I went camping with my wife and two kids over the holiday weekend. While it certainly was a nice break from work — it was the first “vacation” I’ve taken in over a year — it also reminded me why I don’t typically enjoy camping.

It’s not because I’m not an outdoors person. Let’s be clear, I’m not, but that’s not the reason. I used to spend a lot of time outdoors. I spent all of my teenage years living in the country and loved the freedom that came with it. We had a motocross track in our backyard. We could make as much noise as we wanted. If the dog barked all day it only annoyed us, not 15 neighbors.

But I’ve always been a city person at heart. I’ve lived in some form of the city for the last 12 years or so, and never during that time did I think to myself, “You know what I really need in my life? More dirt.”

Even when I did camp when I was younger, it was often in my parents’ fifth-wheel, which had all the amenities of home. Typically we stayed somewhere with power hookup. You know, really “roughing it.”

This past weekend’s camping trip was not one of those. While we did get to stay in a camper, it wasn’t our camper, it was one borrowed from family. But there was no power hookup, no water hookup, no usable bathroom. Just an outhouse conveniently located approximately 8,274 feet from the campsite.

Like I said, I grew up camping, but since I’ve gotten old enough to travel on my own, I’ve always preferred hotels. When I stay in a hotel, all I need to bring is clothes. Bedding is supplied. Food is easy to come by. I don’t need bug spray, firewood, matches, s’mores or anything else. I just need some fresh underwear.

But camping, especially when you don’t own the camper you are staying in, is a whole other story. If you’re going to need it, you have to pack it.

Now, I wouldn’t go so far as to call myself a minimalist, but I certainly have dipped my toe the minimalist trend in recent years. I have tried to learn how to pare my stuff down as much as possible so I am only carrying the minimum number of things and only things I am likely to need. I’m a technology nerd, so I needed my bag o’ tech, including my Kindle, iPad, Nintendo Switch, and any battery packs I could find around the house to keep them charged. I did leave my laptop at home, a rarity when I travel. I also brought a small box of clothes. I was only staying one night, but I brought enough in case I stayed a second. That was all I needed.

If I would be considered a minimalist, my wife would be considered the opposite of that, a maximalist maybe? That’s not the right word as I look it up right now, but you get the idea. My wife, Kay, likes to pack for every possible situation. That includes a hot day, a cold day, an earthquake, a tornado, a 1,000-year flood, an alien abduction, etc. We were only staying for a total of two and a half days, but she made sure to pack enough food and snacks just in case we needed to eat 723 meals during those two and a half days.

Despite being prepared for any situation, she always inevitably forgets to bring some super important item, like a toothbrush, for example.

We kind of let our boys, 8-year-old twins, pack their own stuff this year, because they’re getting older and also because — and I speak only for myself here, not my wife — I’m sick of packing for them. It doesn’t matter anyway. They’re boys. They’re going to wear the same articles of clothing for the entire duration of the trip unless they’re instructed to change, and the second they leave the vehicle upon arrival they’ll be covered with a thick layer of dirt anyway, so it doesn’t really matter what they bring.

So what getting ready for camping usually consists of is me loading my two items into the car, the boys’ one bag that could contain anything from miss-matched socks to a couple of the neighbor’s cats, and then 8,000 other things until the car is literally bursting at the seams. I then drive us to the place we are going, cutting vehicles off along the way due to the massive blind spots created by 37 tons of snacks. We arrive at the campsite where I unload the entire car and we put all of our stuff where it needs to be the next two days. Two days later we then repack 99.9% of those items back into the same car because we didn’t touch any of them, take them home, and unload them all again.

Such was the case with this camping trip. Next time I’m getting a hotel.

Eric Young is the editor of the Huron Daily Tribune. He can be reached at eric.young@hearstnp.com.