New Experience: "Glamping"
My recent trip to Utah was really cool because I could experience a number of new things. One such thing, that I had heard a lot but had never tried, was "glamping" (or "glamour camping", I guess?). Of course, I have done camping a number of times before, in many different forms: in groups, with family, individually, in a van... However, "glamping" was something I hadn't tried. As far as I understand, glamping consists on "camping without most of the inconveniences of camping, but still kinda camping".
That certainly seems to be the case of the ULUM Moab, the glamping site that Jenn and I went. It is located close to the town of Moab in southern Utah, which is famous for adventure tourism and its beautiful rock formations in the desert. You have to drive away from the city through a dirt road in the middle of the desert until out of nowhere you see the place. There is a reception with a fancy restaurant and three small pools (they are really great for the heat of the desert...) and from there you can go to your "glampsite". One cool thing is that cars have to be parked by the reception: differently than the campsites in National Parks you can't drive all the way to your campsite.
In your campsite you will find your permanent tent. It's a somewhat big wooden structure covered in canvas with a king size bed and other conveniences, such as power outlets, an air cooler (not an air conditioning unit, but it does a great job of keeping inside cool), a wood stove for heat and even its own bathroom with shower. All you have to do is bring your bags inside and you're good to go. The sites are pretty spaced out and the views are breathtaking, especially at sunset.
You have your meals at the restaurant in the reception, but you can't bring food into your tent: despite the thick canvas, the kangaroo mice that live in that region will notice any food in your tent and make a hole in it. Talking about wildlife, there are hares, the previously mentioned kangaroo mice and many birds and lizards. Also, close to the site there is the "looking glass rock", basically a really big rock with a large hole in it.
I like camping, and I will confess that camping without any effort felt quite nice. However, I would warn people that, if you don't like camping, glamping will probably not work for you either: after all, you're still in the middle of nature. However, if you can see yourself camping, but would like something a little lazier, this may be exactly for you.