I've never been a huge fan of camping -- what's fun about sleeping on a hard and lumpy surface, rain drumming on canvas all night long (which always seemed to happen when I hit the woods) and not being able to shower? But the thought of pitching a permanent tent in my own backyard or even my bedroom carries an appeal that goes back to the days of building forts out of stacked furniture, open drawers and draped sheets. As much as I loved the houses that were at the center of a house swap in the movie "The Holiday," it was the tent that Jude Law's character created for his daughters that really made me swoon (below). Keeping a tent in permanent residence also seems like a good way to get out-of-town friends to visit more often.
