I really believe we should do the things that scare us, Mr. Reader. In fact, I walk around talking this big talk to my kids on the daily. Today I want to tell you about last weekend when I had to put my money where my mouth is and do a scary thing myself. I went on a solo camping trip in Vermont!
And…it turned out to be THE MOST AMAZING TIME!!!!!
Backstory is that I had booked a 4th of July campsite in Vermont’s Green Mountains months ago. When Ellie got her summer job they made it clear that nobody was getting time off at the holiday. That opened Liam’s eyes to the idea that he might not have to go brave the spiders in the wilderness and that meant that Brent was stuck staying at home being the parent my kids need. Not me, though. I packed up the tent (ok Brent packed the car) and drove north. I was not going to miss a chance to be in the mountains.
The whole car ride the self-doubt swirled in my head. I kept thinking – I don’t know if I can put up the tent by myself. I don’t know if I can build a fire by myself (in fact, I’ve never understood why Brent is always blowing on it). I am scared of the quiet. What if I get eaten by a bear? Or more likely by another human? If I’m being honest, I was scared.
But then I got to my campsite. I set that tent up like I had done it a million times. Actually the rain fly might have been backwards but it didn’t seem to matter. I got the fire lit without any blowing! I proceeded to spend the next 3 days eating blueberry pie, watching the fire and reading The Big Rock Candy Mountain (Mr. Reader, go read that now!). Lemmy and I took a 5 mile hike and I saw a total of 2 other people the entire time! Turns out I was never bored; I couldn’t be bored with trees and dirt around me. I slept like a baby (with the hatchet next to my pillow) and just chilled.
The only withdrawal I experienced was not being able to share these experiences with my family. So I drew them into my stories. Literally!
We had breakfast together:
You are my hero! I am afraid to stay in our house alone since a bat chose to visit the last time Terry was gone overnight.