Back From Camp
When you come back to work after a fortnight's leave colleagues always ask you if you've had a good break. A one word answer to that question would seem rude. Too much information can be tiresome. The trick is knowing how to respond in a way that doesn't cause people's eyes to glaze over.
So it was with me yesterday when I returned to the office in Inverness and tried to explain how much I'd enjoyed a week of touring and camping in the Highlands - all without sounding like the kind of crazy person who thinks PVC groundsheets and alloy tent pegs are a worthy topic of conversation.
But the truth is, we had a great time and I believe I may have caught the camping bug. We progressed from last year's back-garden sleepovers to pitching up in an actual campsite. Our favourite was the Glenmore site at Loch Morlich.
Our two-pod family tent (bought in a supermarket sale two years ago) did look a bit shabby next to the luxury camper vans and canvas palaces besides us. I was slightly envious of those blokes with all the gadgets: satellite dishes, solar panels, lawn mowers.
Lawn mowers? Yes, one man was mowing the grass around his pitch so that the "footprint" of his tent would be smooth.
It seems there are at least two types of campers. Some see their tent or caravan as nothing m more than a place to sleep after a day of fun and frolics in the water or on the hillsides. Others regard their pitch as a home-from-home and try set up as many modern conveniences as possible. I actually saw some kids under a gazebo playing video games projected on to a big screen.
I'm not sure which camp the Zed family will end up in. But come back soon and I'll tell you about that new groundsheet I just bought. No, really.
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~22~RS~)
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You are correct in your observation. I usually put them in the less is better, and more is better groups.
The challenge for the less is better is to see how little one needs to have a good time. How many uses you can find for a single item. The ultimate less is better is the Hitch Hiker's Guide (all you need is the Hitch Hiker's Guide and a towel)?
For the more is better group, they want to see how much they can bend nature to their will. It is the mastery of Man over nature that causes this group to continually find ways to make their mobile experience as much like staying at home as possible.
I tend toward the less better group. I find great pleasure in the number of different uses I can find for a large red bandana.
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Intereating. I find myself in both camps! I am really happy catching fish and cooking it over a wee stove and really roughing it as far as the camping stuff is concerned, but I HAVE to have my Internet access - for work, mainly, although I do like to keep up with the chatter on blogs etc. Actually it's not that hard, and these days with all the online TV and 'radio' services that exist, something like an iPhone or a laptop with public broadband access is all you need, recharged as you drive around in your car (power inverter installed of course!)
:-)
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OOPS! Intereating? I'm not into cannibalism, honest! A nice bit of pan-fried trout in some butter with a chunk of bread and a steaming mug of coffee is more my style!
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Hotels are good.
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I have fond memories of learning to canoe at Loch Morlich as a kid - and marvelling at the man-made beach! :-)
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Jeff:
It's always nice, to be get a vacation..Camping is not my type of tea; But, at least you got some time off from work....
=Dennis Junior=
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