How did you discover camping?

[Hikenhunter]

Growing up,I spent as much time outside as I could. Played in the creek whenever I could ands had frogs and turtles for pets every summer til grandpa made me turn them loose in the fall. I grew up in a small town and we all "SLEPTED OUT" in each others backyard all summer long. Joined the Boy Scouts when I was 12 and camped out with them for 2 years before I quit. Then in my teens I went camping with friends once in a while. Got married at 19 and my outdoor focus was on hunting and fishing until my son joined Boy Scouts and I became a leader. I was 31 years old at that time and I've been hooked in mind, body, and spirit ever since.

[ejdixon]

Also first got exposed to camping through my dad when I was a kid. It's something that I would say has been passed down from father to son. Dad got it from my grandfather and I got it from my dad.

[TroyS]

First taste of camping with me was with my dad as well. He loved the outdoors, and that was the best way he knew to bond with me and my brothers. But I have to admit that it was only when I was in college, and I went out camping with my friends a few times that I really got to appreciate it. Since then, it just grew on me.

[Yhonny Yuma]

It was me and a friend got the idea and made a tent from an old blanket and my back yard and we stay out back for two days till it rain and then we heard they had a boy scout troup not far from us and we joined up. that lasted for awhile then me and him did a few more time .I got back into camping with my wife and kids and even got to camp out over in Spain in the mountains and that was a trip.

[Mudder]

I'm 35. First experience was as a Cub Scout and Boy Scout (I got up to Webelos -- Next step was Eagle Scouts which I never pursued). Next camping endeavor was as a teenager -- We'd have drunken tent parties at campsites (something I don't condone). Then one time my mom and her boyfriend and my sister and I got a "cabin" at a lake in Minnesota for about a week. After a decade after that, I finally had the money to start building up my camping supplies. Two of the things that I would never sell, even if I was living under a bridge, is my cd collection & my dog & my camping gear

[AK Hunter]

I have always loved being outdoors as a child my brothers & I would throw a tarp over the clothes line in the back yard, then camp out in it. It was lots of fun even thou it was only our backyard. This was before the family could afford a tent.

[cwolfman]

Having grown up and lived pretty much my whole life in the Mountain West, I pretty much have been camping since I was born, save for a couple months early on. My parents never had a lot of money, so the family getaway was always a long weekend camping up in the mountains of Colorado or New Mexico....near one of dad's or grandpa's favorite fishing holes. It's just what we did, and we did it often.

I never thought a whole lot about it until I was older and had college friends from other parts of the country who had never set foot in a national forest before. It was then that I truly realized how fortunate I was....and I could really appreciate having grown up in an area with so much natural beauty all around.

New Mexico is an outdoorsmen's paradise. In fact, if you aren't into being outdoors and outdoor recreation...or otherwise into Native American culture/art, etc...there's really not much going on. If you love being outdoors, NM is just one massive playground, especially considering there something for just about everyone from desert/high desrt to grass lands to ponderosa forested mountains.....rivers and streams, lakes....whatever your heart desires.

[hikeorbike]

I think my first time was in Brownies when I used to go away for weeks at various summer camps. After that, my mom and I often stayed at campgrounds to save money when we were moving across the country.

[emilyblack06]

It was my dad who brought me every time he camps with his friends when he was little. since then I was exposed to camping and been addicted to it especially in forests and strange places. I really enjoy camping!

[briansnat]

When I was a kid I used to love thumbing through my dad's old Boy Scout manual, focusing on the chapters about camping. The idea of spending the night in the woods was very appealing to me. But dad wasn't a camper. Said he had enough of it in the Army.

Fast forward to my college fraternity days. We didn't have a fraternity house, so for our "hell weekends" we'd rent a house somewhere for a few days. One year the house fell through days before Hell Weekend. Someone suggested that we camp at a place he knew of in the western Catskills.

It was more a party in the woods than camping. Kegs of beer, car stereo cranking all weekend. I didn't own a tent so I'd find empty floor space in someone's tent at the end of the evening. I didn't even have a sleeping bag, I slept in my dad's ankle length Army overcoat. But I was sleeping in the woods and loved it.

Fast forward a few more years to my mid 20's and my younger brother started accumulating backpacking equipment. He had backpacked some in the Boy Scouts when he was younger (I was never a Boy Scout) and wanted to get back into it. So I started ordering equipment myself. Every pay week I'd get a package from LL Bean. Hiking boots one week, tent the next, then stove, pack, sleeping bag, etc. Once I had pretty much all I needed I went on my first backpacking trip in The Catskills with my then girlfriend and have loved camping ever since.