Benefits of Camping
When going on a camping trip there are a lot of things to consider. Like what to pack in your backpack. What are the appropriate clothes to wear? How much food to bring? Where to camp.
Sometimes all of these consume us, and it can be demoralizing. But did you know there are heaps of benefits that camping can manifest in our daily lives?
Here are some examples of how camping can benefit us.
Lower Stress Levels
Living in the city has barricaded us from having a deep connection with nature. It is innate for us humans to have a bond with our natural surroundings. Being with nature increases our serotonin or our happy hormones that reflect throughout our whole body. Camping allows us to cope with stress positively.
Fresh Air
If you spent most of your life within your city, you might not notice that the air is different from the city than that of a place that has fewer cars, buildings, and denser trees. The air you breathe is fresher.
Everything that your body consumes, like the air you breathe, relates to the serotonin levels in your brain. Which, in return, improves your blood pressure and boosts your immune system.
Mental Therapy
Spot the demeanor of people after they come home from a nature trip. Their spirit seems more uplifted. All they talk about is their trip and how great it was. So much positivity fills up their whole body, there is no mental or emotional strain.
There is an increase in dopamine, a hormone, and a neurotransmitter in our brains responsible for us feeling good.
It has been scientifically proven that communing with nature lowers stress levels and increases dopamine, serotonin, and melatonin in our brains. Camping is a different type of relaxation that the mind-body and soul needs that only by being with our natural environment can allow us to heal.
It is also a form of meditation. Meditation doesn’t only involve sitting with our eyes closed, breathing, trying to align chakras. But it consists of being self-aware and external awareness. Camping can give you all of these and more by internalizing and accepting everything in the now.
Reconnect with Yourself and Nature
Camping is definitely not for everyone. But it is so apparent that we bond with nature in any sort of way. These days, there is such a thing as glamping. The essence is still there, but some still want the comfort of a flushing toilet or the safety from unwanted threats from wildlife.
The most important thing is to have a united relationship with nature once again. We have spent so much of our time creating activities to enjoy indoors but neglect to see the natural benefits of outdoor activities.
Discovering more of our biodiversity. The fascinating interconnected complex system of the web of life. Everything that we do is somewhat linked to one another; every being and every spec in this world is connected and bound by the natural world. Grounding or Earthing is another way to reconnect with mother nature.
Human invention is so spectacular that we have invented shoes to protect ourselves from harm, yet we never realized that we are untying our union with nature. The act of barefoot contact with the earth improves our overall health, lowers inflammation, and improves blood circulation.
The benefits of camping can foster a connection with oneself in ways that you couldn’t even imagine. Being in a place with such clarity, one cannot avoid but to reevaluate oneself.
A Newfound Respect for Nature
Keeping in touch with nature through camping generates mutual respect. The earth has given us so much of its resources and asks for nothing in return. When we become more aware of how to respect nature, we can enjoy the natural world’s maximum splendor.
Develop New Skills
Do you ever feel like a zombie with your daily routine? Wake up, coffee, check email, work, lunch, coffee, make dinner, bathe, sleep, then repeat. Jobs require so much that it puts pressure on our daily lives. The constant repetition doesn’t allow us to develop new skills and unlock fresh potential.
You will learn how to solve problems creatively. For instance, when you pitch your tent and one of the poles break. You would have to think of ways on how to mend it. What if you forget to bring a skillet? You may improvise by using a flat rock for cooking your food.
There are so many unexpected things that can happen during the camping trip that requires you to think creatively. This will, later on, reflect on how you deal with life in the city.
Exercise
For more obvious reasons, exercise is one of the greatest benefits camping can give you.
Your body engages in so much physical activity when you go on a camping trip. You burn so many calories by getting involved in activities like kayaking, swimming, and even fishing.
An average person burns about 2,000 calories a day while camping. Just hiking alone can work your cardiovascular muscles. Working out doesn’t have to be so dull after all. In fact, you don’t even have to pay membership fees at the gym.
Strengthens Relationship Bonds
It is such a unique experience that reinforces the bond that you have with your peers. There are fewer distractions that can intervene between you and your peers. This is the best time to unplug from the world of virtual reality and engage in personal face to face relationships.
You get to know so much about your friends and family just by simply going on a camping trip. You may be camping with the same people you see at home or at work, or at the bar, but this time it is in a different environment, which calls for another type of interaction.
The memories that you create is something that you will cherish. You will realize that life is precious and short, and you would want to spend more time together.
You create a lifestyle that fits both of your needs in life. Camping doesn’t only strengthen the bonds you have with others but also yourself. Your lifestyle may require you to interact with so many people that you neglect yourself.
Author
As a child, NJ Caplinger has always wondered about the world around her. Growing up she found connection with nature that deeply rooted within her throughout. An intimate relationship that solidified when she landed a job as an Island Manager on an island sanctuary by an NGO, PRRCFI. She launched an inspiring brand, Circularware as a beacon to curve pollution. Now a mother, she hopes to show her daughter the extraordinary world around us.
If You See an Open Space in a Forest, Get Away Fast!
by BRIGHT SIDE
Published on Youtube on Dec 14, 2020
The beauty of nature all around you, the fresh air, and days and days of meditative rest far away from civilization ahead of you. But you’ve been walking for quite some time to get this far, and now it’s time to set up camp. The woods around are dense, and there’s no suitable place to put up your tent. Then, you notice a nice green patch completely devoid of trees and only sprinkled with some low-growing bushes. You go there, smug about your find, and get to work on the tent.
The ground is unusually soft and smooth, but that doesn’t bother you too much. By the time you’re done, it’s dark already, so you get inside the tent and crawl into your cozy sleeping bag. You wake up from a creeping feeling that something’s not right. You feel… wet?
You rush out of the tent as quickly as you can and see that it’s started to sink into the ground. Turns out you’ve set up camp on a swamp! Swamps aren’t always obvious. But there are some other things that can ruin your forest vacation so today we’ll tell you how to camp in the wood!
