During the week I was home alone, some good friends of mine were camping with their kids about half an hour away, and they invited me to join them. I was hesitant. I’ve never camped as an adult. Growing up, my family camped a lot. But kids get all the fun parts of camping, their main responsibility is to play all day. But adults, I suspected, found it a lot less fun and a lot more work.
Initially I thought I’d just visit for a few hours then head back home. But my friends wanted me to really experience camping as a grownup and encouraged me to stay overnight. So I did. I was pleasantly surprised to find the entire adventure quite relaxing.
And, okay, their campers did have microwaves, potties, showers, running water and a working T.V. But it’s still camping, right? I mean we were at a real campsite and everything.
And admittedly, my friends had done all the meal prep work and cooking, and had already set up their campsites. So my only responsibility was the dog and myself.
But the break away from the responsibilities of the real world was…refreshing. We walked in the woods, played Apples to Apples, and Spoons. (I love that game!) Even when it rained for a bit, we just sat under the retractable awning on one of my friend’s campers and chatted until it stopped. In the evening we had a campfire and made s’mores. We laughed over the fact that one friend and her son were trapped in the public restroom at bedtime by a nocturnal skunk taking an evening stroll. We went to bed only when we got tired, and got up when we awoke naturally. No alarm clocks.
Being away from cell phones, real phones, the computer, and all responsibilities felt really good. Watching my friends’ children, perfectly happy without their X-Boxes, and iPods, just riding their bikes around and playing together in the woods reminded me of simpler times.
It really brought home to me the importance of taking breaks. Real breaks. Not planned vacations with full itineraries of sightseeing and lack of sleep. But honest-to-goodness sit-on-your-butt-doing-nothing breaks. It’s still August, and there’s plenty of summer sunshine left. So go ahead. Get out there, spread a blanket on the grass and take a break. It’s on me.
Initially I thought I’d just visit for a few hours then head back home. But my friends wanted me to really experience camping as a grownup and encouraged me to stay overnight. So I did. I was pleasantly surprised to find the entire adventure quite relaxing.
And, okay, their campers did have microwaves, potties, showers, running water and a working T.V. But it’s still camping, right? I mean we were at a real campsite and everything.
And admittedly, my friends had done all the meal prep work and cooking, and had already set up their campsites. So my only responsibility was the dog and myself.
But the break away from the responsibilities of the real world was…refreshing. We walked in the woods, played Apples to Apples, and Spoons. (I love that game!) Even when it rained for a bit, we just sat under the retractable awning on one of my friend’s campers and chatted until it stopped. In the evening we had a campfire and made s’mores. We laughed over the fact that one friend and her son were trapped in the public restroom at bedtime by a nocturnal skunk taking an evening stroll. We went to bed only when we got tired, and got up when we awoke naturally. No alarm clocks.
Being away from cell phones, real phones, the computer, and all responsibilities felt really good. Watching my friends’ children, perfectly happy without their X-Boxes, and iPods, just riding their bikes around and playing together in the woods reminded me of simpler times.
It really brought home to me the importance of taking breaks. Real breaks. Not planned vacations with full itineraries of sightseeing and lack of sleep. But honest-to-goodness sit-on-your-butt-doing-nothing breaks. It’s still August, and there’s plenty of summer sunshine left. So go ahead. Get out there, spread a blanket on the grass and take a break. It’s on me.
Image by: Paul.Carroll
