20 Feelings You Can Experience While Camping
A far-from-comprehensive list
This is an excerpt from the new book I coauthored with , The Camping Life: Inspiration and Ideas for Endless ϳԹ (available at , , , and your local bookstore). The original title of this piece is “A Brief List of Feelings You Can Experience Camping That You [Nearly] Can’t Get Anywhere Else,” and it started as a list I was making to remind myself to get out and spend a few nights under the stars.
The satisfaction of finding the perfect log or rock to sit on, even if it’s not as comfortable as a chair
Gratitude for the technology of a waterproof tent fly as raindrops tap (or downpour) on it
Being present enough to stare into a campfire for several minutes and not get bored doing it
Being dirty, but not feeling dirty, because a shower (and society) is several miles away
The solitude of knowing there are no other human beings within a half-day walk of where you are
The subconscious calm of having no cell-phone service for a couple consecutive days
The joy of escaping the buzz of overheard cell-phone calls, video streaming, or music booming from another person’s phone speakers
The liberation from needing to make choices on food, drink, or reading materials, because you’re carrying your only options in your pack
The joy of letting yourself sit next to a lake and stare at it because you have time
The unexpected increase in joy of eating food after working up a hunger from being outside all day
The satisfaction of being able to carry everything you need in a pack or the trunk of a car
Getting lost in conversation with your friends without the distraction of cell phones
The smell of campfire on your clothes
Excusing yourself from your household to-do list because you’re miles away from laundry, paying bills, repairs, and errands
Going to bed early when you’re tired, without any late-night screen time or email to keep you up
The uninhibited sounds of wild animals
The rustle of wind moving through the trees
The view over the top of your morning cup of coffee
The feeling of not caring what time it is, because you only have to worry about when it gets light outside and when it gets dark
Quenching your thirst with water that’s cold because it was snow a few minutes earlier
The Camping Life is available through , , and everywhere.