Well, the way I see it, camping is any trip where you sleep in a tent, makeshift shelter, or just a cot and sleeping bag on the beach under the stars. If you add on a lengthy hike to some remote section far from any roads or pretense of civilization, I call that backpacking. I’ve never been RV’ing, though, and I see that as a bit different from camping.
Camping… hmmm…
Camping is when you lock down a good sniping-type area and use natural defensive features to force people to come to you, and kill them on the way. You can camp with almost any type of weapon, but high-power automatics or explosives work best. The object isn’t really to be super-effecive, but to intimidate your opponents.
Camping- Me, my Casio compass/barometer/altimeter/thermometer watch, my Leatherman, and my windproof lighter. That’s it.
Sadly, I can never get anyone to go camping WITH me.
To me, camping is hiking in Algonquin Park for 2-7 days. Me and the husband go about 10 times a year. We usually go for 3 days, but we have been out as long as 9. In Algonquin, you are required to register and use a campsite. You can’t just camp anywhere you want, because they claim it damages the environment. (It probably does.)
Algonquin has a website, if you want to check it out, www.algonquinpark.on.ca
Some of the trails there are pretty rough. On one trip, we were doing the western uplands route, and at one point we had to cross a stream 6 feet deep, 30 feet wide, running very fast. Over it were laid logs about 6 inches wide. We had to balance on the logs, carrying 30 lbs packs, while ducking under some fallen trees. That was fun. 
And Algonquin’s maples in the fall (this and next weekend perhaps) are amazing!
Exactly my experience, except that we sleep in a tent. Best vacation ever; I’ve been doing it, first with my parents, now with my own family, for 40 years.
In a thread asking for camping experiences, why are there so many posts from people who have none but abhor the idea of camping?
Others have had this same thought, but I have for some time defined “roughing it” as a hotel so old you have to use a dial phone to call room service.
Though I did a bit of camping as a kid and boy scout, including sleeping bags and being a couple of miles up into the hills, it just doesn’t hold the appeal for me it did. These days, I want all the amenities, not all the people. It’s a difficult balance sometimes.
I’m a gamer like samarm, the first thing that popped into my head when he mentioned this was hiding within sight of the enemy side’s spawn point and killing players as soon as they show up in the game.
Ahhhhh… the Great Northwoods. (Well, okay the southern tip of it) I’d say our camping is the middle ground between RV and survival camping.
The Nicolet/Chequamegon National Forest has a number of dispersed campsites in there. They’re free to stay in, you only need the Forest parking sticker. You basically drive a few miles in the deep woods on a bumpy, muddy, logging trail to find a fire ring and picnic table on a small lake.
The lake is all yours (if you get there first). There you are sitting on shore with the crescent moon following the sundown, with loons calling and frogs peeping. The campfire burning , the chicken roasting whole in the dutch oven, the cold brewskis.
Take a nekkid dip in the lake after dinner, then crawl into your tent into your flocked air mattress bed with your honey. There’s no one for miles; make all the tent shadows you want. Sleep in. Ahhhhh…
Yes, it’s paradise, and no, I’m not going to tell you where it is.