I may as well write this post as I am camping because I am in the beautiful midst of it, sigh.
I have a certain romantic notion associated with camping.
As I grew up camping with other families, partners and sometimes kids, I always wanted that for myself, lying in a tent, the river flowing, holding my partner, making Easter, Cup day or the Queens birthday fun.
The notion of reading a lovely book in the sun and listening to children laugh and play away from technology just warms my heart.
A little bit of personal music through headphones, the radio or just the sounds of nature always puts me in that nostalgic camping mode.
Even the hand-washing of dishes and sweeping of the tent/van every ten minutes makes me feel warm inside, because it was around those little (though annoying to my child-mind,) moments, that I had the times of my life!
Staying up late at night around the campfire was one of the best things about camping and still is. The giggling banter that occurred made us all hurt in the stomach. The snacks we ate were a rarity and the kids didn't really have a bedtime. In fact, most of the time we were allowed to be set free through the caravan park, screaming and tearing down hills, across grass and around amenity buildings!
Oh and the 'Time Out' chair... I can laugh about it now, but at the time, this was just painful. While the other kids ran around (running seemed so easy for us as kids...) my gullible self often got planted in the 'Time Out' chair because I always got in trouble by the fault of others, usually deliberately... I couldn't keep my mouth shut when someone made me laugh, especially when full of food and for this I was chaired much more than once...
For quite I while now, I have continued camping, but things have changed. Kids don't tend to go camping with their parents anymore, so it has mostly just been my mum, step dad, the dogs and I. These camping trips have made room for more peace, appreciation of nature and getting to know myself. I always get through books, read plenty of magazines and boy do I write - and I love it! My photography has only improved too! A lot of my camping breaks have inspired images in the form of my dreams and therefore inspired stories and emotions I can relate to and immortalize on paper. I really enjoy this more solitary side of camping, but as I said earlier in the post, I still have a romantic craving.
Every single time I start packing my bags for the car ride, I wish that I had a partner to share these moments with, to pig out in the car and turn up the country music, while taking the long drive, sun streaming on my face, his hand on mine...
As I sit in the backseat with the dogs, I often watch out of the window at the paddocks/forest/beach/city/desert or wherever we are heading and picture every scenario possible. Who has been here before me? What if I could run beside the car, like I was flying? Is my true 'love' waiting over there for me? are just some of the things I wonder.
And the towns, I have become a souvenir junkie, collecting pamphlets, shells, buying lollies and picking up anything small to remember the trip.
Camping for me, is a romantic, unique experience every-time and I usually never want to leave, when I get home, I am either very inspired, hopeful or refreshed, there are really no downsides :)
The food is always amazing, BBQ galore, the lot for breakfast, dessert and snacks! Just for sitting around too!
I also adore going for walks, to see the caravan park, then for a wander, just to watch other families, nature and life!
Bonding is always a special part of camping too and you can learn a lot by how someone reacts to the hardships of camping,
KK
