Stress and Camping

I once heard it said that if you really want to bond with your loved ones, go on a camping trip.  Camping is when you create a mini-social community and you have to learn to live together in very tight quarters for a specified period of time.  It is the ultimate test of your patience, love for one another, and ability to work well and get along in a compressed social setting.  It is also probably one of the most stressful situations you can get into, other than perhaps planning a wedding or other family get-together (which I’ll discuss in a separate blog).  You are literally re-creating a small livable home in a natural wildlife sort of setting where there are many unknowns.  You have to love the outdoors, be prepared for every kind of weather and the possible intrusion and/or visitation of wild animals who will be scouting for food!

This past week, my husband and I decided to go camping.  Although we have a fully equipped fairly new trailer, it took us something like two weeks to get ready.  We hadn’t camped for five years, and had to completely prepare our camper inside and out, including buying new tires since the original tires had cracked from sitting for so long.  We learned something about tires -- when you let your camper sit, you must cover them properly or the sun will damage them.  All the bedding and blankets, tea towels, and wash cloths had to be washed. The fridge and mini freezer had to be bleached.  Then we had to remember to bring essentials like a long lighter and wood for the campfire at night.  We had to decide our meals and then pack food and all the condiments that go with hamburgers and hot dogs.  Everything had to be safely secured, so that nothing would fall during transport.  And all this was relatively easy compared to the days when we used to tent, and packed everything into the back of our Volvo.  In spite of all of our careful planning and packing, we still managed to forget suntan lotion, a wrench, and even underarm deodorant!  Well, nobody’s perfect.

The first day we were exhausted, but forged on determined to enjoy every minute of our outdoor experience.  We cooked breakfast outside, then cleaned up and decided to go for a long bike ride in the 30+ heat (yes, Manitoba has had incredibly high temperatures all summer and now in September, and sometimes well into October and we’ve enjoyed many a mild winter too!).  After trekking downhill in the heat to the small man-made lake (which was surprisingly busy for the first day of school), we just sat there in the shade and enjoyed the view.  I tried my hardest not to think of the ride back “uphill” in the heat and that I wouldn’t be going swimming because of the posted signs at the beach warning of “swimmers itch.” 

But in spite of the heat and all the hard work to get there and stay there, by the third day, my husband and I found ourselves talking more, listening more and caring more, now that we didn’t have all the distractions and outside pressures of our regular life.  We had learned to live together in harmony in this small social setting.  We enjoyed meeting new neighbours (also Christians) and sharing our stories, laughing about the things we had forgotten (they had forgotten the key to their camper, so had to climb in from the outside), and sharing addresses to keep in touch.  We felt that an important connection was made with them, and one that was orchestrated by God.  To add to our enjoyment, a little red squirrel kept running through our site eating his nut and talking to us at the same time.  When it came time to leave, we worked so well together, that we had everything packed up in an hour and a half, record time, and we drove off into the heat of the day, knowing that it was time to go.

Some stresses in life teach us many things, and camping is one of them.  Try as we may, and we have discussed this over many times, we have not yet found a way to simplify camping.  It is hard work and it involves a concerted effort on everyone’s part to make it work. That’s the blessing part of it – you work together, spend time together, and like the settlers of old, you not only get the work done, but you learn to live with much less, surrounded by the serene beauty and bounty of God’s nature.  In spite of all the hard work, inconveniences, inclement weather (too hot or too cold), adapting to natural surroundings, and the stress of trying to remember to pack everything, some of my fondest memories of our trips away are camping trips, and this past one will now be added to my scrapbook of memories.  What I learned about camping and all the stresses that go with it, is that sometimes you have to climb out of a well-loved comfort zone and face the unknown.  It might feel strange and uncomfortable at first, and it may not be the ideal circumstances, especially if rain or a wild animal drives you indoors, but it is a risk and a stress worth taking.  I highly recommend it because it adds so much to a person’s life, and has the ability to strengthen relationships, and sometimes introduces new ones! 

And no matter where we set up camp, we have this promise from the Bible:

Psa 91:9  If you make the Most High your dwelling— even the LORD, who is my refuge—

Psa 91:10  then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent.

Psa 91:11  For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;

This is a beautiful picture and one to read before turning out the lantern and curling up in a sleeping bag, resting securely until the dawn of early light.