My first camping trips were little more than parties in the woods when I was in my late teens and early 20's. We'd go to a spot in the Catskills in NY where you could pull up your car, open the hatch and blast the stereo. Bring a few kegs, pitch a tent and drink all weekend.
I owned no tent or sleeping bag. I used my father's Korean War era full length winter coat to sleep in if it was cold, otherwise a blanket. I'd wander around looking for floor space in a tent when it was time to sleep.
We had a lot of fun, that's for sure. We made a lot of noise, but it wasn't like we were disturbing anybody, because everyone else who was camping there (and there'd be a dozen or more other groups) was doing the same thing.
Once in a while we'd even leave the keg and bonfire to take a hike or to or do some fishing. It is a beautiful area.
Eventually I got into backpacking and left that sort of camping behind and haven't joined them in at least 20 years.
30 plus years later my friends are still getting together once a year on Memorial Day Weekend for an old fashioned weekend party in the woods at the same place the Catskills. They still bring a keg or two and blast the stereo, though now instead of using the car stereo they bring a real stereo system and a generator.
I prefer to go backpacking with my wife that weekend but keep telling them that one year I may join them. I have a few old friends who I haven't seen in many years, who fly in once a year just for the party in the Catskills. I'd like to see them again.