My favorite times camping was doing it primitive style. When the kids were young we took them to Colorado and camped from 8,000ft to over 12,000ft living off the land for some of our meals. We ate a lot of fish and got water from solar blankets covering holes dug in the ground with green leafy material in the hole to evaporate and gather water in the center. The kids hated it, but in their 40's now, they still remember.
Thats was the extreme vacation. The rest of the time it was much more civilized, but always in a tent. When the kids moved out, wife said the tent was gone, never again.