Camping sure does bring out the bimbo in me...

The main thing I learned on my camping adventure is that camping turns me into a huge bimbo. Or maybe I already am a huge bimbo and have learned to hide it underneath an awkward, goofy exterior. Camping just happens to push all of that aside, leaving me with a nice gooey bimbo-ey centre that becomes obvious to everyone, including me.

In my defence, no one told me that we would be hiking to our camping spot. I just figured we would be camping next to the car. It seemed sensible. Were I planning the trip, we would have camped next to car. Maybe even in it, with the heater running. But unfortunately my dad was planning it. And hiking we were going. Which made the 3 bags filled to the brim that I took seem....impractical.

So anyway, I turned out up at my parents house (I was leaving my car there and dad was taking us in his) with all of my worldly possessions, only to find out that it was a one bag maximum. This may have been the moment I threw a mini-tantrum. Again, in my defence, most of the things I took were blankets. I hate being cold. Hence, 3 bags worth of blankets and clothing. Again, sensible.

Long story short, my dad and sister went through my bags and took out everything that wasn’t necessary. I then took out everything they had put in my bag that was necessary, and replaced it with a hairbrush, a makeup bag, and about twenty tops/sweaters/blankets. I did not think of food or a toothbrush. Luckily everyone else did remember all of that unimportant stuff, and after one more minor skirmish with my sister about my hat (she said that I shouldn’t be taking a 1940s style hat that kept falling over my eyes camping, I said that my hat was awesome. The hat came with us. It really is a great hat) we were off.

And actually, it ended up being really nice. At first, to be honest, I sat down complaining about the cold and watching everyone else gather firewood because inside I am a five year old spoiled brat. But soon I got really into it. It was nice to be away from crowds of people, to not have to worry about the time, to eat simple foods cooked on a fire, and to spend time walking around looking at kangaroos and enjoying the fresh air.

To sit around a fire toasting marshmallows and looking up at all of the stars that city lights tend to dim or make invisible. To hear really boring ghost stories that my sister printed out from google that she did not bother reading beforehand. Even to sleep on the hard ground whilst shivering uncontrollably all night.

To simple be.

So, all in all, I am glad I went. I tend to say no to anything in winter that forces me to spend extended periods of time outdoors. Winter is not my thing. But I have realised that I can’t lock myself indoors every time the season changes. I can’t say no to new experiences just because I may get cold. It’s not a good enough excuse anymore, and I am tired of dreading the colder months and frosty mornings. So I said yes. And go out into winter I did. And you know what? It wasn’t all that bad. Maybe me and winter will learn to be friends after all.

..or maybe just frenemies. Who doesn’t need a few frenemies anyway?

*Also the book club has officially started! Get involved here, we'd love to have you!