The Cure

 

 

Why do we do it to ourselves? All this hassle and fuss just to go away camping. If I for a moment thought that I had made a mistake and that I should call off my journey to simplify our lives, then this weekend cured me forever.

Tripping over boxes to look for camping gear is not my idea of preparing for a getaway.

You can be sure that the next time our annual camping trip comes around everything that is essential will go with us and anything that is not, will not be piled up in our basement "just in case." So much wasted energy goes into storing stuff "just in case" we need it. It makes the thought of packing up to go away seem like a nightmare. There is a fine line between taking too much and not taking enough, and that is where planning comes in. I have found that using bins to put the essentials in really helps and for us they need to be transparent tubs. In one tub goes the food preparation tools which are far less that last year...if I did not use it, it got removed from the tub. In another tub, yes only one tub, goes my daughter's clothes and in the other, my son's clothes. That is it! In Summer they live in swim suits anyhow. One tub for my clothes and another for the beach towels. One tub for groceries and one for dishes, cups, tongs etc. In a small tub goes medications we might need, bug spray and sunscreen.

How about if it rains, what then? Ever been camping with kids in the rain? And no they are not taking electronic games with, we are on a non- electric site and besides, camping is a NO ELECTRONICS ZONE. Besides having my cell phone in case of emergencies, electronics will not infringe on our family time. The essential entertainment tub holds books, board games and a few toys.

See how serene and peaceful this scene is, that is out destination. The goal is to make the journey there just as appealing.

Gone are the days when we took everything including the kitchen sink. That's not camping, that is transferring your house to a campsite. What fun is in that? To be quite honest, the only reason that we make the effort to go camping is because of the children and the wonderful memories they store up. You can't put a price on memories and experiences that they will remember when they have grown up and have their own offspring.

I want them to remember the wonderful times away from it all, not the stress mom and dad went through to get them to the campsite.