“Wild nature yes, but without giving up a hot shower”. This could be the unofficial motto of the glamping, that tourist phenomenon that is conquering travellers of all ages and budgets. I discovered it almost by chance, last July, during a weekend in Tuscany with my agency, when I met a couple of seventy-year-olds enthusiastic about their Mongolian yurt with heated floors.
And I realized that it wasn't just another passing fad for hipsters looking for likes, but something deeper: the desire to reconnect with the environment, but without suffering. Because, let's face it, sleeping on the ground has never been the best.
Luxury that goes green, and not for fashion
Glamping is not simply the latest tourist marketing gimmick; it is an answer (perhaps the only sensible one) to the eternal dilemma of the contemporary traveler: how to immerse yourself in nature without ending up with a destroyed back and hair that looks like a nest of angry wasps. In recent years we have witnessed an impressive proliferation of structures that promise this squaring of the circle: from transparent bubbles to look at the stars at containers transformed into design suites in the middle of the woods.
The great thing is that all this happens (or should happen, at least on paper) while respecting the environment. In fact, most glamping facilities use eco-friendly materials, rainwater recovery systems, solar energy. There are even those who compost organic waste to fertilize the garden from which the vegetables served for dinner come.
And there is good news, too: if on the one hand this sustainability has a price, often not accessible to everyone, it is also true that this new “transversal” awareness is increasing supply and demand, with prices that in many cases are more than sustainable.
Glamping, from status symbol to mass phenomenon?
Remember when music festivals were synonymous with makeshift tents, wet sleeping bags and endless queues for portable toilets? Well, forget it. Glamping has colonised even those sacred spaces of youthful freedom and transgression. Take the Coachella (the Californian festival where people go more to be seen than to listen to music): the luxury tents have become the status symbol par excellence, the way of saying "I want to enjoy everything".
Outdoor luxury, therefore: and yet there is also a lot of authenticity. Because the moment you smell the pine resin coming through your window or watch a deer pass by a few meters away while you are having breakfast, you understand that the experience is worth the price of admission. Glamping, with all its contradictions, remains one of the most interesting ways to get closer to nature without having to turn into Bear Grylls.
The Democratization of Wilderness (With Some Comfort)
Let's be clear: not everyone is born to be an explorer. There are those who can't sleep without a hot shower first, those who suffer from back pain at the mere thought of an inflatable mattress, those who simply don't want to give up the pleasure of a good coffee upon waking up. And who said they were wrong? Everyone has their own needs.
Ultimately, glamping has made the outdoor experience accessible to a segment of the population that would otherwise never have set foot in a forest after dark.
Families with young children, the elderly, those with physical limitations; and even, let's face it, those who simply don't want to sacrifice comfort on the altar of authenticity. Is that really a bad thing? I don't think so. If the result is that more people discover the beauty of a starry sky unfiltered by the light pollution of cities, or the absolute silence of a forest at dawn, then a whirlpool bath hidden among the trees is also very welcome.
The real challenge of glamping in the coming years?
Finding a balance between affordability and environmental sustainability. As mentioned, intermediate solutions will flourish, “entry level” glamping that maintain the dignity of the experience at a good price.
Il glamping the best is the one that finds a balance, that offers comfort without completely erasing the adventurous and surprising dimension of nature. Of course, you also need to know how to look for the right place (if you want a hand there are very good “glamping search” sites, like pincamp.it), but it's worth it. Perhaps the solution lies in the personalization of the experience: structures that allow you to choose your own level of "wilderness", from quasi-camping with a few more comforts to exclusive and total enjoyment. Because, after all, authenticity does not lie in the objects or services, but in the quality of the experience we live.
And if that experience includes waking up at dawn to watch the sun rise behind the mountains, it doesn't matter if we then return to a tent with heated floors or a damp sleeping bag. The important thing is that that moment really touched us. Even if it meant paying a little more.
