How to Introduce Your Significant Other to the Outdoors Without Making Her Hate Camping
You aren’t a camping type of person, but your man is? Well, let me share my personal experience with this issue. I have always been a “girly” kind of girl, and I never thought that I could enjoy spending days and nights stranded in the wilderness without any showers or running water around. But fate got me together with my wonderful adventurous man, who is into hiking, camping and all kinds of outdoor activities. Since then, I have gradually learned certain skills, and a lot of very useful information on living and survival in the wilderness. Now I even know how to sharpen a machete! Not bad for a girl, right!
I have actually started to enjoy these camping and hiking trips with my fiancée, and have quite a decent bit of camping and survival equipment packed up too. I have several knives – both folding and full tang, camping equipment and gear, and have learned the most important basics: “shelter, fire, first aid, water” – these four things I have learned to priorities and take care of first, instead of panicking, getting angry and crying from despair as I admit doing the first couple of times we spent the night outdoors.
If your significant other is a newbie in camping and is doubtful about joining you at the next camping trip, maybe some of the things I have learned along the line may be able to help you or convince him or her to at least try:
- Let her take whatever she wants, true you are probably going to be the one to carry all of it, but let her figure it out for herself and know that she needs to pack the essentials for next time.
- Discuss the meals you are going to be making on your trip. You can prep it at home and freeze it, so that you just throw it on the grill once you are there. Let her take part in the meal planning.
- You can practice putting up the tent in your backyard with her, if you expect her to take part in the actual putting up of the tent. Try to make it a fun and enjoyable experience for her, so you don’t scare her off from the real thing.
- Talk to her about what happens at your camping trips – the walks, the camp preparation, the fishing, etc. Get her ready for what to expect, without frightening her off.
- Once you arrive at the campground don’t just leave your partner hanging alone while going to talk with others. Involve her in the camping befriending experience as well.
- You must prepare yourself for sacrificing some of your own fun time in order to make her time.
- If she is having a hard time, go comfort her and talk to her about your first time camping and all the mistakes you made then.
- Remember to encourage her, and never embarrass her, because she may refuse to come to your camping trips ever again. Give her the credit for at least trying!