Wherever humans gather you can witness all kinds of behaviour. Thankfully most people are kind, thoughtful, honest and cheerful, but then we encounter the odd person who is rude, shocking and even downright evil. A campground brings together all sorts of individuals, both good and not so good. And, sometimes our intentions are good, but we miss the nuance of our actions, so here is a brief list of what most people find annoying and unacceptable.
1. Breaking the Rules
Most Campgrounds, whether public or private, have rules designed for the enjoyment of guests and the sustainability of nature and wildlife. Breaking any of the rules will likely mean we are diminishing the experience of others or harming the natural habitat that most parks try to protect. Take a moment to read campground rules and stick by them!
2. Taking a Short Cut across a campsite.
This may seem like a small thing but most campers I know feel that when they pay for a site they deserve the enjoyment and privacy of every inch of it. So don’t load yourself up so much from the camp store or laundry that you feel justified to short cut through someone else’s site. Whether they are present or not, do respect the boundary of another’s site, and teach your children to respect it as well.
3. Disturbing Quiet Time Hours
Likely a ‘quiet time’ will be in the rules wherever you are camping but it needs to be said – our activities at the expense of another’s peace and quiet is never okay. Extra vigilance is needed particularly if drinking, as we tend to get a little louder and less attentive to our volume. Partying after quiet time? Just don’t do it!
4. Too Much Light
Most people like to camp to get way from the dominance of the city and enjoy the beauty of night skies, and the peace and serenity of nature. Being blinded by someone’s flashlight or headlights is very disturbing. Figure out the locking system on your vehicle and disable the light flashes and horn beep that comes from locking it. If you need a flashlight to get around, point it at the ground ahead so the light needed is where you are walking and not in someone’s eyes.
5. Approaching or Feeding Wildlife
This is a bad idea for so many reasons. It unfairly creates a cycle causing the animal to become dependent upon humans as a source for food, can be harmful to the animal, and may attract unwanted animal activity as they learn to forage around human habitation. In the case of larger wildlife luring with food could end up with catastrophic consequences from the unpredictable behaviour of a bear, moose or other animal. Enjoy the sighting if you catch a glimpse of one of our great wildlife partners, take photos if it’s safe to do so, but leave it at that.
This is just a short list and wherever you camp there will be other rules to aid in the safety and well-being of all campers. The Golden Rule is pretty applicable here: Do for others as you would have them do for you. I wish you many happy memories as you enjoy your camping adventures, wherever you may travel.