Camping - The Family Vacation Can Have Many Faces!
Here in Maine, by the Memorial weekend, the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands said it took 500 more reservations at the 12 state-run campgrounds than at that time a year ago. It seems that many folks are looking to take advantage of the 47 state parks and historic sites that are short drives from most of the state's population centers and only a day's ride from most places in the Northeast.
Camping can be a great way to save money as well as have a unique and memorable family experience in Nature. According to travel writer Elsa Watson, there are four general camping styles. Every style has its own benefits and there is one to fit every group, family and situation.
Tent Camping
Tents come in a wide range of sizes and shapes, suitable for one person, two people, or a whole family. Kids usually love tent camping, in part because a tent is such a snug, kid-sized house. Many adults are less thrilled by the hardships of tent camping—sleeping on the ground in a small space without much headroom. But tent camping also offers the ultimate in flexibility, economy, and independence. Tents don't take up much room, they don't require much gear, and they're welcome almost everywhere camping is permitted.
Today, there are tents with separate rooms and even screened porches, so they can be more spacious and luxurious than the ones that you may remember from childhood. One caution however, ALWAYS practice setting up your tent a few times before going out. See how long it takes to set up and who will do the other tasks necessary to set up the rest of camp. It's a good idea to do a test run in the yard if you haven't camped before. You'll be able to test out cots, mattresses and sleeping bags as well as camp stoves or other paraphernalia BEFORE you need to depend on them. Getting organized can make the whole experience a lot more enjoyable!
Camper, Trailer, or Pop-up Camping
These options offer a more substantial camping home than a tent. They come in a range of sizes and many offer special amenities like a gas stove, gas lamps, fold-out beds, collapsible tables and cupboard storage. Many are roomy enough for whole families to enjoy, with separate sleeping quarters for the parents and the kids. Of course, these options are more expensive that tents, so they are best for families that plan to make several outings a year or who are planning to make extended stays.
RV Camping
RVs are extremely self-sufficient, letting people camp in places that don't have any facilities. While they can cost as much as a traditional house, they're also widely available for rent. With an RV, you truly take your home on the road. RVs come in a variety of sizes and styles, so you can find the perfect one to fit your dreams. Most come with a stove, small refrigerator, an over-the-cab bed, a fold-out bed, a table with seating and a small bathroom. Because the cab is connected to the rest of the RV, it's easy to move back and forth between the two.
Its important to learn how to drive, park and hook up your RV before you head off on the road. If you are a family traveling together, help the whole group to understand the ins and outs of how the RV works. Older kids especially can be a terrific help in making an RV trip a success. To have more flexibility when on RV trips you may also want to bring along another form of transportation for local day trips.
Cabin Camping
The closest thing to a home away from home is cabin camping. This gets you near to nature, with the wilderness just beyond your front door, but gives you all the comforts of a hotel or motel room. Cabins often have regular beds, full kitchens, air conditioning, TVs with other electronic equipment and full bathrooms. Some cabins are far more rustic, so its important to find out what your situation will be before you head out. Many require that you bring your own bedding, linens, cooking equipment and food.
Cabin camping is a great way to camp with small children, people who are new to camping, or anyone who appreciates the comforts of home, but wants an outdoors experience. Cabins are a great choice if you think the weather might be bad, since they offer plenty of room, light and options for things to do.
Camping the Greener way!
If you're a camper, you appreciate the great outdoors. Helping to keep it that way means "Leave No Trace Camping." In practicing this sustainable form of wilderness interaction, your goal is to leave the wilderness, or your campsite, exactly the way you found it, untouched by your presence. Our natural world needs a lot better care than it has been receiving. For instance, even the most remote places in the world are suffering from a burden of trash. Mount Everest, the tallest peak in the world at 25,035 feet above sea level, is relatively inaccessible and yet, an estimated 1,150 tons of garbage has been left on her since Sir Edmund Hillary first reached the summit in 1953. We can do a lot better and here are some guideline:
Tote your trash
- Always bring garbage bags with you.
- Dispose of waste according to campground recycling rules. These can vary from a single dumpster to a sophisticated sorting system. If you plan to camp in a protected wilderness area, you'll have to cart all your waste back out with you - this includes human waste, as well as any packaging.
- Use unbreakable dishes, cups and utensils--not disposable ones! In the long run, you'll actually save weight by packing reusable stuff.
- Never dump food waste in the woods. It creates problems for wildlife and habituates animals to think that a human presence will indicate food.
Leave no trace of your actions
- Stay on the established trails to avoid trampling the underbrush and threatening fragile plants and habitat.
- Bring your own firewood. While gathering downed timber from around your campsite may seem eco-friendly, it actually threatens the forest's future. When fallen trees and branches decompose, they return nutrients to the soil, feeding the surrounding trees and vegetation.
- Don't strip branches off trees for marshmallow sticks or to support a sagging tent.
Washing Up
- Wash dishes and your body with non-toxic, biodegradable, phosphate-free soap.
- Dump “gray water” (old dishwater) in designated areas, away from fresh water sources and not in the bushes.
- Shower and do dishes sparingly.
Fire Etiquette
- Keep your campfire small and contained to a pit.
- Don't burn your trash!! Plastic, paper, metals or woods that have been treated with chemicals are a hazard to you and the ecosystem!
- If you use an outdoor grill, dump the ashes in your fire pit or dispose of them in designated areas.
Limit the use of batteries
- Use crank or shakable flashlights.
- Use crank radios.
- Replace disposable batteries with rechargeable, whenever possible
- Use solar panels instead of generators.
The "Leave No Trace" way of being in Nature is necessary to preserve the natural habitat. It means that we will have a clean place to return to year after year and for generations to come!
Volunteering while on vacation!
How about combining your desire to make the world a better place with a vacation? While these kinds of trips aren't usually good for small children, if your kids are teens, then this might be a way that you can make a difference together!
There are hundreds of volunteer opportunities available—offered by all types of groups from environmental organizations to churches to travel companies offering eco-volunteer vacations. Ask friends and family to recommend volunteer trips they've taken. Ask trip organizers for names of past volunteers to get their opinion of trips offered. Interview the volunteer organizations themselves and ask questions (for instance, how long they've been in business, why they sponsor the particular projects they do, whether liability insurance is offered in cases of injury, whether fees are refunded if you need to cancel, and if you'll be able to contact people back home when you're in the field).
Here is a short sample list of U.S. possibilities:
American Hiking Society--http://www.americanhiking.org/volunteerVacation.aspx
These backcountry volunteer trips in the US (some lasting up to two weeks) offer projects that are often strenuous and include rebuilding footpaths in national parks or helping with erosion control in a national forest.
Elderhostel--http://www.elderhostel.org/contact/volunteer.asp
Offers a few volunteer vacation opportunities designed for seniors, including restoring natural habitats on Assateague Island, Virginia. Participants must be 55 and older.
National Audubon Society--www.audubon.org
This organization sometimes offers opportunities to help local ecosystems. Find your local branch at: http://www.audubon.org/states/index.php
Sierra Club--http://www.sierraclub.org/outings/national/service.asp
Stick closer to home rebuilding trails, clearing invasive plant species, and more in US and Canadian national parks and wilderness areas.
Take Pride in America--http://www.takepride.gov/index.html
A national partnership established by the US Department of the Interior that encourages volunteers to work in US public parks, forests, grasslands, wildlife refuges, cultural and historical sites, local playgrounds, and other recreation areas. Find hundreds of long- and short-term volunteer opportunities—everything from river cleanups to rehabilitating natural habitats.
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Sources:
www.nomadik.com
www.greenyour.com
www.camping-news.blogspot
Adventure Travel Report
The Geotourism Study
www.camping.com
www.sierraclub.org
Tell us about your camping or volunteering experiences: editors@spiritliving.org.
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Looking for something to keep them occupied at camp? This month's Family Fun/Spirited Kids activity comes to us from naturalist and shamanic practitioner, Michael Gelsanliter. You may remember that we mentioned him in last month's issue. He's the fellow who taught us about creating fire. This is a group activity that awakens the senses and is sure to set off a storm of giggles!
The Stone Game
Best group size:
3 or more participants
Game space or environmental needs:
Open field or clearing in the woods
How much time?
15-30 minutes; 2-3 rounds
Best time to play?
Daylight hours (It is especially good for sharpening attention at the beginning of another activity.)
Special concerns and safety hazards specific to this game:
Blindfolds should be carefully placed by facilitators/parents to make sure there is no peeking!
Equipment:
Bindfolds for every person, a stone for every person plus at least six additional stones, an opaque bag for the stones.
How many staff/parents or facilitators?
2-3 people for a group
Best suited to kids 6-10 years old, but adults would find this a terrific and fun challenge!
The game's origins
This awareness game (and other similar activities) was a traditional part of raising children among many different Native American/First Nation tribes. Even today, developing the full use of all the senses is vitally important for success as a hunter/gatherer. For example, all the senses are necessary in hunting and finding food as well as making your way safely through the landscape, that is "feeling" the trail and recognizing the possibility of danger.
How to play:
- Participants sit in a circle an arm's length apart.
- Next, they are asked to pick a stone from the bag from a bag holder/facilitator. This person goes around the circle of participants clockwise/sunwise--which is the direction that is sacred to Native America peoples
- Once every person has a stone, they are given a minute to study it. Looking first then by all the other senses--feeling every detail of "their" stone.
- After about a minute, the stones are collected again and returned to the bag.
- Blindfolds now are placed over the circle members' eyes.
- Each person picks a stone from the bag again. (If you think you picked your original stone--choose another.)
- Once everyone has a stone, the real game begins!
- Pass the stones around to the left until the kids think that they have the one that they memorized previously. Blindfolds are then removed to see how well they've done.
Variations:
- In round 2 or 3, eliminate the dominant sense and challenge the kids to not look at the stone at all!
- In a pinch, this game can be played indoors.
--Michael Gelsanliter
Doesn't this sound like a great game for a picnic or outing? It would be a terrific camping game, too. What about playing it at your next summer gathering? Let us know where you played it and if you were able to find your stone! Tell us about it: editors@spiritliving.org.
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10 Secrets To Being A "SuperDad"
by Tom Magadieu
Whether you want it or not, you're on a pedestal Papa. As a dad, you are a mountain for your family - a leader by default. But before you puff your chest and don your cape, remember... leadership is not about you, it is a requirement of you. What kind of leader you choose to be has a big impact on your family - even if you choose not to acknowledge your role.
Think about the leaders you've had in the past - relatives, coaches, bosses. The good ones made you rise to the occasion by their example, their principles, and their belief in your excellence. Their mood when they entered the room often dictated the tenor of the whole team.
As a leader, your tenor, your actions, and what you share with your family affects your family's sense of self worth, their sense of security, and their own values and beliefs. Good leadership is a conscious choice, and it comes from being very clear about your role and your willingness to work hard at delivering.
As a SuperDad in development, here's what I believe are the top 10 secrets:
Get Real
Know your strengths and weaknesses. Acknowledge them openly. Admit what you don't know and do what it takes to find the answer. Be aware of past influences and try not to repeat unhealthy behaviors. Recognize when you are in an unhealthy emotional state and seek help from others to get your footing. There is never a good excuse for directing your anger or frustration at your family.
Show Your Love
Determine the best way to communicate your love in a way that is authentically you, but is also easily understood by your family members. Make sure your kids see you flirt with your partner, and often share privately with them how special they and their mom are to you. Time is heart currency. Try to make special time for them whenever you can, and make sure to sit together for at least one meal a day. Sneak in winks infrequently to catch them in a moment and share your approval. No space is too sacred to display their creations. And sometimes a gently placed hand on a shoulder can send spirits soaring.
Honor and Respect
Start from a place of equal of worth. Their opinions, their time, their feelings are important, and equal to the importance of your own. It also means honoring and respecting yourself. The more you honor yourself and those around you, the better perspective you give others about their value and place in the world.
Have Ward Cleaver Consitency
There's alot of comfort that comes from knowing the punchline of your dad's joke. And especially comforting when you can predict his response in a crisis. In this chaotic world, your predictability serves as an anchor and a source of comfort for your family. Does your family know what you expect from them? How you make decisions? What you value? Have you made it clear how you see your role in the family and what you believe your responsibilities to be? Do you demonstrate your values in what you speak and how you behave?
Be Responsible
A family has a lot more confidence in their superdad when he keeps his promises, takes time to plan and prepare, and doesn't approach tasks with half a heart. When you act responsibly, you teach others to act responsibly as well. Volunteer. Wear your bike helmet. Pick up garbage on the beach. Recycle and compost even when it would be easier just to throw it all out. Don't wait to be asked to wash the dishes or pitch in with household chores. All of these things get noticed and modeled.
Be Curious and Open
Your family will readily share your enthusiasm as you explore new hobbies, ideas, and passions. And, by your example they learn that their life is full of opportunity. When your family sees you try new things, trying things becomes part of their repetoire too. If learning is an ongoing adventure for you, they'll see learning not as a chore but as a natural part of life. And whenever possible, include them on your adventures - even if it's just giving updates at the dinner table.
Reflect
Taking time to recount the day, vacations, past family experiences, and your past, gives the whole family a sense of evolution and history. It reinforces the values and beliefs you teach. It also teaches them to have perspective by experiencing perspective through your eyes. Ask them to recount their experiences and listen with enthusiasm.
Advocate
Your family is not an appendage of you. Therefore their misdeeds and failings are theirs alone to share with others. Our job as superdads is to relentlessly ensure our families get the advantages they need to learn, achieve, stay healthy, and safe. We stand behind them, defend them, honor them, and protect them.
Laugh Often, Be Optimistic
Being a superdad is serious business, but it doesn't mean you have to always be serious - just the opposite. Your humor will teach others to savor life, let go and laugh, and have a bit of humility. A good laugh can reduce a lot of stress and make great memories. And optimism will help them have a joyful can-do attitude for whatever challenges they face.
Have Reverence And Gratitude
Having a deep and meaningful relationship with Spirit (God, Universe...) gives you and your family a core strength that will help you all weather life's storms. You'll be teaching them to go to the best source with their questions and help them be less dependent on the opinions and approval of others. Help them see the magic of the world. Share your appreciation for all that you have.
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Don't forget to check out other games in the P.L.A.Y. section of this issue of Spirit Living
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