GLAMPING....

We sat on the tarmac last week in Phoenix for almost two hours while Denver International Airport was on an official ground stop because of lightning storms in the area.

After we got the news that it was going to be a lengthy delay, the other flight attendants and I went through the cabin with water for anyone who wanted a drink.  Of course, there was the inevitable passenger that pitched a fit because we didn't give her the alcohol she wanted.  Sorry, United doesn't have a liquor license to sell alcohol on the ground to our Economy passengers.  And in First Class it is complimentary, so no liquor license needed there.

Water:  take it or leave it!

Anyway, after we did that and I went through the cabin to pick up the empty cups, someone handed me a stack of newspapers.  No USA Today, so I opened up the New York Times to peruse back in the galley while we were waiting.  When I got to the sections most newspapers title the Home or Living section, my eye caught an article in the "Mansions" section about GLAMPING.  I hadn't even heard of it.  But it's apparently been around for a while with websites and products to sell for the people who have everything.

Obviously, this is a fusion of the words "glamorous" and "camping".  The term implies a concept, not just a few steps up from how the majority of Americans camp out but, a whole story or more above and beyond the imagination into luxury digs for camping out --in your own back yard!

The two guys who were interviewed had a set-up not unlike how I suspect rich Arabs who lived in the desert established housekeeping as they lived their nomadic lives.

I mean this was really something!  The tents they showed cost upwards of $37,000.  Bedroom furniture and bedding was also astronomically priced.  And everything looked sumptuous--and pretty inviting.  Straight out of House Beautiful!

I've always said my ideal campsite was a hotel that "locked and flushed".  But I think I might be able to spend a night or two in my own back yard in an outfit like that.  Too bad we aren't living in the Secrest Court house.  There would at least be some space around us.  The guys in the pictured article had their campsite somewhere on their huge Texas ranch.

Check it out....glamping may just be the next thing you want to put on your bucket list!