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So this year Napa Valley is off the list. Not to mention the villa in Tuscany.

With the economy prompting most vacationing Canadians to stick close to home – 61 per cent, according to a Canadian Press Harris-Decima survey – the staycation is a hot trend this season.

Now, there's also the “campcation,” where pitching a tent is a way to stay on budget and get back to basics at the same time.

According to a survey by Angus Reid commissioned by Canadian Tire and Coleman Canada, 46 per cent of Canadians are considering camping and day trips this summer to save money. (Figures for previous years are not available.) And a U.S. survey by the website TripAdvisor suggests that people planning to camp are up 13 per cent over last year.

But it isn't just about money. Eco-concerns are prompting some travellers to forgo the long-haul flight, while a desire to get back to basics is motivating families to scale back.

Add to that the newly stylish status of the great outdoors – “camp chic” is a trend in both fashion and design, as is luxury camping (a.k.a. “glamping”) – and it's no surprise that both Canadian and U.S. outfitters are reporting brisk sales.

Kris MacLellan of Mountain Equipment Co-Op in Halifax says sales are “definitely way up this season.”

And it's not just for budgetary reasons. “What we're hearing at store level is that people are wanting to enjoy the natural environment around them instead of jetting off to the Caribbean or going to some fancy resort.”

Ujwal Arkalgud, a 25-year-old MBA student in Toronto who had been planning a trip to Europe, is a recent convert.

“I'm out of a job right now because of the economy and so have decided to go camping for the first time in my life,” says Arkalgud, a native of India who plans to head to Bon Echo Provincial Park.

“Camping is something I can do without having to worry about my financial situation. It's something I can just drive to and do on short notice, while hanging out with my new Canadian friends and having fun.”

He might be wise to book ahead. Campsite reservations are reportedly up both in Canada and south of the border.

The U.S.-based National Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds reported a rise of 22 per cent over last year at some parks.

And while RV rentals are also up 31 per cent, tenting sites are also being booked, company president Linda Profaizer told The Denver Post. “There are way more tenters this year, which indicates a new market; people are giving it a try.”

At the Wildwood Conservation Area in St. Marys, Ont., superintendent Craig Machan says: “We're already full. All our hydro sites are gone. But more surprising is that this year all our seasonal spots are gone as well, taken by people who pull in a trailer and stay six months. We've been getting on average 10 to 20 calls a week for seasonal, compared to five a week last year, which is unfortunate, because we have none left.”

For veteran camper Kelly Drennan, a busy Toronto publicist with two small children, camping represents a return to a simpler way of being.

“What I love the most about camping is that it's my escape from the city. And I'm not just talking physically. I mean escaping from the media, TVs, cellphones, PDAs, dishwashers and all electricity in general,” she says.

“I feel a need to get back to the basics and live off the earth as best I can because it recharges me and then I'm ready to come back to the crazy urban life I live. Cottages are great escapes from smog and noise, but you still have luxuries like a cozy bed, oven and DVD player. Camping reminds me of how people used to live before we got consumed by consuming.”

But not all camping is, by definition, roughing it.

Glamping, a neologism coined from “glam” and “camping,” is on the rise in Britain and North America. Camping resorts offer accommodation “at the crossroads of incomparable luxury and unspoiled wilderness,” reports GlampingGirl.com, just one of several new websites devoted to the growing international trend of catered camping.

At the Rockwater Secret Cove Resort on British Columbia's Sunshine Coast, there are “tenthouse suites” with heated slate floors, fireplaces, hydrotherapy tubs, pillow-top king-sized beds and “endless” views of the Pacific. The price: $400-plus a night, compared to about $30 a night at a campsite.

To Arkalgud, though, staying in an expensive resort obscures the main reason why camping has pitched its stake in the zeitgeist.

“I feel like there's this whole cultural shift happening right now and people don't want to be extravagant any more. They want a simpler life, free of luxuries and the expense that comes with them,” says Arkalgud, who is heading off to buy his first tent.

“To me, camping isn't just a cheap vacation; it's about experiencing the wilderness and being out there connecting with nature – catching the fish and then cooking it on one of those portable stoves. Boutique hotels are environments we've all grown used to, travelling to them for work. But getting up close and personal with the great outdoors? Now that's different.”