.  I looked around and finally found a Hemlock...mint condition and half the price of a new unit.  We bought it and I'm in love!

Now we went to Myrtle Beach and were surround by everything but pups.  Hubby got talking to our neighbor who was there in a fifth wheel...lots of those and Class As and C's.  He actually asked me if I would be interested in selling the Hemlock and going to a hardside.  I was stunned.  Still am.

When we were looking for something new I did consider some hardsided units...as well as a Trailmanor & HiLo.  Now don't anyone get mad at me but I just feel that when a TT gets older it takes on that old  trailer park look (especially if it has that ridged siding that runs horizontally)...must be why I don't care for the seasonal sites at those beach parks.  So between that and the practical reasons:  lighter to tow, fits in our driveway,  has everything you could ever want in a pup,  still have the tent feel and openess,  I really have no desire for a hardsided unit.  I do see their good points mind you...the ease of packing and ability to have access while on the road and all.

I guess that's why they make so many kinds...so we all have a choice at what fits our lifestyle and tastes.  And a choice could be made on something as simple as what someone had stated before...their inability to accomplish a strenuous set up.  Live and let live I say.  I won't down your choice so please don't look down upon mine.

Camp on.


CC

[harleywolf]

Great thread! Thanks for starting it Cajun.

Mine is a long story of camping but I