Born and raised in the city of Los Angeles, all I see is cement and palm trees. City people don’t just say they feel like camping then get up and go. Going camping is a strategic plan and it’s a big deal. To find a great spot to camp, you have to get at least an hour out of the city.

It wasn’t until I came to Oklahoma that I wasn’t really camping throughout the years as a child. Yeah, I would camp close by nature next to many other people, but never fully submerged in nature with no one to be seen or heard. Camping is fully using the land around you, and that includes using nature as your bathroom too.

This is what a city girl does when she goes camping:

Stand helpless putting up a tent.

How does this pole and this pole turn into a tent? The whole thing is so overwhelming that you let the pro put the pro in setting up a tent. Ah, you’ll now do it next time!

Sit helpless making a fire.

You’ve sat around a fire before but who was the one to make it? Someone who has lived in the city, it was probably an outdoor gas fire pit. We love our technology.

Become paranoid that mosquitos and ticks are out to get you.

Well, they are. But if you’re out camping you need to set that aside and just enjoy the great outdoors! It would have been smart to bring bug repellent.

Ticks are worse than shots.

You don’t see them and then BAM, they magically appear all over your body. The worst part is that you can’t immediately flick them off. There’s a technique to removing ticks. It can be a long and uncomfortable process knowing that a bugs head is inside you drinking your blood. Mhmmm yum.

Snapping sticks means a murderer is on the loose.

You’re alone in a tent, it’s pitch black, and then there’s the unknown. It feels like it’s you against the world out there. You hear a stick snap. Thoughts of “Why did a stick snap?” “A stick would only snap because something made it snap.” “Was it an animal or a person” Then you realize that trees naturally make noises too. -_-

Realizing you needed this.

You’ve been cooped up in a city all your life. You never realized how amazing nature is! Sometimes it’s nice to step away from the noise, needing to always be somewhere and life’s drama. Camping gives you “you time”.

Ironically, camping may not be a natural thing for some of us as we’ve evolved into a society that’s dependent on technology. Give camping a try and some time, and you’ll be making it your escape from time to time. Go out and experience something new!