Last week on our vacation we spent some time camping with friends—a wonderful experience that we hope to repeat soon. There are things we love about camping (s'mores, campfires, being able to see stars at night, the smell of the woods) and things that are less enjoyable (less-than-comfy sleeping mats, fear of bears), but one of the best things is the perspective it gives you on your everyday life at home. We were reminded of a few key points...
• You don't need that much stuff to get by.
• Refrigeration, electricity, and running water are totally amazing.
• Mother nature is the best colorist.
• Life without television and web access can be great.
• Really good design is functional, beautiful, and often portable.
• Small spaces are more enjoyable when you have a great view.
• Good cooking equipment is essential.
• A clean, organized bathroom should be appreciated.
• Quality bedding and a comfortable mattress are worth investing in.
• Nothing beats a permanent place to come home to.
Photo: Flickr member Steve Cadman licensed via Creative Commons
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Comments (8)
Well Said.
That's why I'd rather have a 1-room apartment with a view and a few well-crafted, attractive and useful items than a McMansion full of junk.
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This sentence resumes all the others before!
"Nothing beats a permanent place to come home to."
That one resumes the other key points listed above!!! After all, "There's no place like home" :P
Two ply toilette paper is priceless.
I just looked into camping air mattresses. You can make yourself a lot more comfortable on a hard surface using high tech self-inflating mattresses that have tiny foam cores interspersed throughout. They are manufactured so that they pack into really tight rolls and are very lightweight.
You can get them so they add heat retention -- which is important in some situations, or you can get them so that they're heat-neutral.
I recently bought one when I knew I had a long-term stay on a hard sofa in NYC ahead of me. It had the diameter of a wine bottle, and was folded in half so wasn't very wide either. It packed into a corner of my suitcase and eliminated a lot of the discomfort of the accommodations. I got it on sale, so left it behind for the next visitor to enjoy.
The price of the high-tech camping air mattress was about 1/10th of the cost of an average hotel room in NYC for one night. You could even comfortably sleep on the floor with one of these things if a sofa wasn't available but a floor was.
Agree with the post- just my own camping pet peeve involves the re-creation of REI ads. Is that tent far enough from that water source, and did that person create a potty place that was also far enough? It looks awfully close, but it may just be a trick of the photo.
Inside or outside, mosquitoes suck.
"You don't need that much stuff to get by."
I learned this invaluable lesson recently after an eight day backpacking/canoeing trip. That experience, unlike anything else- not the Apartment Therapy book, not hundreds of blog posts on the subject- has inspired me to edit the hell out of my apartment. I've taken countless bags of clutter to Goodwill lately, and I love it. Without having gone on that trip, my apartment would still very much be congested.