I went camping this past weekend. As I was packing the car with all the essentials, I began to feel that camping was an oxymoron. You go camping to be in nature and experience the great outdoors, but there is all this stuff you feel you must take or your survival could be on the line.
There is the tent, sleeping bags, clothes, extra clothes (because camping can be dirty), pillows, sleeping mats (sleeping on the ground is a great idea until you wake up sore), boots, rain gear, etc. Just check out this camping packing list; it is ridiculous. You might as well stay home if you bring all those items they say you need. Then you get to the food. When camping, especially car camping, food is all about convenience. Individual snack items, pre-made foods in lots of packaging, quick and easy meals – all are common items for camping. Then you use disposable plates, bottles, etc. In the end you are left with a very large trash bag and for what reason- to enjoy the great outdoors? It doesn’t seem to add up. Sure I can blame it on the kid factor, but it isn’t his fault, he will eat anything and everything. It is just me being lazy as a person. I feel like I am already doing hard work for camping and using up my weekend time that I don’t want to have to put a lot of effort into eating while camping. When in reality camping is often relaxing because you do a lot of sitting around watching a fire.
From now on I am going to do better. I will be more conscious of what I pack when camping. Use reusable/recyclable items as much as possible and if it is recyclable, make sure to keep it out of the trash stream. It really should be about the environment in all aspects and not just popping my tent up outside and breathing in clean air for a couple of nights.
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