Oh man I know what you mean. I love camping, I hate camping, I love camping. I hate camping. But in the end I love it. Don't remember hardly any stupid hotels along the way, but every campsite sits sharp in the memory. Thanks Alia, good read :)
Thanks Rena. It makes a lot of sense, doesn't it. I think the peak is the most important part. The ending for me simply positive if we all manage to make it back in one piece 😆
I love this Alia and I speak from the far end of this passage. You are raising children who love nature and will slowly learn a respect without being hampered with fear. Both of my kids, now parents in their 40s have kids who know the outdoors. I've even had the luxury of being invited along on a trip with the grands and camping along side in my own tent. It is worth every embarrassing, scary moment. My daughter had night terrors between ages 3-5 when she would half awake and scream in terror in the middle of the night, you could not console until she came around. We had a fellow camper stop by the tent at 2 AM to "See if everything was all right in there." I'm sure it sounded like murder. Have a great trip.
Thank you, Leslie. Oh gosh, I can imagine... I am familiar with night terrors, too. Mine seem to be growing out of them, thankfully. I have some good travel sleepwalking tales from when I was a kid, though, haha. Yes, my two are very much outdoor kids, which is just the way I like it.
So much of life is about contrast, Alia (this was actually said by Virginia Woolf; I believe I read it in one of her diaries), but this idea comes to mind when I read this story of your adventure with the kids in the wilderness. We need the experiences that make us value a clean bathroom (smile).
Oh, yes clean bathroom appreciation is next level, haha! I love that line Nancy.
It's a nice way to frame life as being about contrasts, and that's a great observation by Woolf. It's reminded me of that Masonic rug, and of yin and yang. Life isn't the happy personal-marketing Instagram snap that most people would have us believe, especially not family holidays. But the highs are beautiful and make the lows worth pitching the tent for :)
Absolutely, Alia! And there is nowhere else you can feel as intimate a connection to the natural world as in just sleeping in it, being in it for a while. And paying attention, closely, to its beauty.
I sold and serviced all kinds of sporting goods for almost thirty years, including camping equipment. I’ve never been camping in my life. My ankylosing spondylitis probably started when I was eight years old, when I had several episodes of pain in my left hip which left me limping around for weeks at a time and my teacher asking me what was wrong with my leg. Even my twisted little eight year old brain could tell that sleeping outdoors was a terrible idea. I was able to give customers great advice because I had thrift-shopped a seventy-year-old camping book written by a pair of gentlemen who were big game hunting and fishing guides. I took time with clients and served them well. As much as a year after I retired people were still asking for me by name, which drove the guy nuts who moved into my job. I met him once when I stopped in to visit and he told me he was getting sick of hearing “Rafy this” and “Rafy that.” I hope he’s gotten over it by now.
That must have been some book! You know, camping isn't for everyone. It's a state of mind, really. I crave being out in wild and remote places for days on end. I like to switch off. But you can't switch off with kids, and you can't get that remote with them either, so we make do with the chaos between 🙂
Painting out in the boonies so electric the colors. I find tents block out stars but when rain protects. Problem is finding a right spot for sleeping bag where you are not lying on a rock.
You are so right, Richard. It's beautiful to roll over in the night and see the heavens. But tents keep away the dew, and the dingoes from sniffing, haha. It's much easier with the two littlies--they can't sneak off on us in the night.
I'm a little ahead of you with 15, 12, and (almost) 10 year olds and I can promise you it gets easier! We have camped all through pregnancies, babies, toddlers and kids and while we've had plenty of moments of 'what the F are we doing!?' we're now reaping the rewards with kids who love nature, can throw on a backpack and go for a walk (albeit with various complaints) and who always ask when we're going camping next when we're at home. Two years ago when our youngest was 8 we did our first overnight hike - big moments of 'what the F are we doing!?' but fast forward to now and we're currently planning our third, speaking of gluttons for punishment!
I don't have kids, yet I can picture this so vividly :-) And the Peak-End hypothesis is a nugget to take away. Have fun at Mungo NP (gonna be a little chilly there at night, but you'd be used to that) and Budj Bim. Two unforgettable places. When you're at Budj Bim the food at the Tae Rak bush tucker café, run by the Traditional Owners, was great (or it was when we were there two years ago). As long as you like eel!
Thanks for the tip, I'm sure we'll pay Tae Rak a visit, too! We're always on the lookout for good food :)
We're all very much looking forward to those National Parks. They've been on my list of places to visit for such a long time. It won't be relaxing, but I'm sure the visual feast will make up for it (and the kids really do love it).
Alia, how to say this story resonated very strongly with me. I love camping and being outside with my family, but I also feel a sort of prickly aversion, like the family camping trip is a challenge or a mountain climb itself!
For all the discomfort and difficulties I love that these experiences unite us in wonder and a love for the natural world.
Have a wonderful trip, it sounds incredible. I hope the wonder outweighs the challenges! I’ll be thinking of you.
Thanks Kate :) It's so funny that you made that analogy between camping with kids and mountain climbing because I agree it's absolutely an endurance test. Years ago, I saw an episode of Bear Grills in which he joined the French Foreign Legion as a test of his mental and physical endurance, and honestly, it looks like a holiday to me now. Send me off to the Legion to relax, haha.
But overall, we do love it. And it may not be the style of camping we would have done pre-kids, but we still get so much out of visiting new places. It's still over a month away, and all four of us talk about it every day :)
I feel your conflicting feelings! Love your thoughts but have to admit, to use the current vernacular, to being “triggered” with memories of Claire and Will at that age. The memories get shinier and happier as time goes by. All worth it. Have a wonderful and safe trip❤️
Thank you, Kim. We're all very excited about the trip. I expect we'll have a great time, but I'm under no illusions... there'll be nothing relaxing about it 😆
Oh man I know what you mean. I love camping, I hate camping, I love camping. I hate camping. But in the end I love it. Don't remember hardly any stupid hotels along the way, but every campsite sits sharp in the memory. Thanks Alia, good read :)
Yes, it just takes those few fleeting moments to make it all worth it :)
We're all very excited about this upcoming trip. Fools, the lot of us, haha.
Peak-End Rule - I like it :)
Thanks Rena. It makes a lot of sense, doesn't it. I think the peak is the most important part. The ending for me simply positive if we all manage to make it back in one piece 😆
I love this Alia and I speak from the far end of this passage. You are raising children who love nature and will slowly learn a respect without being hampered with fear. Both of my kids, now parents in their 40s have kids who know the outdoors. I've even had the luxury of being invited along on a trip with the grands and camping along side in my own tent. It is worth every embarrassing, scary moment. My daughter had night terrors between ages 3-5 when she would half awake and scream in terror in the middle of the night, you could not console until she came around. We had a fellow camper stop by the tent at 2 AM to "See if everything was all right in there." I'm sure it sounded like murder. Have a great trip.
Thank you, Leslie. Oh gosh, I can imagine... I am familiar with night terrors, too. Mine seem to be growing out of them, thankfully. I have some good travel sleepwalking tales from when I was a kid, though, haha. Yes, my two are very much outdoor kids, which is just the way I like it.
So much of life is about contrast, Alia (this was actually said by Virginia Woolf; I believe I read it in one of her diaries), but this idea comes to mind when I read this story of your adventure with the kids in the wilderness. We need the experiences that make us value a clean bathroom (smile).
Oh, yes clean bathroom appreciation is next level, haha! I love that line Nancy.
It's a nice way to frame life as being about contrasts, and that's a great observation by Woolf. It's reminded me of that Masonic rug, and of yin and yang. Life isn't the happy personal-marketing Instagram snap that most people would have us believe, especially not family holidays. But the highs are beautiful and make the lows worth pitching the tent for :)
Absolutely, Alia! And there is nowhere else you can feel as intimate a connection to the natural world as in just sleeping in it, being in it for a while. And paying attention, closely, to its beauty.
I sold and serviced all kinds of sporting goods for almost thirty years, including camping equipment. I’ve never been camping in my life. My ankylosing spondylitis probably started when I was eight years old, when I had several episodes of pain in my left hip which left me limping around for weeks at a time and my teacher asking me what was wrong with my leg. Even my twisted little eight year old brain could tell that sleeping outdoors was a terrible idea. I was able to give customers great advice because I had thrift-shopped a seventy-year-old camping book written by a pair of gentlemen who were big game hunting and fishing guides. I took time with clients and served them well. As much as a year after I retired people were still asking for me by name, which drove the guy nuts who moved into my job. I met him once when I stopped in to visit and he told me he was getting sick of hearing “Rafy this” and “Rafy that.” I hope he’s gotten over it by now.
That must have been some book! You know, camping isn't for everyone. It's a state of mind, really. I crave being out in wild and remote places for days on end. I like to switch off. But you can't switch off with kids, and you can't get that remote with them either, so we make do with the chaos between 🙂
Speaking of kids, I think you and Dad are going to have to have “the talk” with your little angels pretty soon.
Ahhh, yes, but talking is only of use to those that hear 🙉
Painting out in the boonies so electric the colors. I find tents block out stars but when rain protects. Problem is finding a right spot for sleeping bag where you are not lying on a rock.
You are so right, Richard. It's beautiful to roll over in the night and see the heavens. But tents keep away the dew, and the dingoes from sniffing, haha. It's much easier with the two littlies--they can't sneak off on us in the night.
I'm a little ahead of you with 15, 12, and (almost) 10 year olds and I can promise you it gets easier! We have camped all through pregnancies, babies, toddlers and kids and while we've had plenty of moments of 'what the F are we doing!?' we're now reaping the rewards with kids who love nature, can throw on a backpack and go for a walk (albeit with various complaints) and who always ask when we're going camping next when we're at home. Two years ago when our youngest was 8 we did our first overnight hike - big moments of 'what the F are we doing!?' but fast forward to now and we're currently planning our third, speaking of gluttons for punishment!
That's great to hear, Lucinda. That's our goal. Where are you going on your next hike?
Our aim is to train their little legs up to go on overnight hikes too (or perhaps a walk across Scotland, haha).
I don't have kids, yet I can picture this so vividly :-) And the Peak-End hypothesis is a nugget to take away. Have fun at Mungo NP (gonna be a little chilly there at night, but you'd be used to that) and Budj Bim. Two unforgettable places. When you're at Budj Bim the food at the Tae Rak bush tucker café, run by the Traditional Owners, was great (or it was when we were there two years ago). As long as you like eel!
Thanks for the tip, I'm sure we'll pay Tae Rak a visit, too! We're always on the lookout for good food :)
We're all very much looking forward to those National Parks. They've been on my list of places to visit for such a long time. It won't be relaxing, but I'm sure the visual feast will make up for it (and the kids really do love it).
Alia, how to say this story resonated very strongly with me. I love camping and being outside with my family, but I also feel a sort of prickly aversion, like the family camping trip is a challenge or a mountain climb itself!
For all the discomfort and difficulties I love that these experiences unite us in wonder and a love for the natural world.
Have a wonderful trip, it sounds incredible. I hope the wonder outweighs the challenges! I’ll be thinking of you.
Kate :)
Thanks Kate :) It's so funny that you made that analogy between camping with kids and mountain climbing because I agree it's absolutely an endurance test. Years ago, I saw an episode of Bear Grills in which he joined the French Foreign Legion as a test of his mental and physical endurance, and honestly, it looks like a holiday to me now. Send me off to the Legion to relax, haha.
But overall, we do love it. And it may not be the style of camping we would have done pre-kids, but we still get so much out of visiting new places. It's still over a month away, and all four of us talk about it every day :)
I feel your conflicting feelings! Love your thoughts but have to admit, to use the current vernacular, to being “triggered” with memories of Claire and Will at that age. The memories get shinier and happier as time goes by. All worth it. Have a wonderful and safe trip❤️
Thank you, Kim. We're all very excited about the trip. I expect we'll have a great time, but I'm under no illusions... there'll be nothing relaxing about it 😆