First time glamper

Confession time: Last Saturday I glamped for the first time. I know, I know. I own a glamping business with my husband so you’d think I would have experienced it by now. While I’ve spent the night in an RV on our property, I’ve never slept in one of our tents.

In case you haven’t come across the term “glamping” before, it’s a combination of the words glamorous and camping. Think of a hotel room inside of a big canvas tent and you’re pretty close.

I grew up camping - either in a tent or a camper. My parents, brother and I camped with my grandparents at the lake in the summer and in the mountains during hunting season. Later Houston and I took our own children primitive camping. Once we even parked our car and hiked a few miles to camp, carrying everything on our backs.

With all of that past experience, I’ve still ended up being more of an “indoorsy” person. As much time as I spend cleaning and prepping our tents on the property, I’ve never spent the night in one of them. That all changed last Saturday.

I had blocked off all of the lodging for Saturday night since our kids were going to be in town. Then when our son Chadwick’s flight from Reno was canceled, I decided to use his tent.

What I experienced is probably what most of you have encountered if you’ve stayed on our property. I woke to the sounds of birds and livestock. After stretching, I got out of bed and unzipped the front tent flap and looked across the meadow to see Sampson keeping a watchful eye on all of the tents.

Later, our son McClendon brought a fresh pot of French press coffee to our daughter Emilie and me while we sat out on the deck of my tent. We sipped and chatted and I enjoyed playing with my granddaughters. It was such a treat to wake up and leisurely greet the day, to not be in a rush to go anywhere.

My overnight stay gave me insight into the experience a guest might have when they visit our property. I now know what is needed to optimize our outdoor shower tent. I also recognized things that either worked or didn’t work and became aware of some things we need to add. In other words, it’s given me a different perspective. As a business owner, that information is invaluable.

And sharing the retreat experience with my kids (while sweet hubby Houston stayed home with our dogs) was a great way to continue celebrating my birthday. I highly recommend it!

This piece first appeared in Sherry’s column, Finding Myself in a Small Town, in the June 11, 2022 edition of the Corsicana Daily Sun.