We finally went camping! Philip and I love camping and used to go at least once a month. Since Philip has gotten through flight training and has become an instructor, though, we hardly get to go and have only been camping twice this year.
Camping is so therapeutic for me. It clears my mind from the stress of the week, connects me with the outdoors, forces bonding time with my husband, and simplifies each day I’m out there.
That last one–simplifying life–I think that’s why I’m so excited to go tiny. When we camp I have less stuff. That’s less to keep clean and organized and less decisions I have to make. Making dinner at the campsite: washing the one pot and two dishes I brought when I’m done. Getting dressed at camp: picking one of two shirts from my bag (both of which I like to wear!). Picking up at camp: folding the sleeping bag and putting five items back in their Tupperware bin. I love it! So much easier than normal life.
This weekend we went camping in Flagstaff (not entirely by choice…we were actually hoping to camp in Sedona, but had to try 7 different campsites before we found one that wasn’t full). We only went for one night, so we made a concerted effort to not bring any extra things.
We picked down our supplies from the standard two Tupperware bins and large cooler, to one bin and two small coolers. Then it was just our blankets, tent, and a duffle bag for our clothes.
For setup and teardown, Philip and I are like campsite ninjas. We’ve done it so many times now that we know exactly what each of us will do without even having to talk. With less stuff, we did that in about 30 minutes without even hurrying. That rocks. And our dogs know the drill now so they happily munch on their food while we do the work.
Without all the work to keep things clean, and without all the stuff that keeps us distracted, what did we do with our time? We walked the dogs a lot, took naps in the hammock, talked by the fire, and took a long hike.
See…so therapeutic! Does the work week REALLY have to start today? It’s hard to come back to normal life after that weekend of gloriousness.
The Tiny Trail 