Horrible Camping Trip: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

{{quote|''"Calvin, tell your dad that any judge would take this trip as grounds for divorce."''|'''Mom''', ''[[Calvin and Hobbes]]''}}

 

See also [[Macho Disaster Expedition]] and [[Summer Campy]]. [[Don't Go in The Woods]] is the darker and deadlier [[Horror]] equivalent of this.

 

* Episode 8 of ''[[Persona 4: The Animation|Persona 4]]'' takes the game's school camping trip and turns it into this. [[Up to Eleven]]. [[Broken Base|And it breaks the fanbase over whether]] [[Crosses the Line Twice|it's funny]] [[Dude, Not Funny|or not.]] (Though there's no doubt about how much [[Butt Monkey|it sucks to be Kanji]].)

 

* ''[[Deliverance]]'', like the James Dickey novel on which it's based, plays this trope completely straight and to its logical, tragic extreme.

* The premise of ''[[Cheaper By the Dozen]] 2'' has the Patriach of the Baker family taking his family to a camping lodge. Of course, things do go awry but what really dampens the trip is the father competing with his arch-rival and his family.

* [[Cannibal Holocaust]] portrays this in the most scary, bloody, gory and violent way imaginable.

 

* In one of the [[Bruno and Boots]] books, the students go on the annual "wilderness survival" camping trip, which is nicknamed "Die in the Woods". (The canoe they bring along is christened the SS Drown In The Woods.) {{spoiler|It really does become a matter of wilderness survival when all their supplies end up in the lake.}}

* Outdoor humorist [[Patrick McManus]], who has written for such magazines as ''Field & Stream'' and ''Outdoor Life'' and whose pieces have appeared in numerous books, more or less specializes in chronicling bad camping/fishing/hunting trips.

* [[Three Men in a Boat]] has elements of this.

* Charlie goes on one with his dad and friends in [[Stephen King]]'s (writing as Richard Bachman) ''[[Rage (novel)|Rage]]''. He overhears his father discussing the Cherokee Nose Job with his friends (slitting the nose of an adulterous wife) and how he would do it to his own wife if she cheated on him.

 

* ''[[Star Trek: Enterprise]]'', "Strange New World"

* ''[[Happy Days]]'', "Ugh, Wilderness"

* In one episode of ''[[Monk]]'', Randy Disher and Adrian Monk go camping with a group of kids. They have to deal with a bear and two criminals.

* ''[[Eureka]]'' has this trope n spades, starting with the tent acting up, and ending with an angry TINY trying to attack them all.

* [[The Inbetweeners]] did this for their Season 3 finale. It involved sinking a car in a lake, eating raw sausages and then throwing them back up in the tent.

* ''[[Father Ted]]'' episode "Hell"

** Bud rents Al to some neighborhood kids for an overnight campout. No food, can't build a real fire, and Steve gets massive poison ivy.

* In one episode of [[Two and A Half Men]], Alan feels bad about not doing enough father-son activities with his son Jake, so he drags him out into the middle of the woods for a camping trip. Cue Alan desperately trying to entertain the bored Jake in a tiny tent, including making an attempt at a truly horrible [[Ghost Story]] and getting him to sing songs.

 

* The [[Yes]] song "South Side of the Sky" sounds like it's obliquely describing something like this.

 

* Comics example: Bill Watterson did this a few times in ''[[Calvin and Hobbes]]'', when Calvin's dad drags the family along on a camping trip. One time, Calvin dropped a bag of supplies in the lake and accidentally broke his dad's glasses; another time, it rained the whole trip and didn't stop until Dad, having decided to pack it in and go home, had finished loading the car. Cue [[Face Palm]] (and then [[Narrative Profanity Filter|shouting words that Calvin didn't understand]]).

** It's mentioned Dad takes them on these trips every summer, in spite of Mom and Calvin openly hating them. Dad on the other hand, seems to enjoy the great outdoors no matter how many bad things happen on every trip. One comic however had him explain he takes them on those trips every summer instead of a cruise or more enjoyable vacation so the rest of their year will feel better by comparsion, but given his habit of sarcasm it's hard to say if he's being serious about that.

** Just to give you an idea about how bad they usually are, one in particular, Skeeter Falls, had them going to a camping waterfall which, as the name implied, was a breeding ground for Mosquitos, and Roger picked the absolute wrong time to go camping there, as it turned out that they picked it at a time where mosquitos breeding was at its peak. They had their own personal ranger only because they were the only campers there. As a result, they had to contend to swatting mosquitoes while swimming, fishing, and other times. They also would have to wake up around 1:38 AM to take a two hour hike to witness a geyser erupting. Just when things couldn't possibly get worse, it did: A Bear managed to sneak into the camp site while they were swimming, and thanks to Roger's insistance that they simply observe the bear, the bear managed to completely wreck the family's food cooler and presumably eat all of the food except for half a bag of gummi-worms and three mini pretzels, to which Jason, a natural computer game fanatic, even began to miss his computer games specifically because "doom" keeps flashing in his mind. Roger, instead of taking the logical choice of leaving camp early, decided they'd fish with a passion, to which the family members managed to get their hooks and lines tangled up, and having to eat fish essentially 24/7. After the camping trip and while preparing to leave, Andy sorely hints that she plans on leaving Roger at Sketter Falls after he showed her a bumper sticker that said "I left my [blood] at Skeeter Falls."

*** Even worse, it's implied that the Foxes didn't pack any insect repellent.

* ''[[The Family Circus]]'' did this ''twice'' - once in the 70s, and modified and rerun again in 2009.

* [[Garfield]] has been forced to go an a few of these.

* [[Dilbert]] has also gone on one - to Clyde Canyon, which turned out to be a three foot hole in the ground. After spending the weekend sitting in the hole, Dilbert and Dogbert learn that the ''real'' Clyde Canyon was just over the next ridge.

 

* One episode of ''[[King Street Junior]]'' involved a school camping trip. By the end of it, each of the four teachers present had suffered an accident.

 

* [[Jim Gaffigan]]: You ever notice that whenever someone uses the phrase "happy camper" they're being sarcastic? [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qle-vjHoQa4 That's because they only happy camper is the guy who's leaving the campground!]

 

* In ''[[Mega Man Battle Network]] 2'', Lan decides to go on a camping trip with his friends out of boredom. First, they run into a swarm of bees. After dealing with that, they soon run into a [[Everything Is Online|malfunctioning electronic bear]] in which Lan sends Megaman.EXE to go delete the virus that is causing it to malfunction. Finally, they find themselves in the middle of an internet terrorist plot to blow up the nearby Okuden dam.

** Rehashed in Magnetman/Knightman's chapter in ''Battle Network 5'', with a fishing trip, a cave, and a ''giant'' [[This Is a Drill|mining drill]].

 

* One is ''planned'' in ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court]]'', when the teachers take the students out into the woods in the rain. Then [[Training Accident|pretend there's an emergency]] and retreat to their luxurious home while something lurks in the woods. The kids quickly figured out it's "the kind of thing adults would do to make a trip more interesting" and devised a counter plan... Among them were at least two fledgling [[Mad Scientist|mad scientists]] and three magic users ''known'' to us. [[Hilarity Ensues]].

* Ben and his family from ''[[Loserz]]'' once go on such a trip. Maybe not as bad as other examples on this page, although [[Everything's Worse with Bees|bees]] are still involved.

* Lampshaded in [http://www.applegeeks.com/lite/index.php?aglitecomic=2010-03-29 this] ''[[Apple Geeks]]-Lite'' strip.

 

* ''[[Rocko's Modern Life]]'', "Hut Sut Raw"

* ''[[Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends]]'', "Camp Keep a Good Mac Down", where in the time it takes to walk from the camp to the campsite, Bloo eats all of the food, then finds blueberries. On the way back to the campsite he eats them all to test that they're safe, then drinks all of their water trying to wash the taste out. Herriman's no help either, keeping the others from putting up a tent by repeatedly criticizing every inconsequential detail and then having them tear it down.

** In ''The Camping Episode'', where Squidward is continually attacked by a sea bear.

** In the survival episode where Spongebob and Patrick fall out of the back of Sandy's truck and must fend for themselves.

** In "Roughin' It," Arnold and Gerald are taught by Grandpa Phil camping the old-fashioned way, much to their chagrin. Meanwhile at a adjacent camping spot, Helga and Phoebe live high on the hog as Big Bob Pataki tests out the high-tech (but cheap) camping gear that he plans to sell. When the gear fails the kids and Big Bob during a hike in the woods, Arnold saves the day by applying the survival skills Phil taught him earlier to get back to camp.

** In "Fishing Trip," Gerald, Sid, Harold, and Eugene (and their dads), Arnold and Grandpa Phil head to the woods for a fishing trip. After failing to catch any fish and losing their provisions to a bear (except for [[Fartillery|cans of beans]]), the boys (and their fathers/grandfather) are all miserable, but refuse to tell the others for fear of disappointing them. After much suffering, they finally admit this to each other and decide to to to the nearby resort for a not-so-back-to-nature trip. (Oh, and [[Cameo|Davy Jones has a cameo at the end of the episode]].)

** Let's put it like this: {{spoiler|The culminating moment was when his father, in a drunken rage, ''shot Orel in the leg''. Then drank the rubbing alcohol that could have kept Orel's leg from getting worse. Then passed out for two days while Orel suffered. Then denied shooting Orel, saying that since he didn't remember it, it wasn't his fault. And was only concerned that Orel killed a bear rather than his son's well-being. And, months later, admitting (in front of the town no less) that he was ''glad'' he shot Orel.}} Yeah, it's that kind of show.

* The [[Barney Bear]] short "Bah, Wilderness" had Barney suffering such indignities as a malfunctioning phonograph, noisy nighttime animals, and ''a flash flood'' while trying to sleep during a camping trip.

* ''[[Kick Buttowski]]'' gets "Those Who Camp, Do" in which Kick, currently obsessed with a Survival-style tv-show, decides to camp on his own out in the forest rather than the family's camping site. Kick, being who he is, takes on every challenge the wilderness has to offer him like a boss... however, his older brother Brad goes through his worst nightmare while tagging along.

* ''[[Regular Show]]:'' "Camping Can Be Cool". Nobody thought to bring matches, Rigby intentionally forgot the tent and accidentally forgot the tarps, Mordecai locked the keys in the car and the park rangers showed up to yell at them for camping in a restricted area. Then it started to rain. And then Freddy Kreuger showed up...

* Spoofed on the ''[[South Park]]'' episode "I Should Not Have Gone Ziplining", which is presented as a ''I Shouldn't Be Alive''-type show with shots of the boys screaming in horror. The horrible part of the trip, however, [[Faux Horrific|is how horribly ''boring'' the boys found it.]] {{spoiler|So much that Kenny dies of boredom.}}

 

 

* ''[[Frasier]]''

* ''[[Family Matters]]''

* ''[[Malcolm in the Middle]]'' has an example where they're trapped in the shed by a bear.

* ''[[Good Luck Charlie]]'' features the fishing pole being dropped in the water. They get it back when Teddy falls in the hole.

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Plots]]

[[Category:Tropes of Nature]]