Camping Life Magazine: A Handy Guide for Life in the Great Outdoors

My family has been actively camping for two years and enjoying it. Two things I did when we first started camping was to join various camping groups and communities on the Internet, and to subscribe to Camping Life magazine.

No matter what way you choose to experience life in the great outdoors, Camping Life will suit you. Unlike many of the groups which tend to have a distinct tone to them and often look down on people who camp in trailers or motorhomes, Camping Life gives information for everyone with no pretentiousness.

There are buying guides available for a wide variety of products - from motorhomes to trailers to tents to stoves and more. I sure wish I'd had the magazine before I made our purchases as there are a few things I probably would have done differently after reading the information here.

The section titled Destinations along with other articles present in various issues have pointed out some places that I would have never thought to look at as a prime outdoor destination. Other times, they have given me a great bit of information about an area I am already interested in. Recently there was an issue detailing the Ten Wildlife Hot Spots for catching a view of animals au naturel.

The pictures are just beautiful. In the case of the wildlife and destinations, every single one has made me realize what a beautiful country we live in and made me long to see more of this country. When giving information on a trailer, the pictures are invaluable to give a sense of what it looks like, along with a detailed floorplan of the trailer or motorhome.

My husband and I want to give up tent-camping and travel around in a trailer when he retires, so I read all of the articles on trailering with great interest, even though it doesn't apply to us yet. A recent issue had the 2003 Tow Ratings and Trailering Laws for the states - something that would come in very handy!

There are always little tidbits of information to gather that leave me feeling like I'm discovering something new with every issue. There's advice on first-aid as well as recipes; talk about the latest and newest gear available; and usually a couple of cool stories - one specifically for around the campfire.

Camping Life is not too overburdened with advertisements, and those that are there are actually pretty interesting. Most of it is gear that in one way or another pertains to the great outdoors.

As a novice, I've learned a great deal from this magazine. It comes out six times a year and I look forward to receiving it in my mailbox. Newsstand price is $3.99 but I have subscribed to it at a rate of $11.97 per year. It's well worth it!



© 2002 Patti Aliventi