My dad was really big on camping when we were kids. Through the late 70s and early 80s, we did big long roadtrips. Our last one was in the mid 90s.
For most of the 70s, we drove in a pickup with a clamshell cover. You'd be surprised how you can fit four people confortably in a camper shell with a little ingenuity. The front half of the pickup bed had plywood wedged in-between the clamshell and pickup bed's lip, braced with some wood. When it came time for bed, we took everything out of the bed, put it in the front of the pickup, and then set up the beds. My parents slept on the bed of the pickup, and my sister and I (who were MUCH smaller at the time) slept on the shelf made by the plywood. We toured Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado and New Mexico like that all through 1982.
For out final roadtrips in the 90s, we did have the caravan-style trailer (we just called it a trailer). It was a pop-up style trailer, though, where it expanded both up and down, and side to side.
My parents still roadtrip, although they mostly stay in motels now. However, they're really REALLY good at making rest spaces in tight spots from using that clamshell cover for the pickup. While they drive in an SUV now, they usually make the backseat into a full bed for one of them to sleep while the other drives: https://www.facebook.com/dolari/posts/10155294714568830
It's sad how much down south "Glamping" has become the Big Thing. I have nothing against the super high end RVs having a camp space, but I do have something against banning the caravans/clamshells and tents, especially as that's how we camped in the 80s. And it's all about money. The high end RVs have the high end money, and it's not that the caravans and clamshells and tents don't have money...but the ones with MORE money won't spend it at their site if they have those "ugly dirty" campers next to them.
I've seen a couple of people camping with rooftop tents and truck tents. They seem like a good idea, especially in places where there might be creepy crawlies on the ground, although to be honest if i had a truck i think just getting a simple camper shell would be less hassle. Although then you can't transport large things in your bed any more.
The thing i don't get is how you can sleep cross-ways in a car. Maybe it's because i'm 6'3, but to me it seems a bit torturous to try sleep in a space that's shorter than you are. I do sleep curled up for a decent part of the night on normal nights, but i really need to be able to stretch out from time to time otherwise my knees will lock up. Some car dwellers have a trick of folding the passenger-side front seat down and the rear seats down, then you have enough space to put a platform with your feet in the trunk and your head up near the dashboard... I guess that's how truck campers are laid out too, with the bed suspended up over the cab.
It is definitely a trip talking to people who used to travel a lot in the 70s and 80s. They all remember camping back then, just pitching a tent, or pulling over and sleeping in the car. It seems like it used to be such a normal thing, and now it's not. I don't know when exactly the change happened, but now even state parks have far, far more RV sites than "primitive" camping sites, and some state parks don't even have any sites without an electric, water and sewage hookup. I mean, it's nice to have electric in your tent so you can charge your phone and watch shows on your laptop, but not when you have to pay RV prices to stay! The wild thing is that it's not like Americans in the 90s or the 00s all suddenly all got rich enough (and big enough vehicles) to tow a trailer. The parks just gentrified, so the lower income folks can't go there at all any more.
The one upside of owning a car (as opposed to a bike) is that you can pull over and sleep at rest areas, or (if you have tinted windows) just stealthily park in a quiet part of town and get some sleep. Worst case a cop knocks on the window, then you make your apologies and drive away. It seems like a lot less hassle than having to pack up a tent you tried to stealthily pitch in the woods behind a shopping mall or whatever.
Something else that may be a big issue with the parks was around the 90s is when they cut the park budgets. Basically, the State Parks in Texas used to be very very cheap (if youw anted electricity) or even free for use (just reserve a spot and go!)
Then the Republicans came into power in the state and decided that only people using the parks needed to pay for them. They reduced the public tax money for it, hiking up the prices at the gate, and the state parks started wanting the Big Money from RV Campers to keep going.
This was also around the time that the State of Texas got rid of all the free picnic areas around the state. Hundreds of little dotted pulloffs where there was a nice table, a BBQ pit, a waste can. Most are gone now, and only a few still exit, mostly at scenic views (https://goo.gl/maps/nZnVTTFNUM6vh3EX7). All in the name of "Less Taxes."
Ugh, this sucks so hard. That's what a fellow tent camper in Oklahoma told me happened there too. It feels so stupid, because what's the point of a (theoretically) government-owned park which isn't accessible to all the people the government represents? I think the same thing happened in Alberta and Ontario in Canada. BC is different - you can just show up at a park, and there are always spots reserved for walk-ins, there are dozens of rec areas around the place, many of them are free... And it's not like there's a lack of land in those other provinces, so it's definitely a political decision. A poor one.
I do like the WA method of parks. They all require a "Discover Pass." Buy the pass, which is only $30 and you have one full years access to any State Park in the state. But if you don't have one, $10 gets you one day's access on-demand at any park and it's transferable to any other park on that same day. There are parks EVERYWHERE, primitive camping is permitted on nearly all of them, and if one place is full, there's likely another camp a mile or two away. And if not, find an empty spot in the woods and just go there.
Getting the "America The Beautiful" National Park Pass ($80) and the Discover Pass gives you free access to all Washington parkland (and there's a LOT out here) for a year. Sadly, there's no Discover Pass style system in Texas, and the America the Beautiful pass is moot in Texas as there are very very very few national parks in Texas.
For most of the 70s, we drove in a pickup with a clamshell cover. You'd be surprised how you can fit four people confortably in a camper shell with a little ingenuity. The front half of the pickup bed had plywood wedged in-between the clamshell and pickup bed's lip, braced with some wood. When it came time for bed, we took everything out of the bed, put it in the front of the pickup, and then set up the beds. My parents slept on the bed of the pickup, and my sister and I (who were MUCH smaller at the time) slept on the shelf made by the plywood. We toured Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado and New Mexico like that all through 1982.
For out final roadtrips in the 90s, we did have the caravan-style trailer (we just called it a trailer). It was a pop-up style trailer, though, where it expanded both up and down, and side to side.
My parents still roadtrip, although they mostly stay in motels now. However, they're really REALLY good at making rest spaces in tight spots from using that clamshell cover for the pickup. While they drive in an SUV now, they usually make the backseat into a full bed for one of them to sleep while the other drives: https://www.facebook.com/dolari/posts/10155294714568830
When I was considering replacing my car with a pickup for the Oregon Trail trip, I started looking into camping possibilities. The one I decided I'd go with was a tent that used the back of the pickup as part of the structure. Although now with how much you talk about tents and clamshells and whatnot being banned, I'm reconsidering it: https://www.shopchevyparts.com/bed-products/2020-silverado-2500-sport-tent-attachment-ground-model-expansion-annex/19369207-p-92304847.html
It's sad how much down south "Glamping" has become the Big Thing. I have nothing against the super high end RVs having a camp space, but I do have something against banning the caravans/clamshells and tents, especially as that's how we camped in the 80s. And it's all about money. The high end RVs have the high end money, and it's not that the caravans and clamshells and tents don't have money...but the ones with MORE money won't spend it at their site if they have those "ugly dirty" campers next to them.
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The thing i don't get is how you can sleep cross-ways in a car. Maybe it's because i'm 6'3, but to me it seems a bit torturous to try sleep in a space that's shorter than you are. I do sleep curled up for a decent part of the night on normal nights, but i really need to be able to stretch out from time to time otherwise my knees will lock up. Some car dwellers have a trick of folding the passenger-side front seat down and the rear seats down, then you have enough space to put a platform with your feet in the trunk and your head up near the dashboard... I guess that's how truck campers are laid out too, with the bed suspended up over the cab.
It is definitely a trip talking to people who used to travel a lot in the 70s and 80s. They all remember camping back then, just pitching a tent, or pulling over and sleeping in the car. It seems like it used to be such a normal thing, and now it's not. I don't know when exactly the change happened, but now even state parks have far, far more RV sites than "primitive" camping sites, and some state parks don't even have any sites without an electric, water and sewage hookup. I mean, it's nice to have electric in your tent so you can charge your phone and watch shows on your laptop, but not when you have to pay RV prices to stay! The wild thing is that it's not like Americans in the 90s or the 00s all suddenly all got rich enough (and big enough vehicles) to tow a trailer. The parks just gentrified, so the lower income folks can't go there at all any more.
The one upside of owning a car (as opposed to a bike) is that you can pull over and sleep at rest areas, or (if you have tinted windows) just stealthily park in a quiet part of town and get some sleep. Worst case a cop knocks on the window, then you make your apologies and drive away. It seems like a lot less hassle than having to pack up a tent you tried to stealthily pitch in the woods behind a shopping mall or whatever.
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Then the Republicans came into power in the state and decided that only people using the parks needed to pay for them. They reduced the public tax money for it, hiking up the prices at the gate, and the state parks started wanting the Big Money from RV Campers to keep going.
This was also around the time that the State of Texas got rid of all the free picnic areas around the state. Hundreds of little dotted pulloffs where there was a nice table, a BBQ pit, a waste can. Most are gone now, and only a few still exit, mostly at scenic views (https://goo.gl/maps/nZnVTTFNUM6vh3EX7). All in the name of "Less Taxes."
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Getting the "America The Beautiful" National Park Pass ($80) and the Discover Pass gives you free access to all Washington parkland (and there's a LOT out here) for a year. Sadly, there's no Discover Pass style system in Texas, and the America the Beautiful pass is moot in Texas as there are very very very few national parks in Texas.
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