Why Camping is Essential for Mental Health Maintenance

Well before I head out into the bush for my first camping trip I’d figure to try and keep my promise to be active. Try and give you something to think about. After these five years here now the grinding begins. Sometimes numbers dwindle, people lose interest. Is what I’m talking about not so interesting anymore? Maybe my life is just normal? Normal can can boring. When dealing with the type of illness I have normal and boring can be the best it can get. Talking with many in my community life is in constant chaos, uncertainty and painful.

I spend a fair bit of time wondering why I feel pretty normal, guilty sometimes wondering what advice I could give to someone going through a rough patch. Maybe it’s just taking time to breath, taking it day to day, hour to hour. We do are best to walk everyday, try and eat healthy. Have some intelligent conversation to try and keep the gray matter sharp. While physically I do usually feel fine, it’s the mental game where I feel the struggle may be starting.

The countless scan, injections, drugs pumped through me, the worry and stress. Getting settled into a new home, figuring out my role in this world now. And ya, while age is just a number we all know the wheels don’t spin as fast as they once did. Or did they ever, lol. So, writing here and in my journal is a small part of what I attempt to do to stop this wandering mind. My next attempt is to start meditating again in hopes of regaining that focus. I don’t know about you, but I can lose my train of thoughts almost immediately and there’s nothing more frustrating then forgetting what you were going to do on the way to do it. FOCUS Steve! It’s so important to retain those thoughts.

I trip into nature will be another great way to keep the mind on point. There’s very little room for error in the backcountry. Especially early spring, cold water, ripping winds, just you and your canoe and backpack. Hours, possibly days before a rescue if you lose that focus. However once out there, things changed, no distractions, no phone. Sometimes within hours a heighten awareness just appears. That is somehow wired into you, making you feel alive, on point. Skills developed seem to reappear. You are mindful of all surroundings. Sitting here in bed warm and comfortable feels just that…. comfortable.

I crave to feel the cold wind on my face, a dampness in my bones. It’s uncomfortable, it’s hard work, why do I do this I have asked myself many times. Because it’s where I’m meant to be. It’s the same struggle I have talked about many times. Cold, wet, miserable. Get that fire going, grill a fish or steak. Under the tarp now feeling the warmth, looking over the water, frogs and birds singing there songs, slight movement in the bush. Alive and focused, calm, yet mentally alert. Crawling into my tent at the end of the day, exhausted yet still able to write and read and I have never absorbed books the way I do while sitting on a rocky point or late night in the tent. The brain is alive and craving sustenance, knowledge.

When you give it what it wants you’ll be rewarded with the best sleep. Even on a 3″ sleep pad, tucked inside a sleeping bag. Wake up feeling refreshed, maybe a little stiff, but again mindful to your surroundings. Ready to see what the day has in store for you, energized, full of life. Even in a rainstorm, maybe? lol.

During this trip it will be just two of us, no video will be taken as I get back into the swing of things. I hope to post about it and will for sure be capturing some memories with photos. Having time away from distractions gives you time to reset and refocus. I hope everyone can find that something in their life that takes away the stress and distractions of everyday life. We all need that. Doing something you love while still able to is of the utmost importance, I’ve been reminded of that lately. One day that love could be snatched away, enjoy this life while it’s available.

What do you love to do? Go do it! Cheers Steve.