Michael and I went camping at Lake Cowichan last weekend. It was a short trip, but it was our most successful yet. Read: we didn't freeze during the night and we actually slept in. While we were smoking up our clothes by the fire, we mused about why people like camping at all. I guess it comes down to appreciating nature, fending for oneself and getting away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life, but you have to admit that it's sort of strange to put so much effort into a certain amount of discomfort. Am I right?
Fending for oneself (by sharpening a roasting stick):
Getting away from the hustle and bustle (with a fancy rental car):
Appreciating nature (with a worn but irresistable vantage point):
5 comments:
I LOVE camping. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to do any this year. I'm quite disappointed!
You're right, Erin, it is a lot of work for very little comfort. However, there is something about sleeping outside, eating outside and playing Yahtzee outside that keeps me coming back for more and more.
(Sean doesn't camp...at all.)
remember tofino? when we slept in the car as it was so cold and in the morning our hummus breath was covering the windows?
good times!
I like camping too, but I rarely get it together these days.
I always figured on similar motivations as you list, but I recently read a convincing suggestion that camping is a way to perpetuate colonial fantasies of finding "new" turf and exploring the entire earth. It was kind of a bummer.
I do think there is a lot of value in experiencing nature though, so maybe from now on my camping projects will just have to involve lengthy acknowledgments and disclaimers. (Sounds *just* like camping, right?)
1. I wish we remembered to bring games with us.
2. It doesn't seem like sleeping in a car should be cold. It is.
3. Are colonial fantasies and exploration fantasies the same thing? I have to admit that I was excited to explore a part of the island that I've never been to before, but at no time did I have a desire to colonize the people of the Cowichan Valley.
I was just thinking about the whole camping question. We definitely didn't get enough camping this summer, that I know. I think that with camping there is more together time. You share in the experience of getting to wherever, setting up, preparing the meal, etc. You can't just go to the fridge or turn on the TV for entertainment. There has to be some other effort put into it. There is also the fun of the unexpected, whether it be the weather, meeting new people, exploring new places... I'm talking myself into it - hopefully in September if the weather warms up.
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