polka dot suitcase

So, as you know, we went tent camping down in Georgia recently. I mentioned earlier my parents have a camper they let us use occasionally, and I hadn’t tent camped in a while. (Turned out great, BTW.)  But what happens if you want to go camping, don’t have a camper, and you think that tents are so 2008? Well, you’re in luck. I just poked around and found you a couple great alternatives to the traditional dome tent.

Got an extra $50,000 on your hands? Well, you could buy this beauty, which comes with a funky round mattress. Or, you could take that money and purchase one amazing camper, with electricity, AC, a potty, a microwave, and possibly even a truck to tow it.

What if you like the idea of hanging from a tree, but not the price? Here’s the poor man’s version of the pricey tree-hanging-thingy:

Not into hanging from trees? I understand. How about this bed/tent/cocoon, hyped as a great emergency bed for airports? And look, the man inside doesn’t look the least bit mortified and embarrassed that he’s laying in this thing in the middle of an airport:

Okay, so this next one’s kind of interesting. It’s called MyHab, and they’re touted as “green” camping (uh…). Geared toward festivals, you rent these funky units that look a little like a very, very large cat or dog carrier. The company sets them up for you, you inhabit them for the duration of the festival, then leave them behind. The company returns, disassembles, and recycles the parts. Funky! (The catch…you gotta live in Great Britain.)

Okay, you know how you want to go camping, but you’re just too busy to get out of the city? Here’s your answer — a tent shaped like a covered car. You, too, can lay on the filthy concrete (it’s got no floor) and hope that no one side-swipes you while you’re snoozing:

And then there’s always this: