Why We Camp

Part of understanding why we decided to begin Cricket Camping might make more sense if by understanding why we camp.

We love to travel. Even when we were newly married with no resources to afford to do so, we always found a way to travel. We’ve since been to a handful of more exotic locations, but always go back to the classic road trip. As we started our family, we found that road trip adventures with the kids can be an enjoyable experience for everyone.

Our ongoing road block was finding an affordable place to stay.

We started in hotels. For parents of young kids, hotels are miserable. Once the kids go to bed, you can either go to sleep or sit quietly in the dark. In a classy move, we discovered the bathroom as a place to sit back and enjoy a glass of wine without disturbing the sleeping kids. First thing in the morning the kids are up extra early. There you have a choice: park them in front of the TV or let them wake up the entire hotel. Our compromise was getting out of the hotel as quickly and quietly as possible in the morning. Not your dream vacation? We agree.

The solution we found to escape hotels was VBRO or AirBNB rental homes. These are great options! We’ve been able to stay in great houses on the beach, in the city, and even a breathtaking cabin on a lake in Maine. This is often a more expensive option than hotels, which became a limiting factor for us. We were at a great property on at beach along the Emerald Coast of Florida last June. As we were packing up we realized that we had not taken time to fully enjoy the property. It had two decks and a lot of great space. But we spent all of our time at the beach, biking, paddle boarding, or just exploring, and never took time to really appreciate the high dollar property.

As we began discussing a 1500 mile road trip to the Grand Canyon, we started discussing what was most important to us when we travel. We enjoy exploring new areas, revisiting prior favorite stops, and finding great new restaurants. Although it’s great to stay at an amazing property, it wasn’t our highest priority. This led to revisiting the idea of camping, with a goal of landing somewhere beyond a tent but without upgrading to a massive truck.

As the natural evolution of many campers would confirm, our search landed us with a pop up camper in the drive way. This was a Livin Lite Quicksilver 10.0: two huge beds, a dinette and kitchen area, more storage than we had gear… all in an 1100 pound bundle. We loved this camper. It was comfortable even during 14 degree nights at the Grand Canyon. It was the perfect base camp for exploring Charleston SC and a quick getaway to St Louis and Memphis.

Here comes the ‘but’.

It was perfect except it took time pack, set up, take down, and unpack. It was challenging in the cold, the rain, and the heat. Our travel time is limited by work obligations, so these things become factors. Again, due to time constraints, we can’t always camp when the weather is perfect. We wanted a camper that was easy to pack and unpack, to set up and take down, that we could do a quick one night stop while traveling, even if it’s snowing or raining, one that we don’t have to end our travels a day early to set it up and clean it out.

​This is why we are excited to begin Cricket Camping.

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