In my early and mid-twenties, I immensely enjoyed hiking and camping. After college, and with lots of time in my hands and little to do with it, someone advised me to look for an organisation where I could volunteer as I was job searching.
I don’t remember how, but I found myself at St John Ambulance, where I would go on to spend many Saturday afternoons learning first-aid and other related skills. When not doing this, my cohort would volunteer our time in children’s homes and community clean-ups. Once we even came together and helped to build a needy family a house. I would go on to become a Corporal, which is a junior leadership level, but one I was immensely proud of.
As you can imagine, I remember this phase of my life as one of my most gratifying, and when I look back, I can agree without hesitation that giving of yourself, whether it is in the form of skills, knowledge, presence or encouragement, is deeply satisfying. And of course, money has the power to change lives and situations in remarkable ways.
In the process of volunteering, I ended up making good friends, and together, under the reputable name of St John Ambulance, we had the opportunity to tour quite a number of the country’s parks at a fraction of the cost. We also went on numerous hikes and camping outings where we cooked and ate under the stars, thereafter socialising around a fire before bedtime in tents that we had set up ourselves. If there is a definition of wholesome fun, that was it. As I write this, I remember those days and those friends with lots of fondness.
Anyway, I’ve gone hiking and camping with my children a few times, and they enjoyed it, which made me happy, but I’ve realised that as time goes by, my love for camping is diminishing; what my body seems to be asking for, no, demanding, is glamping. If you’re wondering, glamping is the luxurious form of camping.
The tents are as high as a house, and instead of a sleeping bag on the hard ground is an actual bed draped with luxurious bedding, and underneath a lush carpet where you can sink your weary feet into. The tents look like actual houses, some even have décor, fans for the heat during the day and heaters to ward off the chilly cold at night. Some are even fitted with indoor toilets and hot showers, and rather than gather firewood to make a fire for your food, some glamping experiences come with a chef to do the heavy lifting. Talk of a soft life…
Before you ask, I haven’t experienced it, but I’ve watched people experiencing it on television, and from the way my knees and back tingle with delight each time, I have no doubt that I am in my glamping phase. My Camping days are unequivocally over. During my most recent camping outing, sometime last year, which was a long three days, my body protested loudly throughout, telling me that it was time I exposed it to the soft life, that I should have outgrown dark and dank tents I had to crawl through. At one point, I found myself watching glamping videos sorrowfully…
Determined to reward my body, which has faithfully carried me this far, I decided to research how much a glamping experience would cost me, right here in this beautiful country of ours. Let us just say that my bank account protested loudly…
