Find Your Adventure: Discover the Joys of Camping
Why have you never been camping!? I put a post on social media and was surprised by the number of people who have never been camping. Surprised but not surprised.
Camping can be defined in various ways, and there are several factors to consider when determining the percentage of Americans who have gone camping. A 2019 report by the Outdoor Foundation determined nearly half of Americans did not participate in any outdoor recreation activities, including camping, in the previous year.
Truth be told, many of my family and friends have never been camping and it’s a shame because camping is something everyone should experience often.
My camping experience started with my grandparents who raised me. My grandmother was a deeply religious Seventh-Day Adventist and every year into my teens we went to an outdoor religious event called Camp meeting.
It was held on the dormitory of a Christian college. We slept in tents that had floors and cot-type beds. It was different but the same as camping in a tent on the ground.
If we could afford it my grandparents might occasionally rent out one of the dorm rooms, another option for those who didn’t want to camp in the tents with wooden floors.
Later my grandparents purchased a pull camper and that’s where they slept.
WHAT WE DID
In between religious activities, we would draw on the concrete with chalk and play games that had rules that were made up. We jumped French and Double Dutch rope.
There were plenty of outdoor activities and fellowship.
Becoming an adult I moved away from religion but gained a deep spirituality and became an enerologist — one who studies energy. These things continue to foster my love of camping and being outdoors.
I love camping and also living on wheels (See it HERE). Camping on a beautiful day makes all my concerns drift down a river stream, they don’t go away but they seem manageable, doable like I can work through it.
Camping fosters my imagination. It’s something about a cobalt blue sky and green scenery everywhere with bodies of water that tickles your imagination.
When I’m in nature walking — I dream big and I see the possibilities. I don’t feel limited and hopeless like I do sometimes when I’m closed in a house and in bad weather.
When I’m camping with friends I feel in control and like I have chosen my neighbors which is the essence of a FREEDOM LIFESTYLE.
We all do our own thing for most of the day and at night we come together for a campfire, food, and conversation.
Camping is amazing because you can:
1/ Get back to nature: Camping allows you to disconnect from the daily grind and enjoy the peace and quiet of the great outdoors. I love waking up to birds chirping and trees whistling as opposed to traffic and alarm clocks.
2/ Recharge and relax: The fresh air, beautiful scenery, and slower pace of life that camping offers can help you refuel. I love “R” words.
3/ Unplug from technology: Camping is a great way to take a break from your phone, laptop, and other technology. Instead, you can read (doesn’t that sound exciting?) or do something else you would never do as long as plugged in.
Side note: There is no need to completely unplug if you don’t want too.
4/ Try something new: Whether you’re a newbie or seasoned camper, camping offers plenty of opportunities to try new things. My friend recently shared that she rode a scooter bike. I have rented a paddle boat, hiked, watched others fish, and stargazed. Stars look different when you are outside in nature.
5/ Work on a Project: Camping is a great way to work on a project. One always claim they don’t have time. In nature, time feels limitless.
6/ Build resilience: Another “R” word. If you can camp, you can do anything.
7/ Get exercise: When you are in nature, you are moving, playing, and getting exercise without even realizing it.
8/ Enjoy delicious food: Cooking over an open fire or camping stove can make your food taste different, heartier, and more rewarding.
9/ Affordable: Camping is a budget-friendly vacation option, especially if you’re willing to camp in a van or RV.
10/ Get Creative: Camping fosters creativity.
EXCUSES…EXCUSES…EXCUSES
Some of the reasons I use to hear from my friends and family about being outdoors used to be the hair excuse when you have tightly coiled hair warmer temperatures can run havoc.
However, now that most everyone I know rocks protective hairstyles, short hairdos, or wraps the hair issue no longer seems to be the reason they don’t camp.
Hot sun. Black people don’t want to get browner. But as more of them appreciate the Blacker the Berry the sweeter the juice they are embracing their skin tones that others pay to have and soaking in all that good vitamin C & D something browner skin towns need.
I understand some people are truly annoyed with heat. I can take heat into the early 80 degrees but after that, I’m there with you.
Many people who have never been camping think that when you go camping you will encounter bugs and more bugs.
I have been at a few (very rare) campgrounds where if it’s not the flies it’s the muskeetas (mosquitoes) annoying. But it’s rare and when it happens I move to a new location or bring up the sprays.
I like to share with everyone I know that you do at camping what you would do at a backyard gathering. If you dance and listen to music, play cards, or grill…you do all of those things camping.
Of course, you share the space with others just like you live next door to someone at a house and so the same neighborly rules apply.
If you are saying to yourself well I can do the same thing at camping as at home, so I’ll stay home. The counter is that for one you get to escape your home.
No matter how comfortable your home is you need a break from the recycled air and scents that are stuck in your home. From the same ole’s same ole.
Camping is affordable escape. It’s affordable or free (if you go to the Bureau of Land Management BLM land). It allows you to escape from the every day and come back in a good place.
Refreshed, refueled. Relaxed. Love “R” words.
Have you ever been camping?
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