A couple years ago, my husband, Dan, and I were trying to figure out what to do for Thanksgiving. Go to my mom’s house, an hour away, for dinner? Fly back east to visit his family for a few days? Invite friends over for a Friendsgiving feast? Every option sounded stressful. “What if we just ditched all that and went camping somewhere warm instead?” I offered.
The idea of enjoying the holiday outside, instead of spending it indoors cooking and making small talk with distant relatives, sounded appealing. So that’s exactly what we did.
It’s not that I hate turkey and mashed potatoes. Or that I don’t like my extended family. But camping with my kids is the best quality family time we have. And, as we quickly learned, the long Thanksgiving weekend is an ideal time to enjoy incredible U.S. campgrounds without throngs of people. That’s why we’ve given up the notion of a traditional Thanksgiving—and all the emotional and literal baggage that goes along with it—and spend the holiday camping instead.