Am I being a prude or would this bother you? Camping etiquette

[Acorn]

6 hours ago, Momto6inIN said:

Do people really camp (in a campground, not backpacking) with just 1 set of clothes? No extras?

We look like "the Beverly Hillbillies go camping" with all our stuff lol, so that would surprise me!

We do all styles of camping.  Our epic trips over 2 weeks long are usually an airplane ride, 1,000-2,000 miles on the rental car, combination of backpacking, family campground, maybe airbnb for few nights in the middle of trip in order for laundry. I've hauled camping gear from Ohio to Hawaii even. We had super fancy resort for the business part of the trip, but then cheap camping in the national park to extend our trip for 3 days. 

I did make a mistake taking the kids at ages 8 and 10 backpacking with no extra clothes. Turns out they weren't very coordinated with peeing in the woods, and we could smell urine on clothing. It took a couple days for their pants to dry after being rinsed in a lake. They wore rainpants until then. 

[regentrude]

I don't see the problem. It would be reasonable for people to wear swim wear in a  campground, so I fail to see why the towel or underpants would be an issue.

 

[Murphy101]

At a campsite? Meh. As long as as much or more than is covered in a swimsuit is still covered - I wouldn’t even notice. 

[katilac]

I wouldn't think anything of someone wrapped in a towel leaving the showers. They might have a swimsuit on underneath, they might not, but the towel is covering more than a swimsuit would either way. I haven't been in a campground shower in umpteen years, but, if memory serves, there's usually no great place to keep your dry clothes and get dressed. 

The underwear would be a bit more unusual, but I wouldn't be fussed about it. He was just walking to his tent, and it's not like I'd have to watch him the whole way, lol. 

Stay away from beaches and water parks in south Florida 😄

 

[TravelingChris]

It wouldn't have bothered me.  I go to the beach and see more there. 

[Momto6inIN]

Sounds like the consensus is that yes, I am a prude, but maybe not an unreasonable one. I can live with that 😁

Thanks everybody!

[MercyA]

I can't imagine not showering for a week. I need to wash my hair daily. And wouldn't you get awfully sweaty and sticky and dirty? And stinky? Or do you swim every day and that helps? Are some people just not bothered by this?

I'm not trying to be judgy or unkind. I am genuinely curious, because it seems like it would be really uncomfortable.

[Acorn]

38 minutes ago, MercyA said:

I can't imagine not showering for a week. I need to wash my hair daily. And wouldn't you get awfully sweaty and sticky and dirty? And stinky? Or do you swim every day and that helps? Are some people just not bothered by this?

I'm not trying to be judgy or unkind. I am genuinely curious, because it seems like it would be really uncomfortable.

Depends on location. No water to swim in when I backpacked the Grand Canyon, etc. My job is outdoors so daily normal is sweat and dirt. There is this weird time thing where you can no longer smell yourself or tentmates after a certain amount of time. We carry hand sanitizer and sometimes a squirt of that is useful. 

[Momto6inIN]

11 hours ago, MercyA said:

I can't imagine not showering for a week. I need to wash my hair daily. And wouldn't you get awfully sweaty and sticky and dirty? And stinky? Or do you swim every day and that helps? Are some people just not bothered by this?

I'm not trying to be judgy or unkind. I am genuinely curious, because it seems like it would be really uncomfortable.

I definitely suspend my normal standards of cleanliness and personal hygiene while camping. I shower every couple days and my kids a little less than that 😛 It's part of the experience, I guess. I just mentally adjust my standards to be able to put up with feeling constantly damp and slightly smelly.

[Jentrovert]

15 hours ago, Seasider too said:

I wouldn’t think twice about someone covering with a towel like that at the beach or a pool dressing room. However, something about the shower house at a campground makes me think of cleaning up at the end of the day, ie, having been nekkid in the shower. While that still wouldn’t trouble me personally, I wouldn’t let my kids, or choose myself, to leave anyone sharing the campground with that kind of possible mental image. 

I'm not sure I understand what you mean.  Are you saying that you wouldn't wear skimpy (towel, underwear) clothing when coming out of a shower house because others would know you had just been showering and it could lead them to picture you naked in the shower? But that you would wrap a towel around you coming out of a pool dressing room or equivilant because that doesn't involve being naked, thus doesn't have the same effect on what people are imagining?

Eta: Well, wait a minute, a pool dressing room does involve being naked, at least to change. I think I'm just not understanding. Times like this I wish I drank coffee!

Edited August 22, 2020 by Jentrovert

[Ausmumof3]

1 hour ago, Jentrovert said:

I'm not sure I understand what you mean.  Are you saying that you wouldn't wear skimpy (towel, underwear) clothing when coming out of a shower house because others would know you had just been showering and it could lead them to picture you naked in the shower? But that you would wrap a towel around you coming out of a pool dressing room or equivilant because that doesn't involve being naked, thus doesn't have the same effect on what people are imagining?

Eta: Well, wait a minute, a pool dressing room does involve being naked, at least to change. I think I'm just not understanding. Times like this I wish I drank coffee!

I totally get it.  There’s definitely a difference between beach towel over bathers versus white hotel style towel versus the old lady in the dressing gown with the faded pink towel wrapped round her hair.  It’s the same thing as we don’t care about bikinis at the beach but we don’t go shopping in them.

[mommyoffive]

Wouldn't bother me at all.  I would not even notice it most likely. I don't think my kids would either.  They are used to beaches in Spain that are topless, thongs, and speedos all around. 

[Wheres Toto]

13 hours ago, MercyA said:

I can't imagine not showering for a week. I need to wash my hair daily. And wouldn't you get awfully sweaty and sticky and dirty? And stinky? Or do you swim every day and that helps? Are some people just not bothered by this?

I'm not trying to be judgy or unkind. I am genuinely curious, because it seems like it would be really uncomfortable.

 

2 hours ago, Momto6inIN said:

I definitely suspend my normal standards of cleanliness and personal hygiene while camping. I shower every couple days and my kids a little less than that 😛 It's part of the experience, I guess. I just mentally adjust my standards to be able to put up with feeling constantly damp and slightly smelly.

 

Yes, to lowering of standards.  Yes, to swimming most days.   We might do a quick rinse with bathing suits on after swimming in lakes.

[Jean in Newcastle]

How in the world would you know if someone coming out of the shower had gone one hour, one day or one week or one month without a shower previously? 

[almondbutterandjelly]

28 minutes ago, Ausmumof3 said:

It’s the same thing as we don’t care about bikinis at the beach but we don’t go shopping in them.

Ha ha you don't live in a beach town.  Bikinis in the grocery store?  Yep.  Seen that, not infrequently.

Edited August 22, 2020 by perkybunch

[Jentrovert]

2 hours ago, Ausmumof3 said:

I totally get it.  There’s definitely a difference between beach towel over bathers versus white hotel style towel versus the old lady in the dressing gown with the faded pink towel wrapped round her hair.  It’s the same thing as we don’t care about bikinis at the beach but we don’t go shopping in them.

Yeah, I do get the thought that certain attire may be appropriate for one venue but not to another. I agree (but the attire in question seems appropriate for a campground, at least the ones I have been to.)

The comment I quoted seemed to be saying (this is the part I was unclear what was meant) that the difference was that the person would have been naked in the shower and how that realization would affect others. 

[Jentrovert]

1 minute ago, Seasider too said:

I know on the surface it seems illogical! I think it’s about context, as Ausmom described it. 
 

I probably have a memory that colors my opinion. An older dear lady once shared with me that when their children were little, she and her husband would go campground camping in a pop up trailer. Each side opened up for a sleeping wing. She told me that one night, she was awakened by a noise. When she got up to investigate, she found that the fabric wall at her children’s feet had been sliced open. She was very sure that someone intended to yank one of the kids out by his feet. I can no longer remember what made her so sure, but since then I have been a careful people watcher at campgrounds! And someone sitting around watching others come out of campground bathhouses is always in the back of my mind!  I’d prefer them to see my kids fully clothed. On the beach or at the pool, they are in a crowd. In a campground, not so much, and may be easier to singularly observe and even trace back to a specific campsite. 
 

Yes, I have a paranoid streak. My reasoning may still seem irrational to you, but there they are. 

Thanks for explaining, that makes sense. That is a scary story! I've actually had similar thoughts before, I just didn't connect the dots. I think it's probably true for everyone -- there are some things we do or don't do simply for our own peace of mind, doesn't matter if it's perfectly rational or not. 😊 

[Momto6inIN]

4 hours ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

How in the world would you know if someone coming out of the shower had gone one hour, one day or one week or one month without a shower previously? 

You wouldn't. I think Mercy was just responding to someone's comment about how they didn't take showers at all while camping and wondering how that worked.