Let's Talk About Camping

 

Let me say straight away that the above image is not my own.  It's been floating around on the internet and I don't know who to give credit to.  I've done some searching (though not a deep dive) and didn't find anything.  If you know who created the above, let me know because the creator deserves lots of credit.

Not that it's anyone's business, but I have never gone camping. I've never been in a situation where I felt like I had to go camping.  That doesn't mean I would stop someone else from going camping.  I never had the need to go camping, but if I did, it would be MY business and MY decision, no one else's.

My decision to go camping or not to would be my own.   It would be one that was well thought out and planned.  I would not just ask a random person on the street for their thoughts on camping, a stranger would not know my background and my needs.    I would consult those with expertise on the subject prior to making my decision on camping.  I would talk to those who truly know ME before going camping.

 Some might say that going camping is an easy vacation, but I have yet to meet a person who did not spend a great deal time thinking about camping and all the pros and cons associated with it before actually going camping.  Camping is not easy.  No one I know of takes camping lightly; it is something that is thought about and planned.  It is not a spur of the moment type of trip.  Those who say it can be are fools (in my opinion).

Camping is a personal choice.  The reasons to go camping are many.  The reason one person goes camping is not the same as another.  It is not my place to ask why someone need to go camping.  It is not anyone's business to ask why someone is going camping.

I would never think of denying someone the ability to go camping.  Why would I regulate the ability of someone to go camping?  Why should anyone?  I know some say that camping is a crime.  I disagree.  If a person felt that they needed to go camping, but couldn't, would those people who declare it a crime look after the camper and all that camper's belongings for the rest of their life?  For regulating camping is forcing a lifestyle on a person.  If you're going to force a lifestyle, giving the camper no choice, you need to be there to make sure that the lifestyle that you have forced upon that person is sustainable.  Are you, by criminalizing camping, actually harming someone else?  Shouldn't that be a crime too?

While I cannot change someone’s mind (no matter how narrow it may be) about camping, I can say, that as a human being, I believe that everyone has the right to decide if camping is something they will do. They have the right to do so without intimidation or scorn.  

You know this isn’t really about camping, don’t you?  It’s about forcing ideals on someone.  Denying them the right to do what is best for them.  Assuming and judging when no one has the right to do that.  We cannot walk in a camper’s shoes.  We cannot know how long the road to the camp is.   As it has been written:  “Don’t judge, so that you won’t be judged.  You’ll receive the same judgment you give. Whatever you deal out will be dealt out to you."