You open the large wooden door...
It's a library! These really to be dusted...
there's only a few titles I can make out right now. In any case, let's look around...
You open the large wooden door...
It's a library! These really to be dusted...
there's only a few titles I can make out right now. In any case, let's look around...
A long-term goal of mine is to build up an inventory of camping gear. Camping is something I hope I can enjoy in the future as it hopefully becomes more accessible (location, car, lifestage) Since this event is far and few, purchasing any of these items feel very low on the list of priorities. Today i'm compiling a list of what I have so far as of May 2024, and what I'd like to own.
A thought exercise I'll do right now is think about what my ideal experience is like on a camping trip, how I'd set up, what I'd like to do, and eat. Based off this exercise I might be able to pinpoint what I need and what is a nice to have.
This is what my ideal camping trip might look like:
Arrive at the campsite early and start setting up the tent. Let's assume I arrive by a larger car with a good amount of storage, and it's late spring, warm during the day and chilly at night. To start, I think I might need a tarp/footprint? Based on my 20-second search, there seems to be a few different opinions on this topic... to tarp or not to tarp! Personally I like the idea of protecting the bottom of my tent since the one I have seems entry level in terms of quality and material. Also, having a surface that isn't grass/ground in the outer vestibule would be nice.
After assembling my tent, i'd put down a sleeping pad. I'm unexperienced when it comes to either type, foam vs inflatable. I tried a foam one when we went camping last year and I liked it! But I do like the idea of how much less space an inflatable one takes up. I wonder what's the best way for me to test either of these? Maybe I should order some off MEC/REI and try at home.
After a sleeping pad is put down, i'd unroll my sleeping bag, ideally a rectangular one. I absoulutely can't stand a mummy-style one, I feel so claustrophobic! That reminds me, I would defintely consider getting one made at Kluane. My jacket kept me so warm this past camping trip and I imagine a sleeping bag would be incredibly cozy. I could put down the pillow that I already own, and I think it would be really cozy if I had a blanket to go over the sleeping bags as well!
I'd want to hang a small light source inside the tent, or prop one up in the corner. Something with a warm cozy glow would be perfect! Having a little light available in the outer vestibule of the tent would be nice too.
After the sleeping space is all set up, what would I do after? Maybe go for a short hike, or drive off to check out any special areas near the campsite. I imagine that after all this it might be late afternoon, around 3-4pm? By the time we're back at the campsite, I would like to get a fire going. We can assume that the site will come with a fire pit that we can use, and that we'll have bought a pack of firewood. To build tinder and kindling, i'd need a knife and a small axe. I'll need matches or a lighter to get the fire going too. Do I need emergency firestarter incase conditions to build one from scratch aren't ideal?
One the fire is maintained, I would start thinking about dinner. I feel like the bulk of things that need to be packed for camping are for cooking, and everything regarding it. First off, i'll brush the picnic table off with a hand brush. For the sake of this exercise, let's imagine that this trip will require us to plan 2 dinners, 1 lunch, and 1 breakfast. A 2 day 1 night trip.
For the first dinner, let's make something that is low effort but high yield like pasta with a protein and vege. At the minimum, I would need a box of pasta, a jar of pasta sauce, veges pre-cut and cleaned (like tomato and brocolli), and a protein- kept cool in a cooler. Maybe pre-cut sauage since that's easy and is already cooked. I would also need salt, pepper, olive oil. If I wanted to try harder, I would also include pre-chopped garlic, butter, parmesean, and chili flakes. In regards to equipment, I would need a pot, a strainer, a pan, and tongs. Oh, and i'll need a fire source too! I do have access to the Snow Peak Home & Camp burner that I bought my parents... They don't use it as much as their other one so I assume I can borrow it indefinitely lol.
Once it's done cooking, i'd need bowls to serve it in, and utensils to eat with. I'll also need paper towels, and garbage bags. What are we drinking? We might need a bottle opener, too. To clean everything after dinner, i'll need soap and a sponge. And if I wanted to do it at the campsite i'll need a large refillable water jug with a spigot.
After cleaning, I'd imagine that it's a bit darker outside now, maybe setting up lantern or having a few other light sources would be a good idea. I like it when my dad sets up fairy lights, he uses a solar charged energy source to make it owkr. Having set up camp chairs near the fire already, I'd love to sit by the fire and enjoy a cup of tea to digest. For this I'd either need to boil water from the previous cooking set up, or boil water seperately on something like a jetboil.I learn towards the latter since it's so small and I can use this for smaller hikes as well. I have a Yeti mug from my dad, or the Snow Peak Milk Bottle to choose from.
Will we want smores? Or other late night fire snacks? We'll need skewers! It would be nice to get reusable metal ones, but wooden ones might be more practical.
It's day 2! After getting a fire going away, i'd love to have eggs for breakfast. Maybe half boiled, maybe sunnyside up. And some toast to go with it? I can't really think of what i'd like to eat for breakfast past those two things. What I do know is that I would want coffee. Instant coffee or instant milk tea is totally fine with me. I like the idea of having a camp pourover set but I really can't be bothered with all the extra equipment you need to bring for coffee that I honestly can't taste the difference of.
I wonder what a good option for lunch would be, it would be nice to streamline some of the ingredients so that they can make at least 2 different meals. Just some ideas off the top of my head... egg sandwich, pasta (again lol), pasta but make it soup/stewy with the addition of chicken stock and chick peas? In any case, no additional equipment should be needed.
For day 2 dinner, I'd like to default to cup noodle for the sake of simplicity and indulgence. It just feels cozy and right! Alternatively, I'd be open to dehyrated meals from the store.
This is all I can think of so far as I imagine my ideal scenario! I'll add more to this play by play as I see fit.
I think a lot about yoga. On the way to class, during class, after class, before I sleep, when i'm driving. The practice has positively impacted my life in so many ways, but the most apparent one is learning how to breathe.
All my life i've heard, "just breathe" as a catch all aid during moments of nervousness, anger, pain, sadness, and excitement. I would take that advice, inhale, exhale, but never felt like I understood or benefited from it. I remember hearing my partner talk about how important is was to breathe while you climb. It was one of the first times I heard it from soneone I knew as actual advice for a practical thing. I brushed it off since I never felt like it was relevant to me anyways.
As a beginner yogi, I thought that breathwork took a backseat during the practice, and was just something to be mindful of and secondary to poses. What I learned overtime is that breathing and yoga needed to be practiced hand-in-hand, with intention. When I started to pay attention, I noticed that my breathing was messy, unaligned, and uncoordinated, and because of this I felt a disconnect with my practice and a barrier when I wanted to learn more advanced moves.
Learning when to breathe during a sequence took me a while to learn. For example, if a sequence is supposed to take 8 breaths to complete, I would completely disregard the suggestion and breathe at whatever pace was most comfortable to me. When I decided that 8 breaths was not just a suggestion-but acommand, I started to get better. An example of this is:
I noticed a huge difference in my practice after making this change. Not only was I breathing with more intention, I felt like I was finally able to breathe to my advantage. I felt stronger with each breath, and could come into more challenging balances and poses with strength and confidence.
As this breath choreography became second nature, I started to notice the benefits of breathing affect other parts of my life. Through climbing, dealing with my restless leg syndrome, or when i'm feeling particularily emotionally-I remember to breathe. The first time this new skill of mine became apparent to me was while I was climbing, faced with a precarious next move, I inhaled and exhaled with intention and found that my fear melted away and that I was calm in taking my next move. In this situation, I would usually either back out and come back down, but I was able to carry myself through to the last hold. It's such an amazing feeling to realize your skills outside of the context they were learnt and utilized in.
Restless leg syndrome has been something I have had to endure for as long as I could remember. The pain is absolutely unbearable, and there's no one solution to ease it. A few months ago while I experienced one of the most intense bouts of pain, I started thinking about yoga. Because there is no quick fix or instant solution to RLS, I knew that all I could do was wait. The moment reminded me of times during my yin practice where holding poses can be quite painful. I remembered that during those poses all I could do was breathe, so breathe I did.
Overcoming that scary moment with breathework made me feel really in control of my body- especially during a time like this where I actually don't have any control at all.
Connection begins with a breath! And I hope everyone gets to discover the power of mindful and intentionally breathing. I can't wait to experience all the new ways I can move to life knowing what I know now.
Using my existing but limited knowledge, mnemonics, repetition and a combination of Seterra and written recall, I was able to learn all 195 (UN recognized) countries in less than a week.
This exercise gave me a profound sense of accomplishment that I had never felt before. Academically dull, doing this made me feel like I actually have it in me to be smart, and disciplined. Although it's generally quite useless to be able to name all countries and know where they are on the map, I found meaning in being able to empathize and spatially understand where those around me originate from. Being able to know exactly where world events happen is a plus too.
My main strategy was to explore the map through the learn/explore mode on Seterra and create as many mnemonic devices as I could before testing myself through the game mode.
I would do this over and over again until I could recall what mnemonic device went with each region. This worked surprisingly well for me, I was able to retain the systems I had made for myself. In the evenings I would play Seterra, and every morning after I would practice my ability to remember these countries by writing them down without using a map.
I found that written recall was more difficult for me, I wasn't memorizing them in alphabetical order, and I didn't have any particular strategy other than visualizing the map in my head and listing them as I go. Often I found myself skipping over certain countries because I was in a rush jotting down the next country in the invisible queue in my head before the memory fled me.
On average I would miss 2-3 countries per continent when I did the writing portion.
Creating mnenomic devices was one of the most enjoyable parts of this entire process. Below i'll be including some of the more ~creative~ devices and thoughts paths that I employed while familiarizing myself with each region. I feel like they only make sense to me and that's what I like about them.
