原文
Economy is one powerful motive for camping, since after the initial outlay upon equipment, or through hiring it, the total expense can be far less than the cost of hotels. But, contrary to a popular assumption, it is far from being the only one, or even the greatest. The man who manoeuvres carelessly into his twenty pounds' worth of space at one of Europe's myriad permanent sites may find himself bumping a Bentley. More likely, Ford Escort will be hub to hub with Renault or Mercedes, but rarely with bicycles made for two.
That the equipment of modern camping becomes yearly more sophisticated is an entertaining paradox for the cynic, a brighter promise for the hopeful traveler who has sworn to get away from it all. It also provides-and some student sociologist might care to base his thesis upon the phenomenon -- an escape of another kind. The modern traveller is often a man who dislikes the Splendide and the Bellavista, not because he cannot afford, or shuns their material comforts. but because he is afford of them. Affluent he may be, but he is by no means sure what to tip the doorman or the chambermaid. Master in his own house, he has little idea of when to say boo to a maitre d'hotel.
From all such fears camping releases him. Granted, a snobbery of camping itself, based upon equipment and techniques, already exists; but it is of a kind that, if he meets it, he can readily understand and deal with. There is no superior 'they' in the shape of managements and hotel hierarchies to darken his holiday days.
To such motives, yet another must be added. The contemporary phenomenon of car worship is to be explained not least by the sense of independence and freedom that ownership entails. To this pleasure camping gives an exquisite refinement. From one's own front door to home or foreign hills or sands and back again, everything is to hand. Not only are the means of arriving at the holiday paradise entirely within one's own command and keeping, but the means of escape from holiday hel (if the beach proves too crowded, the local weather too inclement) are there, outside -- or, as likely, part of -- the tent.
Idealists have objected to the package tour, that the traveller abroad thereby denies himself the opportunity of getting to know the people of the country visited. Insularity and self-containment, it is argued, go hand in hand. The opinion does not survive experience of a popular Continental camping place. Holiday hotels tend to cater for one nationality of visitors especially, sometimes exclusively. Camping sites, by contrast, are highly cosmopolitan. Granted, a preponderance of Germans is a characteristic that seems common to most Mediterranean sites; but as yet there is no overwhelmingly specialized patronage. Notices forbidding the open-air drying of clothes, or the use of water points for car washing, or those inviting 'our camping friends' to a dance or a boat trip are printed not only in French or Italian or Spanish, but also in English, German and Dutch. At meal times the odour of sauerkraut vies with that of garlic. The Frenchman's breakfast coffee competes with the Englishman's bacon and eggs.
Whether the remarkable growth of organized camping means the eventual death of the more independent kind is hard to say. Municipalities naturally want to secure the campers' site fees and other custom. Police are wary of itinerants who cannot be traced to a recognized camp boundary or to four walls. But most probably it will all depend upon campers themselves: how many heath fires they cause; how much litter they leave; in short, whether or not they wholly alienate landowners and those who live in the countryside. Only good scouting is likely to preserve the freedoms so dear to the heart of the eternal Boy Scout.
--NIGEL BUXTON The Great Escape from The Weekend Telegraph--
译文
经济是一种强有力的露营动机，因为在最初购置设备或租用之后，总支出远低于旅馆费用。然而，普遍的假设却是错误的，它远非唯一的原因，甚至不是最主要的原因。在欧洲众多永久露营地中，那位漫不经心地驶入他那值二十英镑的空间的人，可能发现自己撞上了宾利车。更有可能的是，福特埃斯科特会与雷诺或梅赛德斯车轮相碰，却很少与双人自行车并排。
现代露营设备的日益复杂化，对玩世不恭者来说是个有趣的悖论，对那些发誓要逃离一切的乐观旅行者而言，则是更光明的希望。它还提供了一种别样的逃避——或许有些社会学学生会以此现象为基础写论文。现代旅行者往往不喜欢“Splendide”和“Bellavista”，不是因为他负担不起或刻意避开它们的物质舒适，而是因为他害怕它们。他或许很富有，却完全不知该给门房或女服务员多少小费。在自家屋檐下，他是主宰一切的主人，却不知何时该对餐厅领班说“不”。
露营让他从所有这些恐惧中解脱出来。当然，露营本身也存在某种基于设备和技巧的势利眼；但这种势利，一旦遇到，他很容易理解并应对。没有那种高高在上的“他们”——形同管理层和旅馆层级——来蒙上他假期的一丝阴影。
除了这些动机，还必须再加上一条。当代汽车崇拜现象，至少部分可以从拥有带来的独立感和自由感来解释。露营则为这种乐趣增添了精致的层面。从自家门口，直达国内或异国他乡的山丘、海滩，再返回，一切尽在掌握之中。不仅到达度假天堂的手段完全由自己掌控和保管，就连从度假地狱中逃离的手段（假如海滩过于拥挤，当地天气不佳）也就在外头——或者很可能就是帐篷的一部分。
理想主义者曾批评包价旅游，认为出国旅行者从而失去了了解所访国家人民的机会。他们认为，孤立与自我封闭是相辅相成的。这种观点在亲身经历一个受欢迎的欧洲大陆露营地后，便不攻自破。度假旅馆往往专门 catering 某一国游客，有时甚至独占。相比之下，露营地却是高度国际化的。当然，德国人占多数是大多数地中海露营地的共同特征；但目前还没有压倒性的专门化偏好。那些禁止在户外晾衣、或使用水源冲洗汽车的告示，以及邀请“我们的露营朋友”参加舞会或船游的布告，不仅用法语、意大利语或西班牙语印发，还用英语、德语和荷兰语。进餐时，酸菜的香气与大蒜味争奇斗艳；法国人的早餐咖啡与英国人的培根和鸡蛋展开竞争。
有组织的露营惊人的增长是否意味着更独立的露营方式最终消亡，很难说。市政当局自然希望收取露营地的费用和其他收益。警方对那些无法追踪到公认营地边界或四面墙内的流浪者持警惕态度。但最可能的是，一切取决于露营者自己：他们会引起多少野外火灾、留下多少垃圾；简言之，他们是否会彻底疏远土地所有者和乡村居民。只有良好的侦察（scouting）才能保全那永不衰退的童子军挚爱的自由。
--NIGEL BUXTON The Great Escape from The Weekend Telegraph--