Has anyone in the UK gone camping in US with their kit?

[MeAndMySpoon]

I ask purely speculatively, since a) we can't afford long haul at the moment and b) the very idea of DS2 on a long plane flight gives me more hives than the poison ivy waiting for me at the US campsite.

But do people do this? Or is it just more sensible to hire out a tent at a campsite in America? I have a Bell - can't see us carting that to America or Canada, but it's nice to dream...

Check prices in walmart,
www.walmart.com/cp/Camping/4128?povid=P1171-C1110.2784+1455.2776+1115.2956-L233
hotels are cheap too so I would just stay in a Hotel, Laquinta are good
www.lq.com/lq/index.jsp?iata=99020724&WT.srch=1&sissr=1
We stayed in a villa then used Laquinta when out and about for a few days

I know it's cheap to stay in a motel or whatever, I'm just a bit in love with the idea of using wonderful American campgrounds with a proper tent (as opposed to a canvas cabin or similar.).

Nobody else, then?

We have camped both on CapeCod and in the deep south. Both times hired a car from the airport and took our own tiny backpacking tent (pre children days). The state parks are awesome, and very cheap. On Cape Cod I think we paid about 20 dollars a night, compared to about 150 in a motel, and that included being able to park at the state beaches. Also Camped in florida and along the panhandle to just outside New Orleans. Very hot and humid. Signs not to feed the alligators! Our tent looked tiny pitched on the massive spaces designed for rvs, generally with table and benches and fire ring. Lovely people too (although I'm sure they thought we were quite mad). No idea how you would go about getting a bell tent over there though. Our tent only weighed 5kg. Looking forward to going back when we can afford the flights again!

I'm American, and had never heard of hiring tents to go camping in until I moved here, so I don't think it's the "done" thing there (but saying that, I have no doubt you'd be able to find it somewhere) but you can find campsites anywhere (but Colorado is the best place to camp should you ever plan your trip not that I'm biased or anything).

My first experience camping here was very, very strange for me... First, we just went to bed with the fire smoldering (a complete no-no there, as that's how most forest fires get started) because, as someone pointed out, if the fire managed to spread on ground that damp, it would be a bloody miracle. Then, I panicked because there was food left out. "But the bears will get it!! We can't have it this close to the tent!" [cue fits of laughter] and again with waking up to go to the toilet in the middle of the night: "Have you got a whistle I can take with me?" "Why in the blinking heck do you need a whistle to take a wee?" "In case there's a mountain lion..."

It's like a different world out there

We have camped both on CapeCod and in the deep south. Both times hired a car from the airport and took our own tiny backpacking tent (pre children days). The state parks are awesome, and very cheap. On Cape Cod I think we paid about 20 dollars a night, compared to about 150 in a motel, and that included being able to park at the state beaches. Also Camped in florida and along the panhandle to just outside New Orleans. Very hot and humid. Signs not to feed the alligators! Our tent looked tiny pitched on the massive spaces designed for rvs, generally with table and benches and fire ring. Lovely people too (although I'm sure they thought we were quite mad). No idea how you would go about getting a bell tent over there though. Our tent only weighed 5kg. Looking forward to going back when we can afford the flights again!

We took our own kit and camped in Yosemite. It was pre kids though when we were a bit more minimalist with kit.

Loved camping in Yosemite, though spent the whole of first night terrified a bear was going to eat me as I'd left an opal fruit in the tent.

Campsites were very basic with no showers.

You could hire a camper van if you want the camping experience but don't want to lug your stuff? Not exactly a cheap holiday though.

We pre do did. We flew into Denver hired a car stayed in the Rockies, then went to Moab and various national park, weather ranged from roasting to snow and hail. Intermittently we stayed in motel or similar thankfully we did in Bryce Canyon when it was minus numbers.

At the time you could take 2 items of luggage each. One suitcase, 1 tent and one box of all our camping stuff, bags, mats, cooking stuff plates etc. we bought back camping chairs with foot rests and drink holders before they were popular here.

You can buy polystyrene cool boxes and bags of ice for transporting food keeps chilled fine. Ranger talks were great facilities excellent. Would love to do it again

Bugsylugs That's my neck of the woods!!
[sighs with longing for mountains]

We went to Yellowstone with a mixture of our kit, kit we bought out there (sooo cheap) and making do.

To be honest, the campgrounds were more hardstanding than nice soft grass so we often took a cabin instead.. also, even though it was mid June there was still a metre of snow in places

We went over our baggage weight too on the way back and had to wear hiking boots for our transfer in NY even though it was 90deg!!

We camp a lot over here and pretty much every campground gives each site a wooden picnic bench and firepit (unless you're doing really basic camping). I would just book a hotel for the first night, hire a car and go to the nearest Walmart or Target, buy the basics and then wing it. Then dump it/donate it at the end of your trip. Better than lugging half your home over here with you!!