Glamping: Camping in glamour, luxury and style
October 10, 2007
Gone are the days of the two-person canvas pup tent, sleeping on the hard ground in musty smelling bags, having a campfire weenie roast, heating up a can of beans and calling it dinner. Simple primitive camping is giving way to glamping.
What is glamping? According to the Urban Dictionary, glamping is glamorous camping in luxury and style.
For $9,000 dollars, a glamper can spend seven nights at the ultra luxurious eco-travel resort Clayoquot Wilderness Resort in British Columbia. For seven days and nights, a glamper will be treated to five hours of massage services; the amenities of sauna and hot tub; meals cooked by a Gourmet chef; and stay in a tent complete with Persian rugs as they participate in all the traditional camping activities of hiking, fishing, and kayaking down the river. The ultimate in glamping is not easy on the budget, and if you do not have the discretionary funds of celebrities, rock stars, media moguls or business tycoons who have more money than they can possibly spend in one lifetime, there is still the opportunity to go camping in glamour, uber comfort and style.
As glamping gains attention as the newest trend in camping, more companies will begin to offer all that an aspiring glamper might need to go glamping. Some companies are ahead of the curve in providing the needed abodes for the glamping experience.
According to Design Within Reach’s San Francisco architect Christopher Deam, “Design Within Reach, the furniture retailer, is collaborating with Airstream to develop a trailer for the mobile young modernist — rock climbers, surfers, dot-com guys who want to work anywhere with cellphones and wi-fi connections.” The 16-foot trailer comes with standard equipment including a rooftop air conditioner, a high quality sound system and television, environmentally friendly textured flooring, and the finest in Egyptian cotton bedding.
T@B offers a stylish aerodynamic compact trailer light enough in weight design to easily tow behind most passenger vehicles including minivans, light trucks and SUVs. With a customer’s choice of colors and fabrics, optional features include refrigerator, stereo, air conditioner, bike rack, furnace, port-a-potty, screen door, patio awning and television with DVD player.
Glampers not interested in travel trailers can purchase a Yurt building kit. Ecoshack offers the “yurt reinvented” circular domed eco friendly Nomad, that sits six and sleeps four, based on a 2,000 year old Mongolian design. The frame of the portable structure is bamboo, the platform made of 11 sanded and sealed plywood sections that lock together into a solid surface. Nomad states that circular living is good living. “The Yurt lifestyle is … Comfortable. Groovy. Bohemian. And free to roam.” Yurts are far less expensive than a travel trailer and far more luxurious than a two-man canvas pup tent. According to Ecoshack, with a little practice, the Nomad can be erected in less than an hour. Ecoshack donates 5 percent of its after-tax profit from the Nomad to The Mongolian Arts Fund.
Additionally, glampers will be delighted to know that solar-powered tents and portable solar-powered backpacks are available to recharge the various modern day necessities of cellphones, cameras, and laptops.
While camping purists will be less than impressed, glamping is not about roughing it in the wild without the amenities of modern day conveniences when getting away from it all, it’s about getting away from it all and enjoying all the luxuries and comforts of life while you are communing with Nature.
Sources: Urban Dictionary: Glamping; Clayoquot Wilderness Resort; Design Within Reach Airstream; Nomad
