Design Observer :: Join the Discussion http://places.designobserver.com/feature/a-short-history-of-the-campsite/26808/ en-us Design Observer Group 2011-06-12T06:11:21-05:00 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/1.0
1. Many of the fascinating ironies presented here are in fact age old. Foragers have made habitual use the same landscape features (camping every winter at the same sites for example). These habitual uses were codified using social regulations such as marking sites, or having proprietary rights to sites that are known to other members of the group through social mechanisms. Foragers leave sites in varying states preparation, for example when living in a Yupik village in Alaska I was struck by one man's description of a place upriver as "where we keep the good coffee pot."

2. Many of these ironies are inverted when camping by other means of transport.

Bike camping often takes one from one small town to another, where much of the camping happens in public parks. So the effect is to more closely inhabit the HUMAN landscape than in everyday life.

Bush travel by plane or boat often takes campers to highly prepared sites such as a cabins, where basic amenities seem less ironic.

Backpacking and horse packing (and to some degree ATV camping) takes one much farther from the developed landscape, with an accompanying heightened awareness of natural dangers. Dozens of backcountry campers die every year of exposure in North America, with little public outcry, because the danger is accepted as part of the experience. This type of camping also places a premium on "solitude" -- who wants to hike 20 miles to camp cheek by jowl with strangers?

But, point taken: these kinds of camping represent a tiny fraction of car camping, which is what most people consider "camping" these days.

3. Many people (myself included) car camp not for access to nature or somesuch but because it's cheaper than (but comparable in comfort to) a motel. Which helps explain ironies like KOAs with wifi.]]> Paul Souders http://places.designobserver.com/feature/a-short-history-of-the-campsite/26808/#comments 2011-06-12T06:11:21-05:00
I'll bet there are many thousands of places like it, one for every group of friends whose plans to build a hunting cabin came to naught. I, for one among many freeloaders, am grateful for it.]]> Ken Pidcock http://places.designobserver.com/feature/a-short-history-of-the-campsite/26808/#comments 2011-06-12T00:11:13-05:00 Erin Evans http://places.designobserver.com/feature/a-short-history-of-the-campsite/26808/#comments 2011-06-08T17:33:35-05:00 elaine barclay http://places.designobserver.com/feature/a-short-history-of-the-campsite/26808/#comments 2011-06-03T12:45:28-05:00
Maybe they need a place for the RV owners and TV watchers where they'd be safe and comfortable and have all the amenities they're looking for. They could call it ... a motel.]]> Worldwalker http://places.designobserver.com/feature/a-short-history-of-the-campsite/26808/#comments 2011-06-02T08:56:18-05:00 OnDaRoad http://places.designobserver.com/feature/a-short-history-of-the-campsite/26808/#comments 2011-05-31T13:35:22-05:00