Into glamping

Yes, I had been glamping.

The word 'glamping' comes from blending the words glamorous camping. Oxford Dictionary has defined it as a form of camping involving accommodation and facilities more luxurious than you would find in traditional camping.

So for those of you who are averse to camping due to being exposed to its rough side; as maybe having to say hello to creepy bugs, staying up all night with leaking tents, having wished for a blocked nose when you had smelly sleeping bags or forcing yourself on a diet when the food prepared was questionable. There is hope.

Say hello to glamping. 

With glamping, campers would never be devoid of comfort and luxury. Whether trekking while on a vacation and exploring wilderness for the kick of it, or taking part in activities like safari, river rafting etc, done with the traditional adventure activity groups. 

Now there really is no need to get out of your comfort zone, if that ever was a bother.

When I decided to take some time out from city living, get to breathe the cleaner air and spend some time alone, I took off towards the mountains in the North of India. 

There are plenty of options from weekend getaways to exploring spirituality and seeking the real India. But my priority was to spend some quality time alone and also a bit of detoxification by losing touch with technology and gadgets. This meant I was looking forward to a non-glamping experience.

After suiting up like a regular backpacker and distracting my mind with the brighter side of austerity, I had managed to renounce my googled world. Or so I thought I did.

The tourism sector which had earlier operated through travel agents and guides, now had opened up to every individual with a cell phone, a google map and a Lonely Planet guide. 

The camper himself could double as the guide. Now this had the local guide or travel operator stepping up their modus operandi by reinventing the process or become redundant.

What could the local guide offer that the present day camper-cum-guide could not refuse?

How about making yourself feel at home, by offering you a home like environment right in the thick of the forest, at the top of the mountain. When the camper need not be guided on the road anymore, he could be serviced at his stay. Make his stay a better experience. Give him what he would normally be missing from the camping trip, his luxuries.

So then glamping is nothing short of an impulsive, hard to refuse offering - which then one might feel like bare essentials with a custom touch. 

What about a person who wanted to practice austerity while on a camping trip? 

I felt this is where a Lonely Planet guide could really come in handy. Figure those lonely places (ie, places which were not listed in the Lonely planet guide) where the campers could be spared their luxuries and an opportunity to get in sync with the real wilderness.

For most of the GenNext it would no longer be about going camping, but getting treated to glamping, that would be the buzzword.