Finding Joy in Camping: My Recent Love Affair with the Outdoors

Recently, I have fallen in love with camping.

Strictly speaking, I may have loved it a long time ago, maybe it started when I was lying under the blooming purple flowers of the flat bean trellis behind my grandmother's house when I was a child, or maybe it started when I saw the hammock between the two water cypresses in front of my grandmother's house...

But it wasn't until recently that I realized I enjoy camping and can create the necessary conditions for it.

It all started with a short video. One night before bed, I was scrolling through short videos as usual, and I came across a camping video. It was a video of a woman camping in the rain. In the video, she was alone, opening the tent connected to the back of her car, connecting and setting up the poles, hanging up small lights, arranging tables and chairs, setting up a stove, pouring coffee...

The whole video had no music or dialogue. In a few minutes, amidst the sound of rain, she systematically set up her camping site. I don't know why, but it captivated me and I watched it several times in a trance.

Later on, I saw photos of colleagues camping by the lake on weekends, and I suddenly felt a strong urge to buy a tent.

It's strange to say, I have seen people around me pitch tents and go camping before. When my son was younger, my girlfriends organized tent camping trips many times, and I took my son to join them and thought it was great, but I never thought about buying my own tent.

Perhaps, at that time, my child was still young, and his father never went out to play with us. Subconsciously, I felt that pitching a tent was not something I could do alone, so it influenced my consciousness and made me feel that pitching a tent had nothing to do with me, and I never had the thought of needing a tent.

But now, I suddenly understand that video, that girl pitching a big tent alone, awakened my subconscious. It told me that even if I'm alone, I can pitch a tent, even if I'm alone, I can go camping.

Thinking back, the most unconscious videos I have watched are series about wilderness survival, building houses with bare hands, and making furniture. I have always secretly liked them, but never thought that I could have them myself.

And now, I suddenly feel that I can have them.

Now, I have the ability to pitch a tent, and my son has grown up. Even if he doesn't help, at least I don't have to spend my energy taking care of him or watching over him. As for whether it's worth spending this non-essential money, based on my experiences over the years, I think it's worth it. It can bring me joy, allow me to temporarily escape from the occasional challenges at home, let me enjoy the outdoors I love, and fulfill my preferences. It's really worth it...

After understanding all this, I started searching for a tent online.

Naturally, I first looked for the kind of tent in the video that can be connected to the back of a car, but after thinking about it, our area doesn't have the kind of wilderness suitable for parking and pitching a tent anywhere, so I gave up on that idea. I looked at other options, there are many regular tents, but I don't just want to lie down; canopy tents are nice because they provide shade and a place to put tables and chairs, but there's nowhere to lie down after eating. So, the need for a combination of canopy and tent became evident.

Following this line of thinking, I found a tent of the right size - not too big, because I have to be able to set it up myself, but not too small, as it wouldn't fulfill my need to both sit and lie down.

I was very satisfied with the result. I spent $69.99 to get a canopy combo and also spent over $30 to buy a small trailer - which is necessary because I wouldn't be able to carry so much equipment on my own. And as it turns out, the combination of the tent and canopy that I chose is great. When I brought it camping, people from nearby campsites came to visit and praised it.

As luck would have it, this Saturday, I excitedly took my son and all the equipment to the place where our friends invited us to go camping before.

Once again, I exclaimed that buying all this was really worth it. It not only allowed me to enjoy the joy of camping but also allowed me to appreciate the beautiful scenery - in such a beautiful place, there are so many natural conditions that allow us to go out and explore. It's really not right to stay at home every day!

 This place has a few small lakes and a small mountain. There are parking lots and camping areas near the mountain and lakes. The parking lot where we went was spacious and free. There were many people camping by the lake, and there were also a few RVs parked in the parking lot, just the right amount of people without being crowded.

The wide lake reflects the blue sky, and the spring breeze blowing on the lake is comfortable and charming. There is an uncle playing music next to us, singing some cheesy yet touching songs. A few tents are set up on a small open space by the lake, adults are chatting happily, and children are running and playing joyfully. Everything is so perfect.

We encountered a trained dragon boat again. With the sound of drumbeats, the oars cut through the water in a synchronized motion, creating a brushing sound. Sometimes it drifted away from us, and other times it came closer.

 The vastness of this world, the abundance of this universe, this is what comfortable and beautiful life is all about!

Really, life is short. Whatever you enjoy doing, as long as it's not a bad thing and doesn't bother others, you should arrange it as soon as possible.

PS: Setting up the camping tent is easy, it takes almost a minute to do it, but it takes some effort to pack it up. There was no tutorial video for the rainfly at first, and the instruction manual was super simple. I didn't know how to set up the ropes and poles, so I struggled for a long time. But now that I know how, it seems really simple. Overall, it takes more effort than I imagined.