Not a Happy Camper (7.12.2005)

This weekend several of my friends (including my fiance) are going camping on Cumberland Island. They have to take a ferry over to the uninhabited island - which means they can't leave at will. They are taking everything they'll need for the weekend with them - tents, sleeping bags, food, bugspray, etc. etc. etc.

I am not going.

Don't get me wrong - I love the outdoors. I can stay on the beach all day long; I love to run outdoors; hiking is so much fun to me... but sleeping outside is just miserable. I have tried to understand the appeal - in fact, I went camping a couple of months ago with this same group of friends. I stayed one night and then left them all to their own devices as I drove home in search of a bath and clean sheets. I don't know what this says about me...am I a priss pot? I don't think so. I just like to be comfortable, and it seems to defy logic to make yourself UNcomfortable when you are within driving distance of your own bed.

Now I did go camping once in college - and that I really enjoyed. We hiked over mountains (literally) and the view was absolutely amazing. We camped on Flower Gap which was like a saddle in between two mountains - it was so peaceful and gorgeous. I still longed for a hot shower and my own comforter, but in that case, the reward was greater than the task. But even then, I remember thinking (and probably saying) that we could have taken all the money we spent on camping gear and stayed at the Ritz Carlton in Atlanta. Am I missing the point?

Between the bugs (that LOVE me), that damp dewey ick in the morning that seems to be on everything including your sleeping bag and your FACE, the absence of bathrooms and showers, the dirt that gets in your food, and the campfire smell that is so hard to get out of your clothes and hair... I can do without camping. I think that the next time everyone gets the "itch" to camp out, I am going to propose having a slumber party in my den. Complete with S'mores and scary movies and - of course - sleeping bags.

That's MY idea of roughing it.