Stephanie Puglisi - See You at the Campground: A Guide to Discovering Community, Connection, and a Happier Family in the Great Outdoors

Copyright 2020 by Stephanie and Jeremy Puglisi

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Cover design by Kimberly Glyder

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: Campground Etiquette was originally published in a slightly different form in the November 2017 issue of Trailer Life Magazine .

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To Theo, Max, and Wes

You have inspired us to create a life
bigger than we ever imagined. Thank
you for exploring the world with us.

CHAPTER ONE
Reasons Camping Vacations Are Better

CHAPTER TWO
Choose Your Own Camping Adventure

CHAPTER THREE
RV Rental Adventures

CHAPTER FOUR
Buying an RV

CHAPTER FIVE
The Campground 411

CHAPTER SIX
Trip-Planning Tips

CHAPTER SEVEN
The Art of Packing and Unpacking

CHAPTER EIGHT
Becoming a Weekend Warrior

CHAPTER NINE
Road-Trip Tips

CHAPTER TEN
Campfire Mojo

CHAPTER ELEVEN
Camp-Food Rules

CHAPTER TWELVE
Campground Etiquette

CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Whats in It for the Kids?

CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Camping with Family and Friends

CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Big Adventures for Little Kids

CHAPTER SIXTEEN
National Park Adventures

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Creating and Capturing Camping Memories

Stephanie & Jeremy

This is supposed to be a book about camping. And it is.

Mostly.

We promise to share the highs and lows of our family camping experiences over the past ten years. Well give you the best tips and tricks we know for finding the perfect campgrounds and planning amazing camping vacations. The words camping and campground will be used a lot . We pinky swear. Hand to heart. Scouts honor.

But in reality, this story isnt about the types of recreational vehicles (RVs), tents, or cabins we have stayed in over the last decade. Its about the journey. The view out the window. The couple trying to figure out their marriage. The little kids buckled up in the back seat. The rescue pup on the floor of the truck waiting patiently for yummy crumbs to fall. Its about all the lessons we have learned and are still learning.

Its about two parents who were trying to figure out what a happy family life actually looked like, since they didnt have much of a track record to draw on. Its about two high school sweethearts who knew they loved each other and didnt know a whole heck of a lot else about life. In a random twist of fate, desperately grasping at straws, they said, Hey, lets buy a pop-up camper.

In hindsight, its hard to say why we landed on this particular solution to our particular problem. Our relationship was on the rocks, and being the parents of twin babies was giving us a run for our money. We knew that we needed to bring some serious fun back into our lives. But a pop-up camper? Really? Most reasonable people would just start going to the gym or put some date nights on the calendar.

Well, we decided to pick up camping as our new family hobby and ended up transforming ourselves, our marriage, and our family life. Sometimes we feel pretty silly talking about how a little pop-up camper changed our lives. But we say it anyway, because its true.

Maybe you find yourself in the same situation we were in. We mostly loved our home. We mostly loved our jobs. We were attached to many of our little daily routines, like enjoying coffee and breakfast sandwiches at the playground on Saturday mornings.

But we also wanted more. As soon as we became parents, we felt this immediate pressure to dive into a lifestyle full of family-friendly activities. It seemed like all the normal parents filled their weekends with Touch-A-Truck events, Chuck E. Cheeses birthday parties, and endless, but necessary, household chores. As we slipped into these routines and patterns in our family life, we were left feeling bored, restless, and stressed out.

So we decided to stop trying to fit into someone elses mold. We decided the great outdoors was big and full of opportunities for adventure. We decided outside was probably a better place for our loud and energetic kids than inside some plastic play center. We decided we could have just as much fun with kids as wed had as a couple before they were born. We just had to write our own script. And our script included a pop-up camper.

In the last decade, weve spent hundreds of nights camping with our kids. Weve taken them to national parks, urban destinations, historical monuments, and sandy beaches. Weve camped in rustic state parks and off-the-hook luxury campground resorts. All three of our boys learned to ride their bikes at campgrounds. They also learned to fish, hike, kayak, and paddleboard. Weve tent camped on the Oregon coast and towed an RV to Mount Rushmore. Weve eaten tacos in Texas and lobsters in Maine. Sometimes we joke that our boys experienced more in the first ten years of their lives than either of us did in our first three decades.

For our family, the campground has become a place where we disconnect from the demands of daily life and reconnect with each other. Its a place where we enjoy time with friends or just spend a quiet weekend together. It can be a base camp for exploring new destinations or a familiar place we return to year after year. The campground is where we start the day eating breakfast at the picnic table and end the day making smores around the campfire. The campground is a place for us to be together without the countless distractions of to-do lists, projects, and devices.

The script you choose to write for your family might be a bit different, and thats okay. You dont need an RV to step off the hamster wheel of daily life and find fun and adventure with your family in the great outdoors. You dont need to take an epic cross-country road trip or even leave your home state. You might just decide to dust off that old tent or try out a cabin rental at a nearby campground.

If you are looking to call a time-out for your family and take a break from the endless tasks and responsibilities of day-to-day life, well help you forge a new path. We want to inspire you to get outside, play in the dirt, and have fun together. See new sights. Learn new things. Take that road trip youve been dreaming about. It can feel a bit overwhelming, but our practical tips and real-life experiences will help you do it all without losing your mind.