I'm an indoors city man through and through, but recently I've been experiencing more and more peer pressure to go camping with people whom I would really want to spend more time with and whom I don't want to upset. So I'd rather ask this from people I don't know: what exactly is the point of camping? What part of this activity is supposed to make it enjoyable?
I'm a grown-ass man so I'm not buying the hippie weeaboo Commune With Nature And Be One With The Trees bullshit, y'all just say that to fuck with people. I've never been a treehugger nor have I ever been drugged enough to fuck one, so I don't see what satisfaction I should get from seeing a tree up close that I don't get from seeing one from my window. I've been out in the nature a lot of times before and never had some grand relevations about any shit, y'all just say that shit to fuck with people.
So what really is the point? Is it like some sort of anorexia sort of thing, restricting and removing physical comforts from your life to see how miserable you can make yourself as a some sort of a masochistic self-control flex? And then having online communities where you get competitive about who can make himself the most miserable without actually dying, all insisting that there's some kind of a higher goal to all of this than just playing a big game of chicken with death by exposure?
>So what really is the point?
you get to suck your buddies dicks innawoods without your wives finding out
Okay. So what's the point if there's going to be women present?
sounds terrible
Now that is a good question
>what exactly is the point of camping?
In a ~~*campground*~~ out of your car:
Sit around chit chatting with a couple beers around a fire
Can use it as a zero-effort zero-risk "basecamp" to go enjoy whatever park it is in during the day if you're feeling lazy or guiding the noobs/elderly.
To me they are a last resort place to sleep when I can't find dispersed car-sites.
Dispersed camping out of a car:
Get some degree of seclusion based on the site. Same as above, drink beers around a fire and chit chat but with less other annoying fags doing the same in your vicinity.
Backpacking in a group:
Backpacking-lite for those too scared to sleep alone or too stupid/inexperienced to not die without supervision.
Backpacking solo:
Forced meditation. The mix of endurance cardio, nature, and solitude will get you into a zen you'll never want to leave. Personally I don't enjoy the camping part all that much, just a necessity.
I enjoy all kinds of weather/difficulty. Easy beautiful terrain with good weather is just bliss.
When shit gets bad it feels like you're 1v1ing against God and to come away victorious is obviously exhilarating.
I didn't start enjoying the outdoors until I moved out of FL to Appalachia and hit my mid 20's. There is definitely a mental barrier to enjoying it initially if you're used to an indoor lifestyle, mainly being ok with being physically uncomfortable. Now when I go back home to visit I can enjoy the swamp in June for what it is rather than judging it for not providing me comfort in that moment.
Okay so it IS about giving yourself a misery fetish?
son, you live in a festering diseased hell hole.
Then it's good that I've got an iron immune system, isn't it? I'm never sick.
That's mid-level bait you know.
So I'm not going to get anything out of hiking/camping if I already enjoy my job and my regular life?
Misery is sitting at my desk working watching the days pass like minutes. It is a state of mind, not a set of physical conditions.
I experience a lot of pain, exhaustion, and discomfort out on trail, but those things don't make me miserable anymore. Maybe once I do a thruhike I'll experience suck so bad that it makes me miserable, but I don't think anything physical will compare to watching the seasons change from my cubicle proofreading reports no one will ever read.
lol
Don't go camping. You will just be a fucking nuisance to the people who enjoy camping, you're going to waste your own time by being miserable, and your dumbass is probably gonna leave the place full of trash and shit.
I encourage you very strongly not to go mainly because I want less people in the woods, and but I also particularly don't want you and your shit fucking npc attitude tainting God's sacred treasures with your fucking presence. Stay in the filthy cities where cattle like you belong please, know your place.
tldr Your mother should have swallowed
So how do I tell the "please please please just give it a try you'll love it I promise" people that I am ontologically incapable of enjoying camping?
Just admit the truth, that you are too defective to enjoy the outdoors, don't beat around the bush.
get it? because vegetation and light activity are terrifying to you? kek.
You're not actually getting some sort of a deep sense of meaning and purpose out of it, are you?
I'm not that passionate about trees. If you've seen one pine, you've seen them all.
why does it have to be that deep. feeling the sun on your face is nice. smelling the woods is nice. hearing the silence is nice. being alone with my thoughts is nice. walking is nice. if you don't enjoy it don't do it, but never say you don't like something without trying it.
I have tried, and I don't enjoy any of those things you listed.
I think I understand what's going on here. there have been a lot of threads like this recently. being outdoorsy must be becoming a trending city thing again and people are getting peer pressured into it. city people have no contact with the real world, so their entire world is purely a social game. doing somthing because they enjoy it or not doing somthing because they dont enjoy it does not even factor into the equation because all that matters to them is fitting in and social status. the outdoors are not for your kind, stay there.
I imagine you're old enough to simply tell them that you've tried it and it's just not your thing, just put on your big boy pants and tell them to politely fuck off
>I imagine you're old enough
i don't. this reads like a guy in his early 20s who hasn't taken the time to really listen to his body and figure things out. he doesn't understand that spending time in green spaces makes you feel better, or that depriving yourself of those easy little dopamine hits is better for you long term.
I'm 29. Being in green spaces does nothing to me. Except when the weather is cold, then it makes my joints hurt.
you got your answer, now get the fuck off my board
imagine only being 29, you've never been outside, and your joints are already hurting
>So what really is the point?
there is none. You are done. You are dead inside. Take the simple route.
You are a human being, a natural creature. It is good for you to be in natural environments. The fresh air, the lack of pollution (including light pollution, see the stars), the sound of birds and running water, the foggy beams of light breaking through the branches. Watching turtles, snakes, hawks, and herons.
You don't need to involve the internet or photos to post online or anything like that bro. It is a worthwhile experience in itself. I know, seems crazy in our times, just LIVING IT and not carefully documenting every single moment online for the approval of strangers. I'm as jaded as you are on this vain social media bullshit, from one redneck to a city slicker. Getting away from all the high-speed high-stress bullshit will do you good for a while, I say this with good will.
>why do I camp
Because I feel more safe and calm in the woods. Cities make me nervous like the outside does you. I hate people and society.
>So what really is the point?
To get away from miserable homosexuals like you. If you're worried about upsetting these people, then just go with them, I guarantee they won't invite your sad-sack ass back.
Not op but I like the quiet.
Do everyone a favour and don’t go. You sound like an insufferable homosexual.