Left in the dark

yellow tent under starry night

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

About that trip where I slept on the ground, in a tent, in a sleeping bag…

I also had to set up the tent in the dark, alone.

OK, so growing up, we were always setting up camping for family camping trips in the dark. It became a joke later as us kids got older, but all of us hated it growing up. And, it was always dad’s fault because he was always late getting home, which meant late leaving, which meant late arriving, which meant setting up in the dark.

So, as an adult out on my own, I always made it a point to leave early enough so as to not have to set up camp in the dark. I was pretty successful at getting it done! So much for being like my dad, right?

Well, I now know why dad was always late. His job – or in our case, our existence. He was a business owner and did everything. As the business grew, so did the work and the employees and everything else he was responsible for. So, of course he was always late.

Dad, I now understand.

But, I still hate setting up camp in the dark. Period.

I’m too old for this

relaxation forest break camping

Photo by Raj Tatavarthy on Pexels.com

I recently attended a mini family reunion on the other side of the state. It was a quick one, just over a weekend so two nights was all I was staying. I was also going alone, kids were busy and wife had to work, so I didn’t need to take the usual stuff. I wanted to travel light and quickly.

So, I threw a few camping type supplies into the car and some clothes, and off I went. Tent, sleeping bag, clothes, food.

Well, I regretted “go light” as soon as I climbed into the tent to sleep. I didn’t include the usual stuff like a sleeping pad or an air mattress, like I would have if someone else was along with me. What was I thinking?

My body doesn’t handle the same things it could when I was younger. Apparently my brain thinks I am still young enough to do this crap, my body obviously let me know that wasn’t the case. Comfort? Yeah, not so much. Sleeping on the ground and having an old body (or at least feeling old) just doesn’t add up to much sleep.

Lesson learned? Take the comfortable stuff. It isn’t over-rated.