Life Lessons from Camping

Whether you head out tent camping or in an RV, you're ultimately setting out to some uncharted territory looking for fun, adventure and excitement.  We want to experience new things, and we want to enjoy that connection to nature.

Ultimately it comes down to getting away from the daily running to take a break and relax.

We don't typically set out on a camping trip in order to discover life lessons and learn new things about ourselves or one another.

Camping of any kind can offer a special reprieve from daily life while presenting unusual challenges.  It's that combination that makes it the perfect avenue for growth.  More importantly, the things that you (and your children) pick up while enjoying a weekend or a week at a camping resort can greatly influence their every day life.

Check out these life lessons that camping can bring

Camping Life Lessons #1 - No Person is an Island, No I in Team, Can't Go it Alone, etc.

You know this one, that no person is an island and no individual can sustain themselves alone.  We're not designed to live that way.

And you will never feel as close to someone as when they're remove a tick that has embedded itself in a spot on your body that you cannot reach.  It's always amazing to witness how people come together outdoors, especially when you run into other families.

Vulnerabilities grow relationships and help us bond.

Think camping alone can help you escape that?  You're still not alone.  Nature is feeding off you (probably literally) and you're absorbing and consuming everything around you.  No matter what, you will be influenced by the living world around you.

Camping Life Lessons #2 - You Have an Impact on the World

Every time you build a camp fire, you kill the majority of the organic matter on the surface and several inches below the ground.  It takes a tremendous amount of time for the ground to recover.  Of course we have nothing against camp fires, but it's something to stop and make you think about how something as simple as a camp fire can have a significant impact on the landscape.

Think about hiking trails worn over the years - where we have carved a path through the landscape.  Many before you have continued to blaze trails that allow you to witness the same things they have.  What mark will you leave; what trails will you create for those who come after you?

Camping Life Lessons #3 - You are Responsible for You

While no person is an island, it is an unfortunate truth that you have to be responsible for yourself.  The world doesn't care if you're hungry, drenched or exhausted.  If you fail to tie up your boat properly or protect your gear from the elements then you put yourself in a tough situation.

If you neglect to inspect your camp site, including looking up to ensure that you're not pitching camp beneath a widow maker (a large tree or branch ready to fall) then you're in for a terrible surprise if bad weather hits in the middle of the night.

Don't assume others will look out for you, be responsible for you.

Camping Life Lessons #4 - Be Comfortable With Who You Are

If you're camping, there's a good chance you'll have to relieve yourself in close proximity to other people or in a strange place.  This could be in an RV toilet, an outhouse, or a hole you dig.  You might even have to do it without conventional toilet paper.

If you're camping for several days, there's a good chance you'll begin to acquire the very natural odor of someone who is camping that hasn't showered for a few days.  You have to be ok with this.  We all get smelly, we all poop.  Grab your towel, dig a hole, and get to it.

Be comfortable with who you are.

Camping Life Lessons #5 - A Problem Without a Solution is Just a Fact

If you get stuck in a heavy rain storm while camping and everything gets soaked then... well.  That's a fact.  You can't go anywhere to dry off.  You don't have a dryer handy.  It will be more fun for everyone involved in your camping trip if you accept this and move on.

Remember that everything resolves eventually; your gear will eventually dry out.

Camping Life Lessons #6 - Pack Light in Life

When you're camping, heavy baggage slows you down.  It makes everything harder.  Carry only what is essential and remember that most things... aren't essential.  You'll go home eventually, so that baggage doesn't need to come with you.

This is true on a physical and emotional level - pack light at all times.  All that extra baggage will slow you down.

Camping Life Lessons #7 - Be Grateful

You will never value food as much as the dry, undercooked rice that has finally been boiled on a tiny campfire stove at 11pm after you've finally got your camp site set up after pitching a tent in the darkness.  Gratitude is relative so spread it about with reckless abandon!