How Chic Can Camping Get?

Not very...here is a re-write of an article I wrote when my daughter was younger.  We graduated from the tent to a fold-able camper and, eventually, moved on to other activities.

I used to be able to travel around Europe renting a reasonable but "quaint" room and eat where the locals dine. I was able to poke around odd shops in little-known alleys of Austrian cities and sleep for hours on a hot afternoon in Italy.  Other times, I would don a backpack in the north of Spain and hike under the rain all day stopping in the afternoon to have a few brews with my fellow hikers. 

Cuenca's campsite is 5 minutes away from old town.

Now, with a three year old in tow, my travel plans have changed.  I have exchanged shops for jungle gyms, a siesta for an afternoon at the baby pool and hiking for a tent on a few square feet of grass.  You've guessed it...I have become a car camper! 

It sounds more 'chic' if I say that I am car camping in Spain.  However, one look at my gray, family style car with the baby mattress poking through the bags of clothes, games and food gives me away...I am no longer a real tourist going to museums, I am no longer a backpacker sloshing through the mud.  I am a Mother and I only travel in my well-stocked car. 

The great thing about car camping in Spain is that there are camp sites near all the historically interesting cities.  I realize that all is not lost when I still have the option of seeing a history museum (Mommy! Look at this!), aristocratic palace (piggy back the whole way) or an artisan's shop (piggy back is a good option here, too) at least for a few minutes each day.

Duck watching (and feeding) in Aranjuez

But despite the change in my traveling lifestyle, car camping is an adventure.  We sleep in a tent, duck watch by the riverside and spend hours doing nothing in particular in a new setting.  Playing cards by flash light and peeking through the tent flap at passer's by are favorite night time activities.  Undoubtedly, the most attractive part of the experience is spending time together.  There are too many interruptions at home.  Here, there is more time to play together and just hang out...in Spain.