Camp Anawanna?

Apologies for my lack of blogging lately, but don’t be looking for any blogging next week either.

Why?

Because I will be camping [for the first time ever].

No need to adjust the brightness on your monitor, I did just say camping.

What started out as a joke between friends has quickly escalated to a very real reality. I will be one with nature beginning on Monday. Sound the alarms.

Surprisingly, I am actually very excited to partake in my first camping trip. For one, I will be going in toe with 6 of my closet friends, copious amounts of alcohol and scrabble. All of which amount to a wonderful time separately, never mind when they are combined together. Secondly, I have been [if only just slightly] neurotically checking the weather forecast, and it seems as though things look relatively dry*

Much to my worry, I have gotten mixed reviews re: my upcoming camping trip. Statistics based on initial reactions are shared below:

• 50% agree that I will enjoy camping…and maybe even love it
• 30% think that camping is the most wretched activity ever to be invented by man
• 18% politely expressed that everyone has that “one camping story” and that they can’t wait to hear mine
• 2% immediately warned me not to trust anyone if they said they would bring a sleeping bag for me to borrow.

These reactions worried me for many reasons, the most glaring reason being that I am, in fact, relying on someone to bring me a sleeping bag. Do you not think I will be a fun camper? Do I seem like a high maintence person? Why don’t you think I will like camping? [Insert neurotic questioning rant here.]

I decided that, instead of allowing others to decide whether or not I would be a good camper, I would myself decide if I could hack it in the wilderness of New Hampshire during October.

Here enter my Pro/Con Camping List:

These are the reasons why I will be a fantastic fall camper.

1. I am excited! Generally, positive attitude = positive experience. I think [I am going to have fun], therefore I am [going to have fun].
2. I can do cold weather. I don’t just “do” cold weather, I excel in cold weather. Cold builds character, and I have lots of character. Let’s take this opportunity to remember my collegiate years in the arctic, where yours truly joined a sorority where it was tradition to all sleep in one room with the windows open all year round.
3. I like nature…as in I like gazing at stars, sitting around camp fires, and hanging outside with friends…I think.
4. I can sleep anywhere, provided it isn’t extremely uncomfortable, light or hot, and that I can fall asleep on my stomach.
5. I am excited to turn off my cell phone…can you hear me now? Nope.
6. I am very educated on what to do if something goes wrong. I have seen pretty much every episode of “Man vs Wild”, as well as “Man, Woman, Wild.” I feel confident on my abilities to thrive under pressure in an emergency. I think of my continuing outdoor education and my epipen in a similar manner: I learn to use it with the hopes of never having to.
7. I love the people I’m going with. Good company = good time.

These are the reasons why I might not be a fantastic camper.

1. The closest experience I have ever had to camping would be day drinking at the Hunt. The Hunt, for those of you who don’t know, is a horse race in Jersey where the waspy 20-somethings of New England pretend to be outdoorsy by standing in a muddy field in preparation for a fox hunt. This is also an opportunity for wasps to wear their Barbour jacket, Hunter boots, and Rayban sunglasses just to say as to say “I’m loaded, waspy, but can be bro outdoors.” I wish I could pretend that I wasn’t absolutely dying for a Barbour jacket, but I completely am. I digress.
2. Nature…as in existing with it for an extended period of time. I wouldn’t be concerned if we were taking a short camping trip, however, me being me agreed to go on a six day camping excursion, having never gone before…not my brightest idea.
3. Bugs. I don’t do well with bugs, spiders, snakes, or anything else I have seen on the Discovery Channel.
4. Hi, I have Celiac. No one wants to go camping with someone who has a food problem.
5. Hi, I have an epipen. No one wants to go camping with someone who could die because of said food problem.
6. I am no good at hiking, but I think I am saved with the group I am going with, as the word “exercise” is often perceived as a bad word.
7. I have a very vibrant imagination and am extremely paranoid. This cannot be a good combination in the middle of the woods with a bunch of pranksters.

Stay tuned for my camping experiences, and that one token camp story that is bound to be born.

Signed, Woman of the Wilderness