As the folks on ‘Stuff White People Like‘ point out, camping is not a cheap activity even though it might seem to be one of the cheapest ways to spend your time. Sure, you don’t get to go out and eat and you don’t have to pay for your room and board, but it’s still strangely expensive. Like most trips, it first involves getting to a campsite – in my case, it involves driving nearly 3500 miles to cover three different National Parks. Then you need a tent, sleeping bags, sleeping pads and a whole trunk load of paraphernalia designed to keep Nature from getting its grubby hands on you. Finally, I’ll probably end up looking at the beauty around me through the eyepiece of my camera instead of just absorbing everything with my eyes and body. It’s the bane of being a photographer that I’m always trying to frame the scenery in my mind instead of just taking it in as a whole.
That said, I’m definitely on my way to being as close to nature as possible – I haven’t had a haircut in many months, and I doubt if I’ll be getting one in the next couple of months. Among the things I learned yesterday was how to tie a bandanna properly, so if you hear about a crazy looking cheesy bandanna wearing Indian guy being mauled by a bear in the woods, that’ll be me. (I’m also planning to wave my arms and make crazy Tarzan sounds if really encounter one of the grizzlies, so I’ll be sure to let you all know if that technique works. )
Now, if I don’t shave for the next 15 days, I wonder if I can finally get airport security to pull me aside for screening. I’m not craving it of course, but I almost feel slighted that in all these years of frequent flying, I haven’t been shown any love by the body searchers (Pro tip for the non-frequent flyers out there: Don’t stand behind the old ladies in the security line. Strangely enough, they are always the ones who get pulled aside for pat downs and whose bags get searched.)
It’s been a busy week and I’ve been up most of the night trying to make sure that I haven’t forgotten to pack something, but soon I should be able to put work and pretty much everything else out of my mind. See y’all in a couple of weeks!