How Glamping Changes Everything

Have you ever searched for “Glamping”, or “Glamping near me” before?

My husband loves the outdoors. What’s a stronger word for ‘love’? Enamored? Obsessed?…That’s him. He’s done all things outdoors since he could walk, possibly crawl. I camped with my family growing up too, but unlike him, all those years of sleeping stuffed in a camper or tent cured me of any excitement to continue it into adulthood.

Been there, done that — “check please!”

I’ll take the room with hot water that’s not produced from a bucket I have to haul back to a campsite! And this post isn’t long enough to go into the port-a-potty issues.

We both like hiking, riding bikes, boating, and the outdoorsy life…but indoor plumbing is where I draw the line in the dirt.

So how do you get your wife into the outdoors overnight?

You search ‘glamping near me’ and you hope, cross your fingers, do a little Google dance…that something pops up in the screen to make both people happy in the outdoors.

Glamping is pretty popular. I mean, if it makes the Forbes hottest trends list in 2020 — it’s hot!

After you read how good glamping is, you’ll be looking up Camp Aramoni or the glamping site nearest you.

The Forbes list missed Aramoni since it opened for its first full season this year. It’s online now and destined to makes Forbes’ next hot-spot list.

Glamping near me, defined

According to the Oxford dictionary, glamping is “a form of camping involving accommodation and facilities more luxurious than those associated with traditional camping”.

Oxford had me at luxurious instead of traditional camping.

Why You need to go Glamping

• It has all the nifty parts of camping in the outdoors
• It’s away from the noise of the city
• You get to sleep under a cozy comforter & fall asleep to birds, frogs, howls & all that nature stuff
• Cooking’s done for you {no dishes!! score!!}
• Indoor plumbing and a shower
• Let me repeat…indoor plumbing!

Check-in is 3pm, and I wanted to be there at 3! My hubby was baffled by my urgency, and being totally honest, I surprised myself by this ask.

This glamping site was taken out of my camping wish list. That sounds bizarre even typing that since my travel wish lists have never, ever, included camping.

As with any other resort we go to, we hope for a helpful-with-a-smile staff.

But this level of friendliness + hospitality is next level niceness! Best-in-class hospitality meets you in the great outdoors.

Jackie greeted us first, and she has the kind of sweetness that endears you to her from the moment she speaks.

Yes, for real!

We unload our bags from the car onto her golf cart, and she drives us down the path to the bell flower tent to get settled.

The Barn at Camp Aramoni

Choose your dinner reservation. 5 or 7 o’clock dinner sitting in their common area, or The Barn as they call it.

I love the simplicity of calling it ‘The Barn’, but don’t mistake it for the building on your grandpa’s farm with straw or smelly animals running rampant.

So very far from that kind of barn picture {it’s in the title photo}!

This barn felt like being invited to a private viewing of Santa’s workshop. When you walk in the door, a wide-open space lit with rustic chandeliers is your first view. Look left, there’s the game corner with puzzles, cards, and games. Look right, and it’s a doorway to the tiny, but oh-so-cute small gift shop. Three steps in, look further left, and it’s a sitting area where you can sit + sip the coffee you just ordered from the breakfast bar. Down the middle of The Barn are the tables for dinner, which — of course — have their personal signs matching your tent name for your dinner seating.

You order your dinner the week of your booking. They send over the email with the menu link for you to submit to their in-house chef.

We chose the appetizer over dessert, because gourmet s’mores + Aramoni roasting sticks come in your welcome bag for your personal fire pit at your tent. The marshmallows were no Jiffy-Puff; they melted into gooey goodness, ready to warm the chocolate between your grahams.

S’mores…This part of camping never gets old!

Glamping S’mores & Drinks

It’s totally personal taste, but I’m a plain-graham s’more girl, so the extra cinnamon in these gourmet grahams was a little much. But you TRY EVERYTHING when you travel. It’s part of the experience, charm, and Glimpse of Good we all need. Just to clarify, they were good s’mores, but in case you’re a light cinnamon person like myself, I thought I’d toss that tidbit out there for ya.

In the evening, we sat at the Air Stream Bar. As long as you’re trying glamping for the first time, why not try a new drink too? Zak the bartender made me their Blue Heron…grapefruit, lime, grapefruit soda, and tequila.

I’ll give you one guess if you’ll like it or not. ;)

Is Glamping Near You + For You?

Glamping is the one and only camping for me! We rode bikes, walked the trails, circled the venue, visited Starved Rock State Park, played bags, ate, drank, and s’mored.

I’d say we experienced both camping {Hubby’s preferred} and my camping redemption {glamping}::

• My hiking boots were muddy {camping}
• We slept in a comfy bed with indoor plumbing {glorious glamping}
• We heard the sounds of nature inside our tent {camping}
• All the food was ready & waiting {delicious glamping}

And just like camping, I woke in the morning to chilled cheeks, a cold nose, and the sounds of the local fauna.

OHHH with no coffee makers in the tent, that is also a camping-esque sacrifice for me! Never mind the Burlington {Air Stream} can make you any frou-frou or black coffee you want. Me+coffee forever…What-ta ‘bout you?

All-n-all Camp Aramoni didn’t miss a piece to the glamping experience. By their booking calendar it looks like there are more ‘campers’ like me who enjoy the outdoors, but want to skip the roughing-it part.

Their website says:: “Camp Aramoni is where luxury camping combines exciting camping experiences with the best of hotel amenities. Choose from 11 safari-style tents to enjoy the highest level of hospitality wrapped into a secluded natural landscape.”

I almost forgot…The history of Aramoni is pretty fascinating too. Another good story. You can read about it on their site, but hearing Jennifer {the owner} tell it to you over breakfast is even better. {Breakfast is a full buffet filled with meats for the meat-eaters, veggies for the veggie-lovers, fresh fruit, yogurts, pastries, and cereals, annnnnd, of course, a frou-frou coffee bar!

If it’s not glamping near you, your next trip might be to London, Walla Walla, or a fresh new style that you love to see. Get each and every one of my travel guides, fashion finds, and a wine to match your next good book dropped to your inbox each month!

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Soooo, this inquiring mind wants to know, after reading this, which side of the outdoor experience do you fall into…camping or Glamping?

💖Andrea ~ The Next Chapter Blogger💖
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