Camping is as rustic as you want it to be so please do not stick to the old images of canvas tents and simple camping gear, today's camping gear is far more advanced than even twenty years ago with the advent of man made materials and just better construction today's gear is both easy to use and sturdy. My family can set up our site within two hours and be ready for rain and inclement weather very quickly so being afraid of the out doors is not an excuse for forgoing this activity.
The point here is not so much where your staying or how you get there it is having some time just be yourselves and enjoy each others company, family camping is a great place to start teaching younger children a solid respect for nature and the environment. Planning a trip is easy and most of the time more cost effective than staying in a hotel or resort, a lot of people camp out near a major theme park or point of interest.
With the basics out of the way lets explore the real befits of family camping, children love to explore and camping provides a safe way for them to have some serious fun. This is a great way to introduce hiking and nature walks which can help educate and entertain children with some fun and interesting facts about their surroundings, I love answering all the questions my kids have when we hike in the woods.
The confidence children get from being allowed to ride their bikes alone, gather fire wood or help cook a meal is nothing short of amazing. Allowing your kids some more room to move around is going to require you to extend some trust and respect to your children this can be very hard at first, it gets easier trust me. The various campgrounds my family has stayed at have offered some real fun ways of spending our days canoeing, hiking, fishing and tractor rides to name a few, you will find campgrounds are as different as the people running them. This is great news you never have to have the same trip twice just keep staying at different campgrounds and explore the whole country.
I would also like to point out no other vacation option allows you to get away from the cell phones,pdas,I-pods and other technology that crowd our normal everyday life. I always look forward to our week away so I don't have to hear a phone or door bell ringing.
