Camping is a year round passtime for Canadians. Yes, we even camp in the winter! And who can blame us? We live in a beautiful and vast country with varied terrain and amazing weather. There are over 3000 tent and trailer campgrounds across the country and over 40 million north americans take to the road every year for RVing and camping excursions.
Recently we ran a contest on our Facebook page encouraging our social media followers to share their first time camping experiences, and the results were amazing. So many people have great memories of their first time camping and we wanted to share some of our favourites with you in this week’s blog. Enjoy!
“Earliest camping memory is staying at the lake when I was 5 and pretending I was a bear in the bushes.” – Mel
“My earliest camping memory is camping at cultus lake… I loved going to the store to pick a treat 🙂 One time though I was so excited that I took a shortcut through poison ivy.” – Cathy
“Having a bear smack our camper a few times in the middle of the night.” – Rick & Colleen
“My earliest camping memory is of my childhood when we would spend every summer at Shady Rest campground across the lake in Westbank. All of our family would join us and it was like a huge family reunion every summer.” – Laurie
“Earliest camping memory is our family yearly trip to Scotch Creek. The old fashioned canvas tent that had that smell to it, the paddle boats they used to rent which was a real treat and going to the store for a treat. My how times have changed. I am now proudly a glamper!” – Cathy
“My earliest camping memories was in Ontario, fishing off the dock with my Dad.” – Judy
“Riding in a homemade camper from Prince George to Prince Rupert and back – wonderful memories – Mom said they got 50 miles to the popsicle.” – Debra
“Earliest camping trip was with our old winnebago which probably was not that old since it was the 70’s and my memory is from the 70’s I remember how excited I was to sleep in the small bunk above the driver’s seat.” – Theressa
“Camping on Texada Island with mom, dad & little brother. I wanted to drown him but mom wouldn’t let me… lol . . . Just kidding!” – Linda
“Earliest camping memory is on a trail ride all camping in a group tent (an old army food tent) and being told to not touch the sides or the rain would leak through the walls. There must have been at least 20 people in that tent.” – Lori
“It was 1977, we packed up the truck with a canvas tent, sleeping bags, camping gear and 3 motorcycles. One of the bikes leaked fuel into the pillows, it rained at Christina Lake where we camped and all we could smell was fuel inside that canvas tent. Never again. Later that year we bought our first travel trailer.” – Cheryl
“Camping with my family in the RV. I was very young, 5 or 6. In the middle of the night our German Shepherd, Skeena gave birth to 12 puppies! Oh the joys those puppies gave me. Needless to say we had to go home early.” – Rosine
“My earliest camping experience was my parents loading up the Volkswagen van with blankets, camp stove, pans, canvas tent etc. My dad loved to go for drives, but he was not really a camper. We drove from Surrey to a campsite In Osoyoos. We have great memories of camping as a family.” – Janet
“My first bee sting was on a family camping trip. Probably circa 1985. I was 5 years old. Sitting on a bee at the wooden picnic table to eat watermelon. Clearly it’s memorable as it was a painful experience. A first camping trip I won’t forget lol.” – Tara
“I remember camping with my parents and my sister kept playing with a frog and my parents telling her she was gonna get a wart…. That’s also the same time we jumped in the lake and got leeches all over us!! Moonshine lake what I wouldn’t give to go back to that day.” – Nikki
What’s your first camping memory? Share in the comments below or on our Facebook page!
