Ask a woman to go on a camping trip and her most likely response will be, “will I have to sleep on the ground?” Ask a guy the same question, and he will say, “when do we go?” The idea of glamping is more about the accommodation for women, and more about the activity for men. Tell her she’s going glamping, and she’ll be excited about deluxe accommodations and spa treatments in the splendor of the great outdoors. Tell him he’s glamping and, well, he might not want to call it glamping (but he’ll still want to go).
The mention of a “glamping mancation” to a red-blooded American male may make him wince. It isn’t that guys are against hanging out with friends on a camping trip and having a few extra creature comforts- that sounds like a great idea. Chances are the kinds of comforts that spring to mind are flat screen TVs, a mini fridge loaded with beer, and a king-sized grill or maybe a smoker for some barbecue. The real trouble comes from the word “glamping,” a combination of the words glamor and camping. No dude wants glamor associated with his camping.
If you peruse Glamping.com, here’s a description you will find on a typical listing:
Great for: Families, Couples, Honeymooners, Corporate Groups
Notice it doesn’t say, “guys on a fishing trip”? So with that in mind, here are some things that could drive a successful glamping mancation:
• Guys won’t be as concerned with the accommodations like fussing over thread counts and turn down service. Guys will usually focus on the activity, as in what is offered at The Resort at Paws Up in Montana, which includes fishing, sporting clays, and snowmobiling.
• Take the activity up a notch by offering something out of the ordinary, like bungee jumping or airboat rides at Westgate River Ranch in Florida, or a sports car/off road experience like the Driven Experience at Gateway Canyons Resort in Colorado.
• Speaking of driving, another way to get a guy to go on a glamping mancation is to say, “road trip!” The guys will love hitting the road with an airstream rental, like those offered by Living Airstream (Denver, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Scottsdale, AZ).
Guys can do most things like fishing and canoeing on a regular camping trip. But what makes a camping trip a “glamping mancation” is enjoying great outdoor activities and having someone else prepare camp at the end of the day. Coming back after a long day of fishing to a place where the wood is chopped, the fire is made, the beer is on ice and the steak is already on the grill- now that ‘s luxury a man can appreciate, so he can attend to more important things like bragging about the day’s catch.
It’s an old cliché that guys don’t like to talk about their problems with each other, and likewise they don’t like to jabber about “glamping.” But that doesn’t mean they don’t like it. After a long day fishing, hunting, or bungee jumping with his pals, a guy can’t say no to chowing down on some great man food, then kicking back with an ice cold beer by the fire (and maybe sleeping on thousand thread count sheets. Just once. Shhhh!!)
