ADVENTURE TIME: Glamping in NORTH CAROLINA

Take camping up a notch on your next big outdoor vacation

- Sara Kendall

Skipping a resort for an adventure in the wilderness doesn’t mean you have to do without all the comforts of home — just go glamping. Glamping, a word coined for glamorous camping, is a growing vacation trend that combines camping and modern amenities to provide an enjoyable, more comfortable vacation surrounded by nature.

According to the latest North American Camping Report, more than 7.2 million households in the U.S. have started camping throughout the past five years, bringing the total number of camping households in the U.S. to a new high of more than 78 million. A vacation in nature, however, is a lot easier when you have a bathroom, kitchen and comfy beds. The blending of the best of camping and basic amenities provides a great way to experience the great outdoors, and that’s what glamping is all about.

THE ACCOMMODATIONS

Tent camping requires a lot of planning, packing, setup and takedown, not to mention sleeping on the ground. Glamping adds a touch of comfort with the relaxation of being in the great outdoors, without as much on-site preparation. Types of glamping accommodations include yurts, geodomes, glamping tents, treehouses and travel trailers. (Not sure what a yurt is? It’s a circular tent with a framework used by nomads in Mongolia elevated with modern amenities at glamping sites).

“We think of it as easy camping,” says Tim Murphy, owner of Emberglow, a 72-acre glamping retreat in Mill Spring, North Carolina that is on track to open in September 2019. “Accommodations are comfortable for sleeping, but are designed to get people outside.”