No camping allowed

I have to admit that I am not a camping kind of girl {which likely comes as no surprise to anyone who reads my blog}. 

Glamour......  that spells 'there will be no camping'. 

I want to have a place to lie down at the end of the day that is off the ground and bug free; neither of those things happen when you are in a tent and sleeping bag. Yes, yes - I know, you can put the sleeping bag on a cot up off the ground {not feeling better about it}. And I know that campsites have come a long way over the years and they offer facilities with hot showers, toilets and various amenities...... which you share with a hundred other people.  Ahh - ummm, NO!

.... and anyway, my tent would need a chandelier.

We didn't have a family cottage, but did have great opportunity getting to go to my Dad's best friends cottage all the time. I loved it.
Jumping off the dock into the lake, taking the little boat out for a spin, fishing with the guys, pit fires at night. All fun - but we slept inside on a regular bed, cooked in a proper kitchen, ate at a table, and when it poured buckets we had the comfort of the cottage to enjoy.

No camping!

At least this bed isn't on the ground.                   source bohocircus

Enter the world of GLAMPING. 

Glamourous camping? seriously?!

Glamping trips offer a stay in tents that are often made with bright designer colours - no army green here. Facilities in the tents may include full-size air mattresses or actual beds for sleeping. Tents are equipped with power for proper lights or appliances {that means the straightening iron right?}.

That sounds civilized, yet somehow I imagined arriving at the glamping site to discover that the tent is in happy circus colours. Well at least I don't think bears would come near the tent.........

There are glamping sites that offer something more refined and along the line of what I would imagine upscale camping would be all about. This is not a scene from Out Of Africa, so do not expect Robert Redford to wash your tresses by the river bank. But the amenities that good glamping sites offer are a comfortable blend between cottage and tenting. Think rustic mountain five-star tenting a'la simple cottage with fabric walls.

RedTail Resort

Wooden deck bases house the bedroom tents that are held up by log beams. Glamping tents are generally decorated with furniture pieces that would similarly be found in a cottage - wood side tables, bedside lamps, rugs under foot, even pictures strung up on the tent interior walls. 

Many of the Glamping sites have gone to extremes by decorating with antique pieces in the tents - yes, those are Chinese lacquer side tables in the bedroom.

 

So if you want to sleep out under the stars {sort of} and have all the creature comforts without the creatures, glamping may be the vacation for you. At Paws Up in Montana they take it to the extreme with master on-suite bathrooms to each glamping tent, a honeymoon glamping tent that features a soaker claw foot tub, twice daily housekeeping and your own personal staff to swat the mosquitoes away {if you so need}. The 'Glamping Butler' will warm your smores and fluff up the pillows for you at Paws Up.

the resort at Paws Up

Paws Up resort - Montana.

If the tent offered all of this why wouldn't you just stay at a great hotel? Glamping is a novelty that offers the fun of camping, rustic charm around you, sleeping in the outdoor air but on soft cotton sheets {remember you are still in a tent}, but it all gets tied up in a pretty bow.

Out of Africa

If you want the thrill of a safari feel and the Glamour all around you, glamping may be the way to vacation.

Glamping tent

Waking up to a view like this just might sell me on the idea.