Remember those scouting days you had when you were young and had to camp in the great outdoors? It must a special memory you want to relive from time to time – hiking, clambering low-altitude hills, taking a dip in the lake, crossing rivers, and fishing. If sleeping in the tree house, under the stars or inside a tent is your idea of a fun green vacation, but pitching a tent or sleeping on a bumpy ground turns you off, you don’t have to rough it. There’s a new travel trend that’s fast catching fire; it is called “glamping.”
Glamping or glamorous camping is an upgrade on the type of usual rest and recreation that outdoor enthusiasts used to pursue. Now, you can enjoy all the beautiful aspects of camping – sleeping outdoors, roasting barbecues and marshmallows, warming up around the bonfire – minus the bugs and bees humming overheard or crawling on you.
It is a one-of-a-kind experience that lets you choose extremely unique and luxurious accommodation options in a spot with a spectacular backdrop without giving up comfort, particularly electricity and communications. In simple terms, glamping is this generation’s way of communing with nature without having to rough it.
Why Glamp?
Glamping is a refreshing way of connecting with nature. It lets you sink in the good side of camping without having to sacrifice comfort and amenities you are used to. It provides you the opportunity to introduce to your kids the wonder of nature without worrying about the uncomfortable aspect that usually accompanies the outdoor activity. It is accessing the great outdoors in style. It is eco-friendly and your outfitters will be there to serve everything you need on a silver platter.
What is glamping?
If you need further convincing, read the article “What is glamping, anyway” by Katie Mast posted in High Country News. Mast makes you realize that camping is not a bad idea either for retirees, such as William Kronholm, a retired Associated Press editor, and his wife. Bless this professor who coined the word “glamping”
… In a sense, glamping is not at all a new phenomenon. Until recently, these cozy expeditions have been the realm of the ultra-rich. Today, elegant wild land experiences are a bit more accessible than they were at the turn of the 20th century. As it turns out, there’s a wide range of experiences that now qualify as “glamping.”
The different experiences gives glampers options depending on the comfort and luxury level they want and can afford.
Ultra-Glamp: This is for those people who wouldn’t cringe at the cost of ultra-luxurious outdoor experience. They like the adventure and all the fun that goes with it minus the preparations and all the details. Early adventurers in the early 1900s used to go on an African safari with a retinue of cooks, porters, slaves, tailors, etc. Even President Theodore Roosevelt took part in a Smithsonian-led safari that cost about $1.8 million. Ultra-glamp is akin to that.
If you want to know what goes in swanky glamping, check out the “American Safari” experience at Montana. The Paws Up Resort 45 will let them shoot clay pigeons and try fly-fishing. The tents are next to nothing; these are provided with first-class amenities comparable to 5-start hotels and resorts. The cost starts at $1,025 a night.
Semi-Glamp: Not everyone can spend money like there’s no tomorrow. Middle class families and those who have saved money for the occasion can afford a less exclusive, but nonetheless comfortable arrangement. There are still many options you can enjoy choosing from – a comfortable, soft bed, en-suite toilet and bath, electricity, lights and other comforts close to a home. You may also have an option to stay on a tent or in a multi-story tree house such as the ones you find in southern Oregon. Places like Vertical Horizons are affordable at $225 a night.
Minimalist Glamp: Sleeping inside a basic, but bigger tent without much fanfare, but the basic comforts of a queen-sized bed and a bath and toilet with water supply, electricity and other simple amenities define a minimalist glamp. While all the needs are provided and you can sleep in comfort, it retains some roughness that some young campers would want in order to have a “more authentic” feel to it. They cook their own meals over a campfire, grill their own catch, roast some marshmallows, or use a wood burning stove. There is one in Idaho, the Moose Creek Ranch, which only costs $100 per night.
All this talk can make you imagine yourself in a glamorized, designer tent, a tree house or a cabin in the woods near a lake or river where you can fish. With glamping, life in the outdoors can’t be too hard. Retirees and families with children will have a fabulous time exploring the great outdoors with nary a problem on food or electricity. If you want the future leaders of this world to care more about the environment, you need to expose your kids to life outdoors. Can there be any easier way to teach them the love for nature than by glamping?
