Camping: the other way to vacation

Only this year we have begun camping. It took us a very long time to do that. To go out and buy the tent, the sleeping bags, the gas burner, the air mattress, the hurricane lamp. As if we were scared to start out.

Camping in the wilderness is a new concept to me. Coming from India, where even living space is scarce, finding a bit of wilderness to set up the camping gear is not easy. Only sometimes we used to hear about people exploring the forests, or the mountains. The wildest one could go there is travel up the Himalayas. That is the definition od the remote and the exotic in India.

But here in the US, bits of forests and the wild seem to be everywhere. Especially in California, remoteness can be very nearby. Even adjacent to a city one could find a bit of forest. It is great to find pieces of what appeared like untouched nature.

And so, the camping sites are some of the bits of American wilderness to where people escape when the urban get on their nerves. When the fabulous beaches, the five star hotels and cruises do not hold any more fascination, when deserts do not surprise, when snowfall tires you.

Summer is the time when people get out in hordes, carrying their supplies, their food in ice boxes, their soaps and tissues handy, searching for that bit of nature that would touch their heart and cool their stressed out frayed nerves. The few sites we have invaded by now are El Capitan, Los Padres, and Big Sur. And we have not regretted for desiding to try out what camping is all about. Especially the fir at night! Isn't it romantic? Memorable?