For years, I mainly camped while hiking. Comfort is hard to come by when you live out of a backpack and sleep somewhere on a mountain in a tiny tent. The feeling of freedom, however, is unparalleled.

On family campsites during summer vacation, the balance seems to have tipped the other way. We stayed at some lovely campsites in France, to be sure. But every now and then, I nearly fell out of my folding chair when I saw everything people brought along for their annual weeks of relaxation.

Folding clotheslines (secured with tent pegs). Air conditioners that you hang on the outside of your caravan. Huge televisions, coffee makers, a collapsible badminton net, a 12-volt hair dryer. A bike trailer for the dog.

Every morning, a man would walk by carrying his camper's septic tank. A wheeled one, with one of those extendable handles, as if it were a suitcase. Innovation is everywhere, also at the campsite.

For that one vacation of the year, cars also seem to have to get bigger and bigger. Over time, stuff won’t fit anymore, and many people bring a roof box or a hitch-mounted cargo box as well. The latest innovation: to save space inside the car, people sleep in a tent on top of the car. As if they were on safari—and we were the wild animals.

But freedom? Packing for a family vacation is hell, with stress increasing in proportion to the time spent packing and the amount of stuff you bring along. The more you bring, the greater the chance that you will forget something. That, for the sake of a little comfort—that milk frother—you will have to turn around again after driving for twenty minutes.

That's what I was thinking about at the campsite: comfort and freedom are irreconcilable. Even at the campsite, despite all the innovation.

Until it turned out that, at the next campsite, we had accidentally booked a spot without electricity. We don't cook on gas canisters because we want to reduce waste and greenhouse gas emissions, so that's a problem. Fortunately, we could fall back on the power outlet in our electric car—but my theory could go straight in the trash.

Pieter Pauw researches climate policy and is an assistant professor in the Technology, Innovation and Society group (IE&IS). The views expressed in this column are his own. 

This column was translated using AI-assisted tools and reviewed by the author and an editor.