Thoughts on Camping


There is something about staring into a campfire that calms the human soul. For ten thousand years the flames consumed our fuel and in exchange provided us with warmth, light and safety. The camp fire has been our constant companion, as we hunted our food, fought our wars, and explored our world. We have learned to feel comfortable and safe in its presents. For many of us, there is something in our DNA that can’t help examining our lives while watching the flames. Sharing a campfire can bring people closer than sharing a meal.

When I am spending the last hours of my day sitting next to the cooling embers, it becomes easier to think of home and family and where my life is going, and harder to think of work, smartphones and computers that need fixing. I have wondered what the difference is between civilized and uncivilized. It is an arbitrary term to be sure, but it seems to me that we start calling cultures civilized when they begin to build with permanence in mind. When they stop building with sticks and mud and begin building with Steele and cement. When structures are built to last longer than the people who built them. If that is true, then camping gives us a chance to leave civilization behind, and be deliberately uncivilized. We setup structures that will only stand for a week, or a weekend. We leave behind our hectic schedules and slow down to the match the natural rhythms of our world. To sleep when it is dark and wake with the sun. In our regular lives we eat when it is time to eat, and sleep when it is time to sleep. In our camp sites we eat when we are hungry and sleep when we are sleepy. Life slows to its natural pace.

One thing I have never understood is why the food tastes so good. Weather it is an ear of corn wrapped in tinfoil and roasted in the coals, or a hotdog seared on a stick, the simplest food cooked on a campfire taste better than the most expensive meal at fine restaurant.

We will come home with bug bites, and blisters, and maybe some sunburn to boot, sore muscles and splinters and covered in dirt, but rejuvenated, and restored in a way few other activities can provide for us.

Someone once said, “Camping teaches resilience. It builds courage. It teaches us about our strengths and weaknesses” and this has always been my experience.

Can’t wait to see you guys there.