Living in NOVA, our idea of “roughing it” is spending a day without electricity during a power outage. Life before the microwave seems like an existence similar to what I’d imagine the Medieval Ages was like. We measure mile-long trips in minutes, curse the cold for making our 20 second walk to the car somewhat unpleasant, and fire is purely an aesthetic element. It is so easy for us to forget how well-off we really are.
As an Eagle Scout who’s been involved in Scouting since the age of 5, sometimes I take for granted the experiences I’ve had in the outdoors. I forget that there are a lot of people who have never been camping before. Most people have never put up a dining fly in the dead of night, or carried their entire living situation on their backs, or dug a hole to ‘take care of business’. I’ve been able to do those things and while none of those activities sound particularly pleasant, I wouldn’t trade my experiences doing them for the anything. Even though I was never really aware of it, over the course of my childhood and young adult life, I was able to forge a very personal relationship with nature and develop a sense my own self-sufficiency that I think is so important.
Trying to set up a dining fly in the dark (which, for the record, is nigh on impossible to set up in broad daylight), with people tripping over ropes and poles falling down everywhere, taught me to appreciate the fact that I most always have a roof over my head. Having to carry everything I need to survive on my back: food, water, tent, clothes, toiletries, etc., and the fact that I could in fact carry my livelihood in a backpack, gave me perspective on how much I really have and how superfluous most of it is. Spending 10 minutes finding a spot far enough away from a water source and digging a 6-inch hole through rocks and roots just to take a dump gave me a newfound appreciation for the modern marvel that is an in-home plumbing system.
These reasons, and really countless others, are why I think going on regular camping trips should be some kind of requirement for growing up. In an age where one of the biggest concerns of our daily life is how much battery our smartphones have left, taking the time to immerse ourselves in nature should really be a bigger priority.