Camping offers the ultimate social distancing
experience!
Go Camping! That’s right, it’s
that simple. Well admittedly camping has always been at the heart of my
survival plan.
What better way is there to
meet the ‘best practices’ outlined be the CDC. Camping tends to naturally
limit social contact by segregating camping spots in campgrounds and many of us
prefer primitive camping anyway. You don’t have to worry about what you touch
because it’s all natural and uncontaminated. It’s also good to hang out in sun
light as it kills micro type things fast.
This current absence of
basketball, hockey, baseball games and everything else could make some of us
just completely stir crazy. You are going to need something to help you keep
your head on straight. Why not use this sporting events down time to enjoy the
best family experience opportunity available - camping!
We all could stand to get away
from the news for a while anyway. I am guessing you won’t actually miss a
thing. It will all be there when you get back. Twenty-four hour news is the
worst invention ever, not just because it keeps rehashing everything that has
already been said but it also creates massive speculation from god knows how
many ‘experts’, as to what might happen in the future. After all they do have
to fill up 24 hours with something.
We do need to take this whole
thing seriously, but we don’t need to obsess about it.
Therefore, camping can give you
a welcome emotional sanctuary and a much, much needed repose from the daunting
anxiety of rampant speculation news. Hey you might even want to plan out a
camping vacation this year. This might be the best chance you’ll ever have to
visit those usually overrun parks and monuments, well at least if they do
remain open. Make sure you are camping though, so you can minimize exposure to virus
infested motel rooms and restaurants.
How I Cope with Uncertain
Times!
Two things that keep the world
in perspective for me in really troubling times such as this:
1 - It is somewhat consoling to
look back on other horrendous events I have had to experience personally and
remember somehow I made it through. WE made it through. You don’t get to my age
without having lived through some traumatic and downright scary
happenings.
- The assassination of John Kennedy - (This started a string of them.) Looking back the hardest part might have been watching highly respected teachers literally cry in class as we listen helplessly to the account on the radio.
- The Vietnam War - The shootings at Kent State perhaps most exemplified how torn our nation was. Americans shooting Americans, it really was and still is unthinkable. Also, because I went, any time I even just have a bad day, I say to myself, “Ken, you haven’t heard a rocket crack off in a long time, it could be worse.”
- 911 - Anybody over 30 will remember the horror and all the accompanying uncertainty that came with it.
- Many personal losses - Parents, all four of my brothers, all my aunts and uncles and some of the best friends I ever had.
2 - It’s also good to consider
what it must have been like for other human beings to have lived through other
exceptionally troubling times in history and even regional catastrophes today
like:
- The Great Depression - These were some people that knew the real meaning of economic disaster.
- World Wars and especially the Civil war - I can’t even imagine the horror, despair and anxiety of that one.
- Plagues - this Covid -19 shutdown is only new to us. Similar things have happened before. Cambridge university closed for two years because of the black plague in 1665.
- Famine - sadly this is still with us today in many parts of the world.
- Earthquakes, tornadoes, forest fires, floods and other natural disasters absolutely wreak havoc every year somewhere.
Emotionally and economically
devastating events have happened throughout history, happen today, obviously,
and will continue to happen in the future. The real key to coping with the
anxiety and insecurity of these events lies in your own self-sufficiency. I
don’t mean just having enough toilet paper. I mean knowing you can sustain your
own existence for an extended period of time without help.
We have made it through bad
times before. Strive for self-sufficiency as you are no good to anyone else
without your own health and being.
Most importantly what your kids will need is what they have always
needed, YOU. If you are there with them, they will be fine but don’t radiate
your own anxieties. After all, kids already know what it’s like to not have
control over situations. We could learn from them.
So coping is really all about
taking care of yourself and the people you love. Do that and you’ll be okay and
Go Camping! It will help.
Have a look at my new Youtube Trailer, it might help get you
motivated:
