Year Camping Goal Reached!

Yes!  You read that right!  I have reached my goal I set back on March 5th 2011 to camp 365 times (one full year of camping) before I turned 40 years old!  That's an average of 9.1 nights per year, so that's not too bad, right?  Here's some of my stats for the camping nights:

Backpacking Nights - 53

Canyoneering Nights - 30

Snowcave Nights - 16

Hot Springs Nights - 9

Boating/Rafting Nights - 25

Biking Nights - 1

Beach Camping Nights - 81

Plus a ton of other campouts!

I've camped 112 nights with the scouts in the troop I'm in now!

Does all this camping make me an expert?  Nope, I'm still learning on each campout the things that work well and the things that don't.  In preparation for each campout I still go through my list of things to bring, and debate on the things from previous trips that I thought I couldn't live without, or that I wished I'd had.  I feel like I've gotten better at being prepared for whatever happens, and that's good, but I also feel like we can work through unforeseen challenges we face, and that's even better.

Does that mean I'll stop camping now?  Not on your life!  I really enjoy camping and taking scouts on campouts.  I enjoy helping them experience the outdoors and helping them to learn and grow.  I like how I feel as I go outdoors and get away from my desk job.

Boy Scouts of America has given me much and taught me much.  I earned my Eagle as a 14 year old scout, and have been involved in scouting pretty much ever since.  It's a great program that helps young men to build confidence, character, and values that will help them as they grow up and become men.

The outdoors is calling, and I must go.

Camping Nights - One More Year!

In March of 2011 I set the goal to camp a total of 365 nights by the time I turn 40.  (see the post HERE)  Well, I'm a little more than a year away from when I'll be 40, and I thought I'd look to see where I'm at.

If you'll look at the camping stats on the left side of the blog, I've got the following:

That means I only have 11 more days to go!  (For reference, when I set the goal I had only 259 nights, so I've come a long ways)

So I only need 11 more nights in the next year to make my goal!

Update on Camping Nights

So, a year ago I posted that I would try to get a year of camping by the time I am 40 years old. Click HERE for the post.  In the post I figured I would have to camp 16 nights per year to make it to my goal.  Guess what?  I camped 19 nights last year!  That's 3 more than my goal!

So I'm on track for my goal, and will keep you posted!

365 Nights Camping?

So, my wife was emailed a link to a blog by a lady who cooked with a slow cooker each day for dinner for a year, trying out different types of recipes and stuff.

Hmm. . .  That got me thinking.  I could do that with my blog!  

I could go camping every night for a whole year, and write about my experiences!  I could try out different types of tents, pads, sleeping bags, hammocks, etc. and write about my experience with each one.

So, I asked my wife what she thought about that, and told her how excited I was about it, and well, she wasn't too excited.  She reminded me that we have 5 children and a dog (he could sleep with me though, right?), AND that we have a basement that we're trying to finish, AND that I'm studying to pass an 8 hour exam for work, AND that she and I are interviewing and writing my Grandpa's life story and we've got to get it done in the next month so that we can get it to the publishers and have it finished by his 90th Birthday in May, AND that I need to spend time with her (I just assumed that she would be camping with me for the 365 days, but I guess not), AND, AND, AND, etc.  Yeah, she keeps me grounded.

BUT, instead of doing it all in one year, I've decided to try to get to 365 days by the time I turn 40!  So, I've got less than 7 years to camp another lets see, 365 - 259 = 106 nights.  I'll just call that 16 nights per year.  So, let's see if this is doable.  This year I have planned a week long camp with High Adventure with the Varsity's and Venturers, and a week long camp with my family.  Add to that at least 6 more monthly overnighters and I'll have my 16 nights this year.  So, each year I need to go on:

• 1 week-long camp with the scouts (5 nights)
• 1 week-long camp with my family (5 nights)
• 6 overnighters with the scouts (at least).  We typically do:
• snow cave Camping in February
• 2-night campout during spring break
• overnighter backpacking in May
• overnighter backpacking in June
• overnighter in October
• hot springs campout in November

That's 17 nights a year.  If I can keep that up, then I can cover for years where there are less camping.  Then by the time I'm 40 I will have spent 1/40th of my life's nights under the stars!  That's something to work towards!

Check out "My Camping Stats" on the upper left side of the site to see how I'm coming on my goal!

BTW, I have some campouts that I went on when I was really young, but I'm only counting campouts where I was old enough to remember.