Just after my trip to New York City I thought to myself about a vacation that would be the complete opposite of a trip to New York City.

Not because I didn’t have fun, but because variety is the spice of life. Also, Tiff has never been camping.

We’ve been pretty dedicated “it just makes more sense to get a hotel or a cabin” folk, but dang: between the rent crisis and 100% inflation that’s starting to get less and less practical.

So, with the pandemic finally kinda nearing behind us, I was planning on going to the United States and doing a bunch of geeky stuff - PAX, MagWest, maybe JoCoCruise - but then instead the USA came down with a bad case of the fascism and I got stuck at home doing camping instead.

Thing is, after camping, like, three times, I’m not convinced that I like camping so much as I enjoyed buying and trying out camping gear. That’s the real sport, I think.

If you aren’t way in to the beautiful outdoors, Canada can be boring as shit, y’all, this whole ass country is like if Montana were 50 times bigger and exactly as boring.

Honestly, though, buying a whole bunch of camping shit and going camping a bunch of times turned out to be, like, a fraction of the cost of going anywhere and doing anything, so that’s nice.

At the expense, of, like, going to nowhere and doing nothing and eating sandwiches in the dirt next to like 18 other families.

He’s learning how to camp with us:

Tent & Sleepin'

• tent
  • if the tent has piddly little plastic stakes, buy some metal stakes online
• foamgrid (yoga foam grid makes the floor less pointy, optional)
• inflatable mattress, cots, or sleeping pads
• sleeping bags
• pillows
• clothing
• rain coat
• portable battery pack (for recharging devices, lights) with lots of usb-C and usb-micro cables
• little broom (tidy up that tent, it’s gonna get dusty in there)
• toothbrush, toothpaste, floss
• disposable pocket cloth & sanitizer

Setting Up a Chill Zone

• canopy
  • you should stake down the canopy as well, this is another reason why a small bag of your own stakes is handy
• folding chairs
• lights
  • it’s nice to have one lamp per person, plus a hanging lamp for the inside of your tent, and a few lights to hang at the periphery of your canopy or put on your picnic table
  • these are a lot less necessary if you’re not night owls and you’re camping in the summer when it’s not dark until 9PM anyways

The Cooking Matrix

putting a “complete” camp-kitchen set together is one of the harder parts, I built a big disorganized-but-complete plastic tub that I keep in storage you can buy elaborate camping cookware sets online for too much money but I just tossed some kitchen extras and spares in a big tub, heavier but cheaper

• propane & stove
• paper towel roll
• aluminum foil roll
• kitchen garbage bags
• plates
• cups
• a pot
• a pan
• tongs
• spatula
• a cooking knife (use one of your shittiest at home knives, pack carefully)
• a cutting board
• soap, dishrack, sponge & basin
• oil
• salt & pepper
• sugar
• a l’il extra fold-up side table
• water jug (bring water from home, camp water may not be potable)
• kettle
• coffee & tea bags

Kitchen Zone Doesn’t Mean Nothin’ Without

• a cooler, full of food
• I fill mine with reusable ice packs rather than loose ice, which is less good at maintaining chill but more convenient
• vegetables & fruits (I have an insulated bag that I use for these, they don’t need to stay SO COOL but keeping them from roasting in the heat is probably good)
• snacks & dry goods in a tub

What Do You Do While Camping (I Mostly Do Stuff I Would Do Indoors)

• book
• games
• notepad?
• small bluetooth speaker to play at a reasonable volume from 9 to 11

Utility

• hatchet
• tarps
• clamps
• rope
• duct tape
• lighter (long-neck)
• first aid kit
• can of bug spray
• fire-roastin’ stick

Further Nerdery

• this can be logistically complicated to get together - prepare a pre-launch checklist that includes steps like “fill water jug”, “charge lamps”, “pack food”, etc..

This Seems like a Lot Of Stuff

It is.

I went October camping (widely considered to be a bad idea this deep into the fall) and I was counting on climate change to make it practical - which it did.

actually fall camping is really great, cool and crisp and nice

is every boomer hobby just gasoline and lakes