Enjoying Your Camping Trip Each year, thousands of people choose to spend their vacations camping in the tent in the great outdoors. With proper planning the experience can be gratifying. Even with the best planning, however, tent camping can be an extremely frustrating experience due to uncontrolled factors such as bad weather, wildlife encounters, and equipment failures. Nothing can dampen the excited anticipation of camping more than a dark, rainy day. After reaching their destination, campers must then "set up camp" in the downpour. This includes keeping the inside of the tent dry and free from mud, getting the sleeping bags situated properly, and protecting food from the downpour. Wind mixed with rain can result in frigid temperatures, causing any outside activities to be delayed. Often, tents are blown down by the wind, and campers have to begin the frustrating task of "setting up camp" in the downpour. Another problem likely to be faced during a camping trip is run-ins with wildlife, which can range from mildly annoying to dangerous. Minor inconveniences include mosquitoes and ants. The swarming of mosquitoes can literally drive annoyed campers indoors. Ants do not usually attack campers, but keeping them out of the food can be quite an inconvenience. In addition to swarming the food, ants inside a tent can crawl into sleeping bags and clothing. Although these insects cause minor discomfort, some wildlife encounters are potentially dangerous. There are many poisonous snakes in the woods. An encounter between an unwary camper and a surprised snake can prove to be fatal. Perhaps the least serious camping troubles are equipment failures; these troubles often plague people camping for the first time. They arrive at the campsite at night and haphazardly set up their tent. They then settle down for a peaceful night's rest. Sometime during the night the campers are awakened by a huge crash. The tent has fallen down. Sleepily, they proceed to set up the tent in the rain. In the morning, everyone emerges from the tent, except for two. Their sleeping bag zippers have gotten caught. Finally, after fifteen minutes of struggling, they free themselves, only to realize another problem. Their sleeping bags have been touching the sides of the tent. Since a tent is only waterproof if the sides are not touched, the sleeping bags and clothing are all drenched.
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These three types of camping troubles can strike campers almost anywhere. Until some brilliant scientist invents a weather machine to control bad weather or a kind of wildlife repellant, unlucky campers will continue to shake their fists in frustration. More than likely, equipment will continue to malfunction. Even so, camping continues to be a favorite pastime of people all across the United States. If you want camping to be a happy experience for you, learn to laugh at leaky tents, bad weather, and bugs, or you will find yourself frustrated and unhappy.
