Stuff to do while camping.

When I camp, I do canvas painting, trail walking, beach combing, reading, campfire, cooking, swimming, checking in the tourist sites around town. Depending if there is a small lake I bring an inflatable boat and sometimes fish from it, sometimes just paddle and take pictures. Talk with neighbors, go on dog walks, arts and crafts with beads, check out other sites and make notations in my camp book as to what I like and don't like about them, bike riding, take naps, and also see if the park I'm in has any activites going on. I usually camp in state parks and on the weekends there is usually some sort of activity planned about nature or a video that will be playing. I also camp with friends and also camp with a dog group that I met on line. We all have pembroke welch corgi's so we plan quite a few activities. I met them on meetup.com. Lots of good fun camping people. I camp to get away from the reality of work and the world and to relax and enjoy my surroundings. One last thing enjoying a nice glass of wine.

dewey02 wrote:
I was a forester and also spent a lot of time in the woods. There's a big difference between working in the woods and recreating in the woods for me.

I guess I haven't found that yet. I didn't camp for the better part of 10 years after I got out of field work. Just 3 years ago I got back into big game hunting as I finally decided it would be good to get back into the woods. I stopped big game hunting and took up waterfowl hunting to be in a different environment. When I started back hunting I kept having to tell myself to slow down and hunt instead of cross country crashing.

I lived in a tent in central Oregon for 4 months one summer, spent about 6 years moving around the West living in campgrounds in one bunkhouse trailer or another. Spent a summer working in Yellowstone camping where we needed in the back country and hitching helicopter rides in and out of the back country. When I say the West I mean from the Canadian boarder to the Mexican boarder west of the Rocky Mountains except for California which I have never set foot in. There are very few western National Forests I haven't set foot in as well as very few state and national parks.

When the wife and I retire we will probably spend some time in the mid West and Eastern US so there are some new sites and maybe an interstate or state hwy I haven't driven at least once.

I know poor me. I was just hoping someone would throw something out that I might say ya I should do that. I have done some Geo cashing, have a couple cashes on the local bike paths but here again cashing is kind like walking around a plot location with the GPS for hours trying to find the location center pin another crew put in the ground 10 years ago.

Everyone that asks about my job always says how fun that would be and how great it would be to spend your days in the woods. While it was great it takes away from the woods.

Muddydogs wrote:

CavemanCharlie wrote:
What would you do if you were home? Be just as board only at home? I can set at home anytime and in the winter I'm often trapped here alone for days. When I can go camping I can always find something to do.

At home I'm usually casting bullets, making shot or reloading some kind of ammo to feed that habit. I might get some of my old leather working gear together and put in the trailer so I can mess around with it.

So does she enjoy that as well?
Assuming over the years she's come to find that fun maybe ask for her help.
Sounds like you two need a mutual hobby. Perhaps talking to her will allow you both some mutual enjoyment past kids and grands.

CavemanCharlie wrote:
What would you do if you were home? Be just as board only at home? I can set at home anytime and in the winter I'm often trapped here alone for days. When I can go camping I can always find something to do.

At home I'm usually casting bullets, making shot or reloading some kind of ammo to feed that habit. I might get some of my old leather working gear together and put in the trailer so I can mess around with it.

Take up Geocaching. It will take you to neat places you'd never dream of going. Even the grandkids would love it. There will probably be some hidden in your patch of woods or even in the nearby small town.

Challenge your mind a little by doing a crossword puzzle. Prepare a poster foamboard the size of the finished puzzle and get about 4 cheap Dollar Store eating trays with a lip around the edge. You can then use the trays to sort your colors and move your project from the kitchen table to the bed while eating, etc. It works well.

We both enjoy photography, we used to like riding our bikes (don't do that now). We like walking (not so much hiking).

Might try doing closeup photos of neat things. Work on landscape photos. Birdwatching & photography.

Plein Air Painting would be a neat thing to do while camping. I've intended to do that & need to start.

Plein air is a term derived from the French phrase en plein air, which literally means 'in the open air'. It's a familiar concept today, but in the late 1800s when the Impressionists ventured out of their studios into nature to investigate and capture the effects of sunlight and different times of days on a subject, it was quite revolutionary.

Don't worry about skill level, just go for it. It's for fun and see what develops.

I like to check out the local museums, sights, places to eat, swimming, and read books. As long as there is 2 of you consider cards or board games on rainy days.

What would you do if you were home? Be just as board only at home? I can set at home anytime and in the winter I'm often trapped here alone for days. When I can go camping I can always find something to do.

When we go place we do the tourist type stuff, I guess I'm asking about general close to home boon docking out in the woods. We take a couple big trips a year and try and go local camping a few long weekends a year. I have 2 grandsons, almost 3 and 6 so when we take them there is something to do, I enjoy fishing with the boys and showing them stuff in the woods but for me I'm a bit jaded. Not much I haven't seen, caught or killed in the Western US.

I usually pester the neighbors.......

I enjoy talking with folks, finding out about them/their life experiences. Where they have been, what they have seen..what we have in common/what we don't.

You know..have a conversation with different types/kinds of folks
Have had many a long interesting talk with Amish Farmer, Japanese students traveling US, young/old retirees, folks from Sweden, ex-cop, traveling artists...list goes on and on.
Sure makes time pass, is interesting, learn something new/different.

Other times I just sit and watch kids enjoying themselves camping, experiencing nature.......discovering their shadow

And sometimes I just sit doing absolutely nothing.

We use our camping time to slow down. During regular (non-camping life) others dictate the schedule (job, kids, relatives, etc). When camping we are in control. We explore when we want to, we do a lot of reading and discuss our books between ourselves. We cook outdoors. The food prep and cooking takes a lot of time, and we enjoy it.

When we stay at one location for more than about 5-6 days, we usually leave the state park or where ever we are, and visit local towns, museums, roadside attractions, etc.

I was a forester and also spent a lot of time in the woods. There's a big difference between working in the woods and recreating in the woods for me.