This Intrepid USA & Canada Express tour was by far the fastest moving, most challenging, exciting and self satisfying I have ever done.
Starting in New York our 15 day tour moved through 2 countries, 2 provinces and 11 states, often with breakfast, lunch and dinner in 3 different cities. This break-neck pace was intermingled with long hours in the 12 person van, building tents, setting up cooking and food equipment, exploring major cities and dealing with crazy wilderness wildlife.
As a glamper not a camper, I really did not anticipate what exactly being on a camping tour entailed. Having just come through Europe staying in ‘tents’ at Plus Camping sites and being aware that I needed to bring my own sleeping bag, I kind of anticipated that the tour tents would be similar. The permanent style in each campground with a wooden floor, canvas roof and metal bunk beds within. How naïve I was.
Intrepid provided all camping equipment needed including 2 person tents, hammers, foam mats, cooking equipment, plates and utensils. As we were going to be cooking the majority of our meals, on the first day we each put $140USD into the food kitty so that everyone could buy food from the supermarket and take turns cooking. This was another unexpected element of the tour. I had assumed that for the price of the tour (around $2000AUD) some meals would be included, as has been the case on all other tours I have traveled on. Driving to and from the supermarket, waiting for members who were assigned to that night’s cooking to select what needed to be purchased, then packing everything away at camp used up a lot of time.
The campgrounds where we stayed were mostly very typical caravan style parks with cabins and facilities for camper vans, caravans, tents and good shared bathrooms facilities. However the campgrounds were most often located at least 1/2 hour drive away from the main city we were there to see. Combine this driving time with the need to build/packdown camp, cook dinner, eat, clean dishes and do food shopping, did not allow for as much time in the main city areas that I would have liked.
However, I learned so much this trip and experienced so many things for the first time that I will be forever grateful and remember it with happiness. The tents were easy to erect and thanks to my fantastic tent mate, were often times a source of great humour. Our tent ‘Spanky’ not named by us but certainly selected for that reason, took on a personality of his own. Building him everyday, sleeping on the hard and cold ground, often wearing 5 layers of clothing within a sleeping bag to keep warm, and then needing to pack everything down wet in the morning only to set it all up again that afternoon required much endurance and patience.
Team work was huge on this tour. Our group of 10 international travelers and 1 tour guide, who was also our driver, instructor, encourager and friend, needed to learn quickly how to deal with each others personalities in often very trying conditions. This also created a lot of humour in most situations. Never have a laughed as much or as often as I did during my 2 weeks with these people.
I saw my first shooting star. I met and went to war with chipmunks. I built a tent. I built a fire. I ate pumpkin pie. All of these firsts were completely unexpected and amazing. I was pushed to my limits on this tour and came out the other side incredibly proud of myself.
Many people I’m sure will read this and think I am soft, that this is the easy way to camp as everything was provided. And I’m sure for the experienced campers it probably is the easy way. But for me, this was a fantastic introduction into a world that I had only ever seen from afar. I have not given up on camping. Next time I will do it in the summer to avoid the 5 layers of clothing, and will also pack an air-mattress. But I would do it again. I have shared an experience with 10 other crazy, hilarious, completely different, wonderful people that I will remember for the rest of my life.
This experience is why I travel 🙂
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