by Daniel Lawton
Ever been on a bad camping trip?
Most people have, but haven’t allowed one bad camping experience to prevent them from enjoying the outdoors.
However, this Memorial Weekend, while thousands of eager campers across America are headed for camping trips in parks and wilderness areas, it appears some are slightly less enthusiastic about a weekend in the outdoors.
Jaleh Teymourian Brahms, a writer for the Montclair Patch in New Jersey, recently wrote a scathing column about her distaste for what she referred to as “sleeping in dirt.”
Brahms aversion to camping trips originated during a bad camping experience in college and since then she has refrained from camping for over a decade. However, she was recently persuaded by her husband to accompany him and their son on his first camping trip.
Overcome with conflicting emotions, she sought solace and camaraderie in the world’s best support group: the Internet.
“As someone who doesn’t think pretending you’re homeless is an awesome way to relax I have been furiously researching the Internet, ” she wrote.
Her results surprised me.
According to Brahms, and independently verified by my own Google searches, there are ton of of people who hate camping. In fact, if you search the terms, “I hate camping,” you’ll get reams of results. Apparently, the anti-camping community is so passionate that there are even a number of Facebook groups dedicated to the cause.
So, what’s the beef with camping?
In a column he wrote for OP-ED news, comedy writer John Blumenthal summed up his feelings on the matter quite succinctly, writing the following.
Camping: A form of recreation in which people voluntarily leave the comfort of their homes to experience what it was like to live like a Neanderthal. It usually results in insect bites, smoke poison ivy, backaches, and has become an excellent source of income for the motel industry.
Of course, camping isn’t for everyone, but man, I was a bit shocked that there were so many “camping scrooges” out there. I think that many bad camping experiences–including some of my own–result not from the outdoors, but from a lack of planning.
In further explaining her camping anxiety, Brahms cites similar factors.
The worst part for me, is the infuriating desire on the part of everyone else to ‘wing it’. No, no, no. Forewarned is forearmed. If I am going I am going to know what I’m sleeping on, what we need to bring and how much. Not to mention with the nearest hospital 50 minutes away according to the state park’s website, I need to be 100 percent certain that the food will be safe for my very allergic son.
There is always a bit of spontaneity involved with any camping trip, but planning for contingencies is always crucial, especially like in this situation above.
Regardless, all of this camping negativity has me wondering how many other people there are trembling with implacable distaste for the outdoors.
Throw down a comment below and let us know if you have friends or family members with a similar loathing for camping. If so, have you been able to change their minds
