Luckily one thing we have been able to hang onto in the midst of pandemic times is camping -- at least for the most part. In the beginning of camping season campgrounds were still closed but after about 6 weeks (so perhaps mid-May) things started to open up and we were able to dip our toes into socially distanced weekend getaways. It's certainly not the same - we don't really socialize a lot with other campers (we definitely are on the cautious end of the social distancing/ staying in our bubble scale) but for my introverted self this is A-OK (sorry camping friends - I love saying hi from 6 ft away still!).
I love watching the ducks, geese, and baby bunny that sometimes hops out from under a nearby shed. Or taking a walk to the barnyard area of the campground and checking in on my goat friends. Mostly I like breathing in fresh air and hanging out with the family (including my best buddy, Hank the dog) and curling up with a good book and checking out from the realities of the world for a bit.
My only conundrum is that I'm not entirely happy with the current camper ... so we will see if I can convince the family to trade the current one in before camping season is over. My current list of whines about the camper (and yes - I 100% realize that these are not real world complaints but spoiled middle-aged glamping complaints).
1. The outlets are in all the wrong places. I do not want to have to run a cord across the whole camper or from the bathroom to charge a phone or use the laptop. I know it would be easy to say "just disconnect while camping" but with one of us doing online college, and both of us being a bit attached to our work emails, this isn't reality for us. Plus at the bare minimum, it's nice to have a charged phone for safety reasons. (I know, I know, my parents camped for many years without a phone).
2. The bunks are teensy, and the girls are teens ... so not teensy anymore. Bunks in general would be ok I think, but the way you have to climb into ours is just not great.
3. I really want a door side window. Our camper is parallel to the lake, and I am sure that most campsites are not situated this way but ours is and I would love love to be able to see the lake and all of the critters that hang out at the lake from inside on rainy days or just whenever. It's a campsite with a great view and I want to see it as much as possible. Now- we do have a small window that looks out that side... but it's over the sink... and I just don't find doing dishes to be all that fun :-)
4. I'd LOVE to be able to comfortably walk around the bed. There is about a foot at the bottom of our bed between the bed and the wall and I sleep on the far side so I either have to crawl across the bed or squeeze through the bottom pathway. This is especially tricky in the middle of the night when Camping Husband's feet are also hanging off the bottom of the bed!
With all of that said - I realize how incredibly lucky I am to have this luxury... but if you ever find yourself in the market for an RV, you can learn from all the things I didn't think to look for the first time!
Some quick photo captures of my moments of zen. I'm currently reading Happier at Home by Gretchen Rubin - I'm enjoying it and contemplating my own "happiness journey/project" so maybe that will make blog appearances in the future.
Hope you all are well, staying sane and finding ways to practice self care and find beauty in the world. Sorry for staying away so long, sometimes anxiety gets me down and I fall out of good habits like enjoying my favorite hobbies and things like blogging... the very things that would probably lift me up. Something to work on :-)
I'd love to know your tips for finding joy and taking care of yourselves and each other in this upside down world!
Peace, Love, and Paw Prints,
Camping Librarian
I always enjoy your posts!
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