The picture of a perfect night filled with music and laughter over the flickering flame of a bonfire easily comes to mind when the word camping is mentioned. Sure, camping is fun. There is certainly no doubt about it, especially when you’re with the best of your friends and family. But there are many other good reasons, besides fun, as to why you should indulge yourself in a good camping adventure once in a while.
Camping improves your physical health
From packing your camping gear down to assembling your tent, you actually move your limbs and stretch your muscles. Camping does make you exercise, thereby releasing serotonin and improving your body’s circulation. Not to mention trekking your way to your destination exposes you to a good ray of sunshine and your body then gets to absorb Vitamin D, which is essential for keeping your bones strong and regulating your level of calcium. Experts also agree that a good dose of Vitamin D helps prevent depression and serious conditions like multiple sclerosis and cancer. So if you want a healthy way to spend your holidays, go hiking and camping with your loved ones. You may add other physical activities to your camping itinerary as well. You may swim, play with your kids, ride horses, or simply laugh your hearts out. Laughter, after all, is good exercise.
It promotes mindfulness
Camping offers you a way to de-stress in a quiet and refreshing environment, away from pollution and the daily grind of life. If you’re dying to break your routine and perhaps brainstorm for a new work project, then camping is your best option. Choose a destination that complements your personal element. If you’re a beach lover, then stay at a cozy lodge feeling the sea breeze against your hair. If you prefer the mountains, then bring your tent up somewhere overlooking the city. Being with nature truly affords you the luxury of time to meditate and rest. You begin to appreciate life in the littlest of things and you almost always wake up with a fresh perspective or with a creative idea. Better mornings are spent at camps and you can ask your camper friends about the long, restful sleep they often get when they are under the stars and surrounded by greens.
It builds relationships
Where should couples go after a fight? While Paris and Scotland are breathtakingly romantic, visiting these places may cost you unnecessary expenses. Plus, you may not have the time to travel. Why go far when there is that beautiful cabin in the next town where you and your partner could fish, walk by the lakeside, and enjoy a nice throw of conversations by the fireplace. Camping does sound like a perfect makeup plan to ease the strains in a relationship. This especially holds true when you turn off your gadgets to disconnect from the outside world and focus on your togetherness. Mind you, the relationship-building aspect of camping is not confined to lovers. Even friends and family bond over camping food and games.
The bottom line here is that camping recharges you and offers you a unique experience that you never go back the same person – physically, mentally, socially, and even spiritually. And this brings a host of many other benefits even after the camp, such as higher work productivity, happier disposition, increased creativity, and a greater zest for life. It even brings out the inner primitive in you, strategic and methodical, as camping sometimes tests your survival skills. Naysayers would tell you that camping is stressful and risky, but surely, with proper planning and exercise of caution, you would certainly enjoy the benefits of camping to the fullest.
