Back on the beach

Why is it some people are so organised with equipment when they go to the beach? I was born into a family where we simply turned up with a swimming costume and maybe a towel (which you had to dry yourself with after covering it in sand lying on the beach). And I used to wonder why I wasn't in a family with windbreaks, parasols, chairs, inflatables and goodness knows what else. Now I’m married to one of those people who has a piece of equipment for every eventuality, but as we lug it all down to the beach I’m not so sure that having all this stuff is preferable.