When it comes to planning for a weekend camp trip the question of who to camp with is often a simple question that we forget to ask ourselves. By the time you finally decide you want to go and have the time to actually go, around the busy hectic lifestyles we all live. Then planning where you are going to go, who to go with isn’t usually something you end up factoring into your plan. Who to camp with can often make or break a weekend away, and after you have organised yourself and the family and finally arrived at your destination the last thing you want be worried about is who are you camping with. So who do you choose? Work college, best mate, family friends, relatives? And how do you make this decision?
Where are you going may depend on who you camp with
We camp with a big group. Many years ago Patrick and I spent 24/7 at Power Curve. Who would believe it, we started to burn out and become ineffective in our business and passion dropped away. New years came and Patrick founded a new year resolution called the 30-day campers. This is a close group of friends and family we can call on to go camping with and them us and each other. It means that every 30 days Patrick and I go camping once a month, we go alot more than that now but back then that was an amazing feat. FYI it actually makes us more effective in our business and relationship to take time away from our business. What we have experianced and learnt from our clients is that who you camp with can make or break a camp trip or holiday.
Not all locations are for everyone and not all activities are for everyone. My last news blog was about our family doing a little tour with our friend Ryan and his son. Due to our like minded friendship, ability to set up and pack up in minutes and freedom to go with the flow. The choice of who to camp with made the trip work. Ryan and his son easily fit into what we had in mind for the weekend. Simply they where just happy to tag along and do what we were doing. Little Mason was just super keen to have a boys weekend with dad, as the centre of attention, eating snakes in the car and seeing lots of frogs and camping at a skate park. Ryan loved the simplicity of the weekend, pack up and move on and just go on an adventure. The weekend and who we camp with worked a treat. We reflected on the weekend and who we camp with and why it worked over the weekend. If we had a bigger group of people the adventure probably just would not have worked. Not everyone is interested in the same thing. A bigger group on that PCPADV would cramped the spontanayety. Even looking at specific friends we saw how lucky we were to chance upon the perfect weekend.
Who you camp with can depend on what their needs and interests are. Our Kinbombi falls trip would not have worked for a few of our friends. The location was not small child friendly with cliff edges and lots of steps which meant there would have been no relaxing and probably very limited adventure options for our friends the Finches. Stress and worry about where your little one is at any given moment at this location would not have been the parents idea of a nice weekend get away. Tripping from location to location with small kids cooped up in a car and not always being able to get on the move quickly can be a mood killer. Accessing the camping destination would have also been not fun for the Finches being a real off road adventure this time round and I think that this particular weekend would have suited them about as much as taking them to a night club with the kids in tow.
Don’t get me wrong I have been that mum with little ones who need to toilet stop at the most inappropriate times, feeling like I am holding everyone up while I madly run around trying to pack up making sure I haven’t forgotten anything and some caravan set ups are made for the real off roading adventure compared to those that are made for your camp ground weekend get away. Once you come to the realisation that one camping trip doesn’t fit all then you work with what works for you and your family.
On the opposite end of the scale a weekend at a family big 4 with organised family activities to the big boing, a park or playground which would be perfect for the Finches but probably not so for our friend Troy Staines. Mixing with groups of families and kids has its time and place for everyone even those single fellas out there – the big family gathering at a beachside campsite or one with a swimming hole and bon fire for just a good old catch up. But being the only single at a weekend get away can become not so interesting very fast.
who to camp with, personal values
Many a client have come in for a post-trip check over or mechanical service frustrated and disappointed after their choice of who to camp with. I once read a great book about peoples love language. Sounds silly I know, I know but this one was more so about peoples values. Some examples I have taken from the book; if you have a wife who loves to receive flowers and gifts to feel loved, then her love language is one of receiving then there is the husband who feels loved when a wife bakes for him or helps him search and get his slippers when he cant find them or remember where he left them, then his love language is the act of service.
My special someone values people giving him their time. People are forever wanting his time with very little gratitude or recognition of the time so when someone gives him their time this is important to him. These are love languages and the values that are important to us. So, when thinking about who to camp with I found this book to be relevant – peoples values and how they respond to you and how you respond to them is important which made me think how do love languages work with who to camp with?
If you camp with a person who is up for adventure and travel, someone who is up before the sun rises and wants to see every site, know about the history, and get every experience out of their day made me think they must value the experience and getting the most out of the adventure they are on. Then on the other hand if you are going on a trip and your plan is to sit by the beach with a beer and fishing rod and just relax, then obviously your values differ. Therefore this is certainly something to consider, however this is something that could also change from time to time within each person. It could be that you have missed letting your hair down and having a good old late-night party with the crew, or you are parents of young children and want a get away for the kids or a family with a new baby that doesn’t sleep well without piece and quiet , or you might have teenagers that cant sit still and you need space and activity to keep them busy and our of trouble. Your value or what you want to get out of this trip needs to meet that of who to camp with.
If we don’t consider who we want to camp with it could be disastrous. I have seen friends on large trips part ways due to their values. Travelling in a van with a friend who leaves a mess everywhere when you like things clean and tidy, stuck in a small cramped space like a caravan can push a friendship to the breaking point. A friend who wants to visit every pub in every town when you don’t drink alcohol may not be who you want to travel with. About to travel to the cape and back with a mate who only travels listening to Slim Dusty, when you much prefer country and western. You might be thinking these are all minor details but I think it can be the small things that matter the most when it comes to values.
how to choose who to camp with
Now that I have covered off on some of my experiences, I bet that you are thinking your own experiences too and you are now really asking the question – who can we camp with? Its not always something we are going to get right and mistakes will be made we are human but enjoying the most of the time, experience and adventures with others sometimes we have to experience the good with the bad and even the ugly to make us think a little more about the decisions we make in the future.
So hopefully before planning and committing to a big trip, maybe think about having a conversation and covering off on what it is you want, talk about what you want to see and do and your values and what you want to achieve from your trip with the people you are considering camping with. If you are wanting to do a trip to see all of the Australian silos then think about maybe sending a message or email to those you are considering travelling with, your values in a bit of a statement to see what you get back. It doesn’t have to be long or extravagant just outlining what your goals and desires are;
‘I’ve always dreamed of seeing the artwork silos in NSW. I really want to drive straight to the first one in my camper and then see one every day, I want to get up and do it as quickly as I can, every night I want to stop in and have a counter meal at the local pub and learn as much about the local area as I can. Once I have reached the last one then I want to make the trip home again within one week as I am restricted on time and have to be back at work by….’
Then assess the response, some might think its too much to see in such a short amount of time and that they are more interested in a relaxing go with the flow no time restrictions holiday, some might not have the money to be eating out every night others might want to see other attractions or stop at different locations. This is when you need to ask yourself maybe they are not the right person to camp or travel with for this trip……….
what works for us
We like to organise a little bit of a plan by asking ourselves what do we feel like this trip? Do we have a location in mind are we tired and needing a rest or up for a great adventure? What do I want and what does Patrick want? There is often a level of compromise or communication to be had at this point in a relationship prior to inviting others along on our trip. It doesn’t need to be complicated so don’t make it so. Once you know what you want to get out of it you then need to look at who you are going to invite to join you that will best meet your needs. It probably comes down to personality and how good you are at communicating. We find it simple, to be honest, and real as many of you know we don’t beat around the bush and are pretty straight forward – and that works for us.
All in all our trip planning looks a little like this.
The weekend before last Patrick organised a weekend away with the boys. The PCPADV boys, (our workshop team) are young and full of adventure. A weekend with the boys means 4wding off road, possibility of a late night and overall a fun enjoyable time with lots of laughs and its high paced go go go! There are families involved so there needs to be a little bit of planning with food – got to keep everyone’s tummy’s full and of course the esky full too but we know it’s going to busy and fun but we don’t have to worry about much at all.
Last weekend I wanted to check out the Kinbombi falls. I needed a weekend off – a break some space and some quiet time, it does not happen a lot but I needed a weekend off work and our work family. I wanted to explore the falls and do our thing our way. So we didn’t invite the team, they had their own things planned and no one was offended or left out. We sent them updates and things we saw and will probably do it again. We did end up being joined by Ryan and his son however they were and happy to just tag along and join in with whatever we wanted to do. For those that felt left out or questioned why we didn’t mention it and invite them we were honest about just needing a weekend off and away from everything. Honesty and meeting our needs seems to work well for us. Looking at the trip or location for what it is and who you are best to travel with can make or break a trip or camp. Sometimes who you camp with can be the most important factor to consider.