Don’t like camping? Try glamping

With summer around the corner and school coming to an end, it’s time to make some travel plans that fit everyone’s expectations: The nature and adventure junkie, and the comfort and luxury lover.

I’ve always liked the idea of camping and my experience of it in my 20s was positive so much so that I would have gladly repeated the experience if my other half were more agreeable with it. Camping is simple and inexpensive way to travel and experience a new place. All you need is a tent, a sleeping bag, a knapsack with clothes to last enough days, toiletries, cooking supplies, and off you go. Well, if you like that sort of experience, great! But what if your partner in life and travel is not into roughing it? No worries! If you don’t like camping, how about glamping?

Glamping is becoming popular especially with families, people with high income and the over 60 crowd. You can find glamping sites everywhere across Canada and around the world. The demand is high and so is the offer.

Simply put, glamping is glamour and camping combined. Glamping is the perfect compromise; the camping lover will not have to renounce their need for adventure, love of nature, and experiential travel while the luxury lover won’t have to throw a wrench by demanding style and comfort. Glamping is camping with the comforts of a four-style hotel. When you “glamp”, you ditch the traditional tent that needs assembling each time you use it. Instead the options are: A barn, a hut, a cottage, a lodge, a tent, a teepee, a yurt, a villa, a treehouse, or a wagon; in any case, a very comfortable, fully-furnished, often elegant and uniquely decorated unit. Proper beds, queen or king size, guarantee a good night sleep. Units come with electricity or battery powered outlets to charge your phone, use your hairdryer and so on. On another note, if camping evokes the thought of toilets located under the stars, put all worries to rest. Glamping sites provide fully functional bathrooms with hot and cold running water, showers and or tubs.

Like all respectable campsites, glamping sites offer entertainment to all heart’s content with activities such as zip-lining, axe-throwing, wine tours, to name a few. It’s all about connecting and embracing whatever the area has to offer. As for dining, some sites come with fully equipped kitchens if you don’t mind cooking, some offer the most demanding food junkie a fine dining experience to taste the flavour of fresh and local ingredients.

It’s good to know that just like all vacation options, glamping is for all budgets, from the most affordable to the most upscale. So, do your research and surely you will come up with the alternative vacation that works for you, your family or friends. I am doing mine and leaning very much towards a glamping experience. So, taking the liberty to conjugate the verb, I say: I am glamping this summer!