When I was younger I hiked to get to places I shouldn't have been and went light to make escapes easier. I camped to test various skills and to get away from people. I had a sense of accomplishment when I look at the distance I covered on the map and the conditions I conquered. I loved it.

Then I got a job, a comfortable house with a fireplace and a soft bed. My wife, despite loving the outdoors, didn't seem agreeable to sleeping under a tarp. Although we continued to hike, it became harder to justify giving up comforts of home to sleep outdoors. Oddly, my wife is amicable to the idea of leaving a tent behind these days.

Recently though, I have decided that I want to focus more on landscape photography, which benefits from the morning and evening golden hours. So, to get the early morning and sunset photos, I simply need to wake up and sleep there. I have returned to my old days and love it again-but often wonder why.

I realize that simply being outdoors should be enough of a reason to camp. It certainly is for me to hike. So, how do you convince yourself to leave the comforts of home for a night on a pad?

Edited by Trooper on 10/22/2009 20:17:03 MDT.

"So, how do you convince yourself to leave the comforts of home for a night on a pad?"

Get a hammock.

Trooper,

Sometimes it is not about the comforts of a home. Many people have been raised and accustomed to urban or suburban living. In many cases, it is even taken for granted. Sometimes, to be able to be closer to nature could be very relaxing compared to the gridlock-wallblock back at home. Sure, it is comfortable physically, but is it comfortable mentally? I would much rather be in a remote area in nature with no presence of buildings--it is so much more pleasing to the eye and the mind. To be able to sleep at home and in the nature is to balance the rejuvenation of the body and the mind.

Also, we have to enjoy nature while we still can. We cannot enjoy the beauties of nature that our grandfathers have enjoyed due to the effects of industrialization. If that rate of industrialization will continue to be constant, our grandchildren will not be able to experience the beauties that we could experience now.

Get a Hammock? Got one. I don't leave home without it.