On My Soul Breathing in the Most Unexpected Way from the Most Unexpected Place

Maybe you are resisting in the exact place your soul might be at peace.

Coming off the roller coaster of the past few months I truly tried to find a way not to go camping and yet here we are on the other side and while I still don’t like sleeping on the ground outside there were some unexpected surprises along the way…

Ok, so there’s a whole back story to this camping ordeal, but in a quick hit summary: 10 years old, away from my family (class trip), camping for the first time, no showers, POURING rain the whole time we were there. For 25 years I’ve confidently said no to camping, AND then the kids got old enough, we had several families around us that enjoyed the art of camping and in June the opportunity arose.

In a crazy twist of fate something came over me and I said yes, super skeptically, but still ‘yes’.

The next two months were spent in the roller coaster of can we really do this? How bad will it be? Is there a chance I could love it? Should we not go? Do we have everything we need? Do we have too much? Over and over I sent myself down the spiral and my friends helped me out each time.

If you know me, you know I actually have no issues with the great outdoors I love being outside as much as possible – all I really require is a clean, warm shower and a cozy and safe place to sleep. Something I understand a lot of the people in the world don’t have access to on a regular basis. It’s less about the outdoors and more about the rain and not being able to feel truly clean.

We did shift our timeline up 24 hours because of rain that was expected in the back third of the trip so we robbed the kids out of school early Friday and made our way to the Appalachian foothills about an hour and a half from our house. The facilities were impressive with the brand new visitor center, the array of trails and outdoor activities, as well as a lake to swim in, a creek to throw rocks, catch wildlife, and splash around in. One of the biggest perks was that we got to enjoy picture perfect weather. 50s in the morning and 70s at the hottest part of the day. The kids were living as idealistic as it can get; playing from sun up to sun down, getting to be kids without a further expectation, their imaginations thriving. I didn’t realize how much my mind and heart needed to watch them get to just be. It was a breath I didn’t know I needed.

So my friend asked me the resounding question: would I do it again?

Yes, AND:

1. With friends – getting to live in simple community was the biggest gift AND as mentioned being able to exhale with the peace that they got 48 hours to just be kids and be themselves and explore without culture and worldly distractions was the best and I don’t mean that casually.
2. Invest in bigger tent/better bedding – we borrowed a few things and we didn’t want to spend much in all the gear because who knew if we were going to like it? So, next time we would probably budget a bit to have some better quality items for sleeping.
3. Time of year for weather benefits – our daughter is a mosquito magnet, I’ve truly never seen anything like it so middle of summer just wouldn’t work for us.

What are Must-haves?

1. Charging bank –  https://amzn.to/4nf3sVH
2. Collapsable Trash Can – https://amzn.to/4lV3CAn
3. Cutting Board w/ Collapsable Washing basket – https://amzn.to/4g5xSHt
4. Rechargeable String Lights – https://amzn.to/47UUnN7
5. Memory Foam Camping Pillow – https://amzn.to/3UQ1YVH

What it all means?

Camping might not be my favorite activity, but the benefits were well worth it. If you are on the fence or super skeptical about taking your family camping or doing anything hard and uncertain, just try! Maybe it doesn’t end up being what you wanted, BUT maybe, just maybe, it gives your soul the breath it desperately needs.

What sounds hard to you?

***I might make commissions off of the links posted above.