I didn't do tent camping when I was a kid. We had a wonderful, simple cottage on the Bruce Peninsula, on the Georgian Bay side. It was heaven. I went camping once with cousins.
I went into camping with my family with a bad attitude. So, I wasn't surprised when I didn't like it the first time. But, I was open to trying again because the first time we went too far for too long and complicated things somewhat with washable dishes and ambitious meal plans. And, my girls loved it. They woke up with smiles on their faces, were happy all day and went to sleep happy.
The 2nd camping trip was way better. It was shorter, in a perfect spot in Gatineau Park, our meal plans were simple and we used disposable dishes, and we concluded our trip with a couple of nights in a good hotel in Ottawa.
Now, I've had my 3rd camping trip and although I've worked hard on my attitude and simplified everything, I still cannot say that I like camping.
This time, it was the mud and mosquitoes and sleeping on the ground (even on a blow-up mattress, I was achy and miserable) that bugged me. We were lucky, we didn't have to set up or take down in the rain, but it rained every night except one. The mosquitoes were awful. The best way to avoid mosquito bites is to avoid mosquitoes. The woods we were in were teeming, so we had to leave our campsite to avoid the monsters, which we did as much as possible. Then, you can cover up. We were in the middle of a heat wave, so covering up was not possible and they bit through clothes anyway. So, we had to spray chemicals all over us and used an Off lamp and citronella candles.
Here's an article on insect repellents that says they're not so bad, but yuck. I was achy for several days after returning to my comfortable bed at home. So, yuck is my final word.
However, I'm not the only one in the family so I put our camping gear away where we can find it if we need it instead of putting it all in the yard sale pile.
