Just a basic question now that we have rolled into summer. Camping? Is it a stresser or stress reliever? Do you like to rough it wilderness style in a tent or do you prefer to avoid the primitive way altogether?

Deeper into the back-country with a tent is the route to go for me.

Stressing? Well it really has more to do with who I am camping with. My ex was a bit of a, um...er... loser when it came to camping. That's about the only way to describe it and I stressed out endlessly convinced he was going to chop off a toe, burn himself, or fall off a cliff. When it came to putting up the tent and setting up camp I would find some excuse to get him to disappear while I did it, "take the kids to the park" "walk the dogs" "find the water tap please". I suppose I can laugh now but I sure wasn't at the time.

[lizardlady]

I live on a farm. Can go for a walk in the woods whenever I want. Spend plenty of time cutting wood for the fireplace. When not at work I can spend all kinds of time outdoors. Camping never appealed to me. I get to do all the outdoorsy stuff staying home, plus can have a hot shower and sleep in a comfy bed.

That said, my time off this summer has been spent here at the farm doing the kinds of stuff you mentioned.

[Mike_J]

I agree with you JF306, it's all about who you go with.

[-jimi-]

For me it would be cool if I could go with someone. My best friend just gets stressed out by not doing things all the time. She is a pain bringing with me but she is the only one I know who is not terrified of the outdoors. I wanted to go alone but people tell me weird stories about how people get murdered and nag me until I don't go. I really love camping. I don't need much when I go, and I don't get bored.

[fishin fool]

I love the outdoors but at the end of the day I really want a shower and a bed.
If I have to camp I would rather camp on the beach than in the woods.

[OctobersBlackRose]

Stress reliever and stress maker, and stress maker in the sense of plans, getting everything set up and arguments between people.

Stress reliever because well it's the outdoors, nature. I haven't been in a couple of years, and I do miss it...

Originally Posted by OctobersBlackRose

Stress reliever and stress maker, and stress maker in the sense of plans, getting everything set up and arguments between people.

Stress reliever because well it's the outdoors, nature. I haven't been in a couple of years, and I do miss it...

You put it very well. I admit I'm a little stressed - no matter how well I plan things out. I was anxious to do a mock setup of my tent with my BF. It's always been a source of fighting in past relationships. But it went perfectly! whew!

I agree too. Once there I can sigh and enjoy myself.

[88Butterfly88]

Camping is stressful for me. For one I have OCD and don't like dirt, though I'm getting a little better with that. Also, I went on this school camping trip once and it was a disaster. I'd rather not get into the details but my principal and teacher were so mean to me and on top of that I was sick during the trip. I think that turned me off to camping forever. As a kid I once camped in the backyard with my dad. That was okay. Also went camping with girl scouts, I did have a bit of fun that time, but I don't think I'd ever want to go camping again.

certainly stress maker

1. agoraphobic- all that time outdoors i think would send me in to a prolonged pannic attack

2. phobia of insects- and alergic to being stung

3. no home comforts. i need my tv, i need my computer, i need my oven... all the basic stuff that people take for granted

nah.. certainly could never do this

[-jimi-]

I don't like preparing either but once I'm out there it's great. And I love nature up here in Scandinavia, to me at least it is very pretty. I love simplicity and I love camp fires!

[-jimi-]

The best camping I have done been beside a lake in the forest. Then you have the two good things! It really helps having water nearby. I've gone to places a little chillier or in beginning of fall so it's not like you want to go in. But you can wash and wash your hair, wash pots and plates with ease and also up here you can cook with that water no problem. It is mostly crystal clear and you could probably even drink it even if I use caution here and prefer to boil it and make tea.

I usually wash self with a total natural soap and hair too. For dishes I only use sand and water (it is abrasive so I don't bring my best china lol). I find it calming to walk around collecting firewood.

As we have freedom to roam here, you can camp on anyone's property. Well, lol, not near their home or in their fields but most land up here is just forest anyway, ha ha. You have the right to take firewood, make campfires (if you keep them absolutely safe) and you can pitch your tent. That means we have a lot of space where you can camp out where you will not meet a soul. Not like in American parks where you might meet other campers.

I remember one trip when we brought pancake mix and we picked bilberries that grew like crazy everywhere and made bilberry pancakes over the fireplace. Can you get much happier???

Oddly enough, as we had chosen a spot really out of everyone's way, deep down into the wilderness, while strolling I see some people. I'm like... what IS the social protocol for meeting people where it is very unlikely you meet someone? I just shouted HI and waved and went on my way. Wow did they stare... LOL

[Unrigged64072835]

Due to health reasons camping isn't as fun as it used to be. I still miss it though, even with all the planning and driving to get away.

[lizardlady]

This is slightly off topic, but Jimi's mention of bilberries reminded me. Years ago hubby an I stayed with friends in a room near ski slopes in the off season. We hiked the slopes during the day to see the sights. Found wild raspberries growing. I picked a bunch so we could have them for breakfast the next day. Hadn't had fresh wild berries since I was a kid.

[eskielover]

I go beyond liking camping....I love backpacking into the back country wilderness where you actually have to have permits so they know where you are & are planning on going in case you don't come out they know where to send the search party.

Growing up, my parents weren't into camping but my girlfriend's parents were so we would go to the beach in California just north or Santa Barbara & camp there.

I always loved hiking into the woods so when I got married & my H loved to backpack from his boy scout days, I jumped at going. Got a wonderful backpack that fit me & we would load up our packs sometimes 40+ pounds & just take off into the California Sierra's out of Bishop area for a week (sometimes just a long 3 day weekend). There were several wonderful locations one was 7 lakes (black lake). You could hike in & stop at a different lake each night. One of the lakes was glacier fed. We hiked a long hike one day & found an area to camp close to dark. We got the tent set up under the huge trees & a massive lightening storm hit. The tent was water resistant but NOT waterproof. That wasn't the best night I've ever had.

I attempted to make it to the top of Mt Whitney (think it's 14,950 ft). Both times I ended up with altitude sickness the second night & was NEVER able to make it to the top. Was always a goal but never made it even when I thought we could just leave the packs at the last camp & make it to the peak & back to camp in one day.....altitude sickness isn't nice.

We used to go with the church youth group backpacking. We did one fun trip to Chocolate Peak & Long Lake. Again, altitude sickness got to me, going directly from sea level up to over 12,000 the first day, I had to recooperate the 2nd day instead of enjoying it but got to kick around camp & relax so it was good anyway.

When our daughter was 6 months old, we wanted to take a back packing trip so I loaded her up in one of those front carrying packs & loaded my back pack up (40 pounds with all the disposable diapers along with everything else). It was a wonderful trip. There were actually some snow banks still in the mountains & I took her little hand & put it in the snow. Told her this is snow.....get to like it because we spend winter vacations skiing. She actually liked the feel of the snow (needless to say, we started her skiing at 2 1/2 years old & she's really an awesome skier. She kept up with the older skiers at Jackson Hole on the advanced slopes & put our skiing to shame after only a few years of skiing....who knew what that little hand in the snow would create a love for snow.

We did a backpack with her when she was 6 out of Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite. We found a very flat trail for her to hike on & we kept much of the food in the trunk of the car & just hiked back to get it each night. Bears were a normal part of the area & we got the tent set up, got dinner made & H supposedly knew how to tie off the food bag up the tree so the bears wouldn't get it a ways out of camp. That night, we heard the little bear cubs roaming around & nudging their nose at the tent material....sure enough, bear paws in the sand around the tent the next morning.......then we went to get the bag of food & sure enough, the bears had managed to untie the rope & got into the food bag. Our daughters first comment was "dumb daddy" when she found out they had eaten her breakfast. He was always bragging about how much he knew how to do everything, so I think she hit the nail on the head with her comment. We actually got a good laugh out of the bears being so creative though they really didn't care for the toothpaste but it was obvious they sampled it. Got things cleaned up & hiked back to the car to get more food to eat.

One of the most beautiful week back packs was up in the Rockies at the Grand Tetons. We had purchased a condo to use for our winter skiing vacations & decided to use a week in September where my parents stayed in the condo with our daughter while we went off into the back country. That was the most beautiful area I have ever backpacked into. I took my camera with it's long telephoto lens (before digital cameras). The weight of it balanced out my heavy backpack set up for the week long trip.

It was easy to get water where it was falling over the rocks, that way we didn't have to carry water other than what we were drinking & backpacking food is actually very yummy if you get the right brand & the right foods.....can eat gourmet meals in the back country & on some occasions we would take a bottle of wine along for the evening relaxing after a long day of hiking.

Actually those were the only good memories I had from my marriage because it was something I loved doing so much.

During the winter we would go out x-country skiing but only went out on day trips & never camped because the weather in Jackson Hole was so unpredictable & -40F temps weren't unusual. We weren't prepared or had the equipment necessary for winter survival in the wilderness. They actually had a winter survival training camp around there I was seriously temped in taking one year, but we never got around to it.

Now in my older age, I finally bought my own farm when I left my H after 33 years & like LizardLady, on my little 10 acre farm, I have wonderful woods to hike in & I go out trail riding with friends on another farm that a friend owns that has 30 miles of horse trails through their farm that they own away from where their actual home is. I also have another area for trail riding at Shaker Village that is only 5 minutes away from my farm & it's a wonderful location to ride in but those are only day trips & since I live so close, there is no need to camp.

I have always loved the outdoors & was always a tom boy sort of girl that never liked housework or being stuck inside even though my computer engineering career was in indoor job, that was why my backpacking trips were so important to my well being all those years because I could get away from the city. I realized at the age of 5 that I hated the city my parents had to live in because of work for my Dad. My first taste of farm life & getting into the outdoors to hike & do fishing during my summers in Kansas with my grandparents let me know that my heart was never cut out to live in the city. I used to have to vacation to places like where I now live & I couldn't trade it for anything.

I entirely agree - the more primitive the camping the better. Nothing better than into the backcountry - where you have to hang your food in a tree well downwind.

But, I realize not everyone has such a fond idea. Just like I can't imagine taking the comforts of home.

Yet, given the blazing campfire, I think we all quickly become the same.

[eskielover]

Lol...the blazing campfire got us in trouble one summer during one of those really dry Calif summers. Out backpacking with the church youth we were co leaders for. The youth got carried away with collecting wood & it got flaming so big that other backpackers in the area thought it was a forest fire when the wind came up also. We kept it controlled but it was a bit scary for a little while shoveling dirt on it to bring it back to a reasonable size. The roasted marshmallows were a bit more than roasted

[healingme4me]

Originally Posted by justafriend306

Just a basic question now that we have rolled into summer. Camping? Is it a stresser or stress reliever? Do you like to rough it wilderness style in a tent or do you prefer to avoid the primitive way altogether?
.

I find that it's a stress reliever. I've 2 tents. One here, I think still, my ex had used it at his last place with the kids summer before last. My aunt had gifted that one. Never did go with him. That would have been stressful, I'd imagine.

The other is out West. Used that last summer. The ground in Utah was much more unbearable than New Mexico or Colorado. Had a good system as far as teamwork is concerned. Campsites do make a difference. Also, tent camping tends to have fewer people, where RVs are more common. That means less congestion, overall and more privacy. And also means closer to the river banks, if near a river. Animas and Rio Grande are lovely, except for the mine spill, that was visible and the locals were all talking about. So was this little creek in one Colorado town. Something about the sound of the water that I find soothing.

Almost forgot about Eagle River

And the meteor shower, iclides(sp?) in clear skies in the middle of the night.

Is there room service?

[eskielover]

Originally Posted by sophiesmom

Is there room service?

Yep....the bears tear down the food bags from the tree & deliver them right to your tent door so you don't have to go after it before breakfast. Only thing is they like to sample the treats to make sure they are 5 star quality backpacking food before bringing them to the tent door & they don't knock, they prefer shaking the tent to make sure you are awake rather than giving a wake up call....their choice of time not yours....but they are all smiles

The boyfriend is terrfied at the thought of bears. Thus I am conceding to camping at the townsite instead of the back country. My stories of wildlife encounters haven't helped. Still, I will be in my mountains again!

Originally Posted by eskielover

Yep....the bears tear down the food bags from the tree & deliver them right to your tent door so you don't have to go after it before breakfast. Only thing is they like to sample the treats to make sure they are 5 star quality backpacking food before bringing them to the tent door & they don't knock, they prefer shaking the tent to make sure you are awake rather than giving a wake up call....their choice of time not yours....but they are all smiles

Guess I should have added a smiley emoji....

[fairydustgirl]

I see camping as 'trying to do the same things you do at home but in a much more difficult situation'...my idea of camping is a motel 6

Originally Posted by fairydustgirl

I see camping as 'trying to do the same things you do at home but in a much more difficult situation'...my idea of camping is a motel 6

Thanks for the rather vivid description. It explains to me a lot of why people choose to make their decision.

For me though it is for such very reasons - to exist primitively - that I DO choose to camp and without the comforts of home.

I am really enjoying by the way the posted comments. Whichever choices - primitive, dragging along the comforts of home, or not camp at all - everyone seems to be rather passionate about them. I wonder though if such preferences stem from childhood experiences.

Camping for me was something we did for the purposes of travelling only (we just couldn't afford a motel). Interestingly enough it was me who helped dad put up the tent - while mom took my little brother in hand and *****ed about having to sleep in it. Thus the reason perhaps why it is I who loves to tent in the outdoors while my brother prefers the 5 star hotel.

Well, I love camping. It's been a long time for me, but I vividly remember the first night on the hard ground, and so that's out for me now, but when a relative got a little camper we went a lot even after the babies came...

To me the classifications are so different that a comparison isn't possible...So, for me, it's like: Waldorf Astoria? YES PLEASE!! Camping? YES PLEASE!!

At least it was before depression took a hold

[eskielover]

Originally Posted by sophiesmom

Guess I should have added a smiley emoji....

I saw the smiley even if you didn't have it added......just wanted to joke around at what room service looks like when it's the back country bears being the ones providing it.

I love the back country & especially back backing when you wonder what's over the next hill or around the next bend & there is always something more beautiful than the last most beautiful thing you've ever seen. Hiking next to streams are probably my favorite......but then again, I have a story about that also....LOL......

I worked with another guy who had a wife & a son just about our daughter's age. We decided to go backpacking together into the more LOCAL back country. We got camp set up & the kids went off to play in the creek. My daughter came back with welts all over her arm. My quick thinking took me back to my childhood on one of the creeks in Kansas on one of the many wonderful fishing trips with my grandpa where we had to hike through the farm fields to get to the creeks to fish. Of course, I ended up getting into stinging nettle & my arm hurt like hell. My grandpa stuck his hand into the creek mud & smeared it all over my arm. Within 30 minutes when the mud had dried, the pain & the nettle irritation was GONE . So I always remembered that & of course, my daughter got that same treatment on her arm with the same results. Ok, I'm sold on MUD as the treatment for all the poison plants we can get ourself into of course, some places aren't that easy to apply mud to

Camping for me was something we did for the purposes of travelling only (we just couldn't afford a motel). Interestingly enough it was me who helped dad put up the tent - while mom took my little brother in hand and *****ed about having to sleep in it. Thus the reason perhaps why it is I who loves to tent in the outdoors while my brother prefers the 5 star hotel.

Justafriend.....I think you have something here at least for some.

My parents didn't do much of anything let alone camp because they never had money to buy any equipment so I never had any REAL experiences with my parents but I swore from a child that I didn't want to be anything like them.....so sometimes the opposite of what we are around is much more attractive. I was always an outdoors kind of person in the first place....tomboy sort of kid that loved to build forts our of downed branches from the trees.

As a kid, I used to have dreams about riding a horse through the woods.......strange thing, when I moved to my farm in KY & met all the wonderful horse people in the community & was invited to help ride the horses that needed exercise, the first ride I took on my friends 30 miles of trails was like riding in one of my childhood dreams at the age of 55.....wow was that a strange feeling.

LOL....I was always part of the hiking group any time I went anywhere because I wanted to see what was around where I was. Got me into trouble once on a youth retreat. We were supposed to be back at a specific time, but we were out hiking & ended up running into a cliff & it took us quite awhile to figure out our way down & find our way back to the cabin. Needless to say that was LONG before cell phones even existed, not that they would have worked way out there anyway, but there was no GPS either. I was always up for adventure.....the one thing my parents actually hated. Sometimes we just don't match the family we were born into (thankfully at times)