Camping, as a recreational activity, is considered to be a tremendously rewarding experience primarily because it allows people to commune with nature (Millers). While Miller's observation, no doubt, has a great deal of validity, the fact is that camping also results in a host of other benefits such as the development of planning ability, survival skills, endurance, self-sufficiency, responsibility, and a chance to prove one's mettle (Shivers & Shivers, p. 286-7). Thus, it can be said that camping provides educational, social, and recreational experiences that are vital to the growth and development of the human personality (Shivers & Shivers, p. 2).
Of course, the degree to which a camping experience results in developing an individual's knowledge of nature or the skills described earlier depends on the type of camp or camping activity. For instance, some camps are so well organized that they offer virtually all the conveniences of modern living. In fact, such camps often resemble a huge playground (Mason & Mitchell, p. 392-393). At the other end of the spectrum, some campers choose to go totally rustic and simply live off the land, which means that they are traveling without any supplies and making do with whatever they can find or devise. Campers can also pack-in or backpack their way across a pre-planned terrain (Shivers & Shivers, p. 1).
Irrespective of the type of camping activity, however, camping is defined as living in or as close to nature as possible (Shivers & Shivers, p. 1). Indeed, this is precisely why camping is often described as a way of communing with nature. Interestingly, campers report varying benefits from living in the wilderness. Nature lovers, for example, are said to literally go into raptures as they describe a night spent along the banks of the...
Some city dwellers, on the other hand, describe camping as a welcome escape from the daily grind, noise, and pollution of the city (Mason & Mitchell, p. 395). Then, of course, there are those who perceive educational value in camping in as much as it teaches them to appreciate, use, and preserve natural resources (Shivers & Shivers, p. 2). Thus, the camping or rather the nature experience can result in multiple benefits, with a great deal depending on the eye of the beholder.
However, the camping experience can well turn out to be a nightmare if it is undertaken without a great deal of thought, planning, and preparation. This is particularly true of solo or independent camping trips. For, as Koch & Koch point out, the outdoors can prove to be tough on the uninitiated. On the other hand, the same great outdoors can offer the camper a rare sense of accomplishment derived from the knowledge that one's organizational, survival, and endurance skills have been tested and proven (Millers).
A camper's organizational and survival skills are particularly put to the test while on the trail or during nights that are spent away from the comforts of a main camp. Experienced campers advise that sound planning, adequate preparation, and even dry runs to acquire basic camping skills should precede such trips. A key part of such pre-planning involves the choice of equipment, which must be done with the objective of achieving a compact but fully equipped rig. Indeed, it is critical that a camper has comfortable clothing, sleeping gear, foul-weather protection, and other basic tools. At the same time, packs must be kept as light as possible while still providing whatever supplies are necessary for…
