Getting Started
Choosing your camp style
Six ways to spend a night outdoors, each with a genuinely different cost, comfort level and skill demand. Read the full breakdown, or answer sixteen questions and let the finder rank them for you.
The honest version
There is no best camping style — only the best fit for your life
The camper who buys a 30ft trailer for two weekends a year and the camper who buys an ultralight kit they're too sore to use made the same mistake: they chose the style they admired instead of the one that matches their budget, body, calendar and travel companions. These four levers decide almost everything.
Money
Split it into entry cost and nightly cost. Glamping is $0 to start and expensive per night; RVing is the reverse. Tent camping is cheap on both and pays for that in comfort.
Effort
Every style trades setup work for comfort. Cabins and glamping have none. Tent camping has 30 minutes twice per trip. Backpacking makes the effort the point.
People
The least enthusiastic person in your group sets the ceiling. A partner who hates being cold will not be converted by a better sleeping bag on trip one.
Frequency
Gear cost is only justified by nights used. Under six nights a year, renting or booking always wins the maths.
Style finder
Answer these and we'll rank all six for you
Nothing is scored as right or wrong — every answer just pushes some styles up and others down. You'll see exactly which of your answers drove the result.
1. How much camping have you actually done?
2. What can you spend on gear before your first trip?
3. What's a reasonable nightly cost for you?
4. How important is sleeping well?
5. What's your bathroom requirement?
6. How do you feel about setting up camp?
7. How physical do you want the trip to be?
8. Who's coming with you?
9. How long are your typical trips?
10. How often will you realistically go?
11. What weather do you want to camp in?
12. How remote do you want to be?
13. What are you driving?
14. Where would gear live between trips?
15. How do you want to eat at camp?
16. What are you really after?
Side by side
All six styles compared
| Style | Entry cost | Per night | Setup | Comfort | Effort | Remote access | Learning curve |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tent Camping | $350–$700 new; under $150 borrowed or rented | $0–$45 (free dispersed to state park) | 20–40 minutes | ●●○○○ | ●●●●○ | ●●●●○ | Low — one weekend to competence |
| RV & Van Life | $15k used trailer to $250k+ coach; rentals $120–$350/night | $45–$95 full hookups; $0 boondocking | 15–30 minutes arrival, 20 minutes departure | ●●●●● | ●●●○○ | ●●○○○ | Moderate to high — three trips to feel routine |
| Glamping | $0 — nothing to buy | $150–$500+ | None — check in and unpack | ●●●●● | ●○○○○ | ●●○○○ | None |
| Cabins & Lodges | $100–$250 of household gear you likely already own | $80–$200 state parks; $200–$600 private lodges | Unload and unpack, 20 minutes | ●●●●○ | ●○○○○ | ●●○○○ | Very low |
| Backpacking | $700–$1,500 new; $200–$400 with rentals and used gear | $0–$15 permits | 10–15 minutes at camp | ●○○○○ | ●●●●● | ●●●●● | High — build it over a season |
| Overlanding | $1,500–$8,000 in tires, recovery, sleep and power on top of the vehicle | $0 dispersed; fuel is the line item | 5–15 minutes with a rooftop tent | ●●●○○ | ●●●○○ | ●●●●● | Moderate — driving skills plus camping skills |
The classic — cheapest entry, most direct contact with the outdoors.
Tent Camping
A tent, a pad, a bag and a stove will get you almost anywhere a car can go. Tent camping has the lowest cost of entry of any style with a real bed under a roof, and it's the most flexible: developed campgrounds, dispersed public land, festival fields and backcountry-adjacent sites are all fair game. In exchange you accept setup and teardown at every stop, the weather being genuinely present, and a sleep quality that depends entirely on how well you build your sleep system.
What you'll love
- ✓Lowest entry cost of any overnight style
- ✓Fits nearly every campground and most dispersed land
- ✓Packs into a normal car — no towing, no storage lot
- ✓Quiet, no generator, no hookup dependency
- ✓Easy to scale from solo to a big group
What will test you
- !Setup and teardown every trip, sometimes in the rain
- !Sleep quality is entirely on your pad and bag choices
- !Condensation, wind and cold all reach you
- !No bathroom, no climate control, no lockable door
- !Wet gear has to be dried at home or it mildews
Great fit if…
- • Anyone testing whether they enjoy camping before spending real money
- • Weekend trips within a few hours of home
- • Campers who want maximum site choice for minimum spend
- • Groups where everyone can bring their own shelter
Probably wrong if…
- • People who cannot afford a bad night's sleep before a work week
- • Sustained sub-freezing or severe-storm conditions without real experience
- • Travellers moving to a new location every single night
Entry cost
$350–$700 new; under $150 borrowed or rented
Nightly cost
$0–$45 (free dispersed to state park)
Setup time
20–40 minutes
Weather range
Comfortable 35–90°F with three-season gear; colder needs deliberate upgrades
Family fit
Good from about age 4 with a bathhouse nearby
Upgrade path
Better pad → better bag → a canopy or tarp shelter → a cot or car-camping mattress
Buy these five first
- • Tent one size larger than your group
- • Pad with R-value 4+
- • Bag rated 10°F below the low
- • Headlamp with red mode
- • Two-burner stove
Before you commit
Four ways to test a style without buying into it
Rent the expensive part
RVs, rooftop tents and full backpacking kits are all rentable. One weekend costs less than 5% of buying and answers the question completely.
Borrow from a camper you know
Most experienced campers own duplicate gear and will happily lend it to someone who might become a trip companion.
Backyard night
Free, zero risk, and it surfaces every gap in your setup while the kitchen is thirty feet away.
Book one great night
A single glamping or cabin stay tells you whether you actually want to be outdoors, before you decide how rough you want it.