I'm convinced that the number one reason why people love camping so much is because it is a great way to bring the entire family together.  Let me describe for you in this article, for the next few minutes, my thoughts on the subject of camping and campers as it relates to family togetherness.

My own personal journey began years ago with the purchase of a used camera shell.  If you search around long enough you can locate these camper shells for trucks -- sometimes used and being sold at a very great discount.  I was calling to college at the time that I bought mine -- I picked it up for just a few bucks and the local junkyard, believe it or not, and made a few repairs to it before mounting it on the back of my pickup.  It was not the nicest looking thing, but I enjoyed using it for many years, and the first person to join me on a camping trip was my steady girl (now my wife).  Back in those days we were just a "family" of two, yet we have many fond memories of those days.

As we began to make our mark on this world, we moved up a little bit and shopped around for some larger-size pickup trucks campers.  Because our finances were still somewhat limited during these days, we wanted to stay with a lightweight truck camper, so we purchased -- again used -- a Northern Lite camper that fit our new truck.  We used this lightweight truck camper for many years, but when our first child was born (a little girl) and we knew the handwriting was on the wall and that we would need to move up to something larger.

We did some shopping around and evaluated a number of different types of campers and recreational vehicles: Arctic Fox campers and Forest River campers were right at the top of our list because they seemed to incorporate some very excellent features and amenities in their models, without an asking price that would torpedo our bank account.  We even thought about purchasing a used Apache Ramada camper from a friend.

In the end, we chose to purchase a Coleman pop-up camper.  Why a pop-up?  Well, with several younger children in tow we didn't want to purchase anything that would be too much of a luxury model -- and a pop-up camper seemed like the right choice, given that they are very roomy and spacious and yet are easy to take care of.  As my wife will soon be giving birth to our third child soon, I guess we will need to purchase a full-size, park-model trailer in a couple of years.  But that's okay, because I'm making better money now and we should be able to handle the payments with no problem.

I guess my main recommendation to those of you who are just starting out with your first RV or camper purchase, is to start small.  Don't buy more of a camper than you can afford, or that you can afford to properly maintain.  If at all possible, try to purchase a used camper or RV -- you can save quite a bit of money this way, and try it out to see if you really are up to the task of operating one of these rigs.  Actually, however, you can start out just like we did -- with a smaller lightweight truck camper or pop-up.  Don't let the other recreational vehicle owners fool you or look down on you -- if a smaller, less expensive or used model meets your needs, that's all that's really important.