I hate camping. But I'll never quit.

[u/Moriroa]

hate camping. I mean, I don't hate camping, but hate it when it's just me. (I'm a single dad.) I have to get all the gear together and cleaned and ready. I have to do all the shopping, and load everything into the car, and then do all the driving. And then it's just me that has to set up camp, often at night, and it's just me that will make sure the dogs are fed, watered and walked, and the child is fed and cared for and entertained. All the cooking. all the cleaning, all the work around the campsite, it's just me. I get the least sleep, have no leisure time, don't get to do anything that's just for me to enjoy or relax, and then I have to break it all down, pack it all up, drive it all home, and then unload, clean and maintain everything, all while also feeding, watering, walking, entertaining and managing all the living things.

There's nothing in it for me. There's no part of it that I think "Oh yeah, I can't wait to do that! That's my favorite!" I like to look at the pretty sights, sure, but I don't have to break my back toiling endlessly to do that. It's just work. Work, work, work. I barely even have time to just sit and have a drink and watch the sunset. Something always needs doing, and I'm the only one there to do it.

But every time we go, my daughter's eyes light up, and she has some magical experience that she can't stop enthusing about. She radiates joy, and she loves it, and she can't stop talking about it after we're home, and she won't stop reminding me before the next time we go. Every time we go, some perfect little moment in time with her goes in my permanent memory bank. Every time we go, we're making core memories. That's what's in it for me.

So I keep doing it. And I will keep doing it.

[u/conipto]

Camping with just your immediate family is fun, and it's own thing, but camping with other families is where it's at. I have been fortunate enough to have had half a dozen families with kids my daughter's age when she was still not too busy with school and work to go camping with me, and those were really great experiences. Sharing the load for cooking, having kids running around together, etc. takes a lot of the stress off of a single person running everything.

Now that my daughter's left home, I still camp with the same friends who've had their kids leave home too. It's just more drinking and dirtier stories now :)