In highschool I lived in a small town in Northern Ontario. I used to put my gun in its case, walk out the door of our apartment and keep walking for about 25 minutes after which I would be in crown land. I would then start hunting grouse. There was a lake about 2 1/2 hours walk away that my buddies and I would often walk to and camp at for either fishing or hunting. The hunting was alway grouse or rabbit and the lake only had pike in it. I look at that time and think about the freedom I had that just isn't easy to come buy today. Walk and camp where you want, hunt and fish, without excessively bumping into people, not having to pay camping fees or park entry fees, not having some birder give you hell about your gun or a park staff tell you to not walk off the board walk.....We also had a couple canoes - the thing I purchased after my first summer job, and did canoe camping as well.
When I went off to university, I really got into backpacking and took to travelling to parks throughout Canada. I used to pick parks with 2d and 4 d wilderness trails and attack them. Surprisingly, the wilderness trails weren't all that busy. During these times I would usually go for distance, and got into the thump thump rhythm of walking in a pack. Even relished the exhaustion sometimes. This was a primary stress relieve from all the burdens of school. Sometimes I'd bring a pocket rod for fishing on water when I came buy a lake or something. I really cherished the alone time on these hikes and loved sitting by the camp listening to the wildlife. I also got into photography at this time and it paired well with a lot of the hiking.
When I got married, complete with insta-kids, my camping switched to car camping. Can't say I really like car camping. The park entry/tenting fees are high and you always have neighbors that seem to be situated a lot closer then the neighbors at my home. We usually bring our bikes or rent a small boat or canoe for fishing and site seeing and drive around to the day hike trails at whatever park we are at. My kids appreciate day hikes but they don't really like wilderness camping and my wife isn't keen on backpacking. Now they are in high school and university and have their own social lives and it is tough to get them to come along. They do a little camping on their own but sadly tend to stick to the car camping scenarios.
In the last couple of years my wife and I have rented outpost cabins at fly-in fishing lodges for between 4 and 5 days. This is good compromise between the two of us. We have the cabin, albeit without power, which fits in her comfort zone and I have privacy. We do a lot of fishing and hiking. Last year, the lake we were on was so hot for the fishing it just blew me away. I'm hoping to continue this tradition for the next while. Unfortunately, these days a camping trip is once a year unless I include field work for my work - but that is something different.
I agree fully with TDahlgren - I don't get the full wilderness feeling unless I'm camping out in the woods. Day hikes are great for scenery but don't fully destress me as an overnighter would.
