READER STORY

Is our love of camping genetic? Or is it something that’s taught by one generation to the next? Leon Dillman from Pretoria looked through his family photo album to see who was bitten by the camping bug first.

He was sitting looking at his Sprite Swift the other day and started wondering why he loved camping so much. “We go camping at least five times a year when the opportunity arrises,” says Leon Dillman about his family holidays with his wife, Elmi, and their children, Ruben (12) and Cara-Lee (10). “It feels like an inherent trait, and I can see it in my kids too. It’s like they know the only real holiday is one involving a tent or a caravan. There’s no denying it: there’s a palpable difference between a camping holiday and one where you stay in a chalet, especially if you’re travelling with children. With camping there’s just so much for them to do – you almost never see them. But when you’re in a chalet, it’s up to you to entertain them. “I believe the children of anyone who as a child experienced the joys of camping will always want to camp. Maybe it’s genetic, or maybe it’s something you teach to your descendants. “With this in mind, I starting going through our family photos to try and find out when exactly the Dillmans started camping.”