My wife and I are on the second to last day of our biggest camping trip of the summer. If you are into fancy phrases it would technically be the penultimate day of our trip. Sort of I guess. Today is a full day of travel that will take us back into Michigan, and then tomorrow we head the rest of the way back to our home. Thankfully, we are riding on the tail end of another heat dome or whatever you want to call it that is accosting the middle of the nation.
Thank goodness for our trusty 26 foot Fun Finder travel trailer and the precious air conditioning unit that sits atop its roof! We don't typically like to spend any more time in our trailer than we have to, but sometimes you don't have much of a choice. Luckily, it's only been the last couple of days that we have had to deal with it.
I'm doing my best to share some interesting photos in this post that also will not spoil all of the future posts I have to write recapping our grand adventure. As I said, it was a long trip. We have been away from home for just about six days now and although I do love camping, there are some things that I also really miss about home.
First and foremost would be my bed. Don't get me wrong, we have a fantastic queen bed in our trailer. It's much better than all the years I slept on the ground in a tent, but it still doesn't hold a candle to our spacious king bed that we have at home. Trailers only have a fixed amount of space to work with, so you can imagine how some areas can feel a bit claustrophobic. Our bed area is like that.
I really have no problem sleeping in the trailer, but it just can't compare to our bed at home.
Another thing I am really missing right now is decent Internet service. It's not that we actually spend that much time on our devices when we are camping (present activities excluded), but there is definitely something to be said for fast reliable Internet service. We generally rely on it for weather updates (very important), and researching places to visit (sort of important) when we find ourselves in unfamiliar territory.
Right now we have a AT&T hotspot that has been limping us through, but it's nothing compared to what I am used to at home and work. The campground we have spent a majority of our time at does have wireless, but as a smart tech guy, I don't really trust the security of it. Sure, I could use a VPN, but their connection is shared through the whole campground, so it is already woefully slow. If you add a VPN on top of that which are notorious for being slow, I may as well just use my own hotspot.
Again, it's not like we sit and doom scroll around the campfire (okay maybe sometimes), and while I appreciate the option to "unplug", these days a reliable connection is almost as important as being able to start a fire. Sort of.
I guess as I think about it, the key is being able to unplug when you want to versus being force to unplug because there is no signal. Opinions will probably vary on that one!
Finally, one of the other things I probably miss the most when we take a trip like this is eating normal. It's not like we don't eat normal when we are camping. Unlike a lot of people who see camping as an opportunity to stuff all the bagged and processed foods in their mouth as they can, my wife and I still eat similar to how we would eat at home. Grilled protein, lots of vegetables, etc. However, we also like exploring what the local area has to offer, which means not all of our meals fit our regular repertoire of meals.
It's not that I don't like eating out and trying new things, but I will be happy to settle back into a regular menu once we get home.
My wife and I have talked at length about one day becoming full time RV'ers. These people travel around the US hopping from one place to another living their best lives. While it does sound appealing to me, I also enjoy the idea of having a place that I know I can always come back to, a place to call home.
A place with all the things I mentioned above.
Or Check out my Grilling and Smoking Community on HIVE
All pictures/screenshots taken by myself or
