I am a born-and-raised Albertan so this may come as a bit of a surprise to some of you but I don’t understand the appeal of going camping on May long weekend.
I know admitting something like that is almost reason enough for me to have my Canadian card taken away.
Camping in the wilderness of the true north strong and free (usually with a beer in your hand) is part of what makes Canadians the hearty breed of rough-and-tumble people we are.
But it is always so cold and rainy and miserable on May long weekend.
I should elaborate. I grew up with my only family vacations taken in our 1970’s Winnebago.
There was no jet-setting or relaxing on a tropical beach for me from the time I was born until I was 20 years old.
Every single trip was taken in the affectionately named “Twinkie mobile,” which was given to my parents for their wedding by my dad’s great uncle (or something like that).
We were pretty sure it was going to fall apart at any time but luckily my dad was a mechanically minded engineer.
We travelled around Alberta and BC and even into Saskatchewan. We stayed everywhere from campgrounds with full hook up, concrete pads and landscaping to the back country where we weren’t sure if dad would remember the way out for all the winding roads and tall trees.
I loved camping. Loved it! I was the Tom boy who liked to hike and run and bike and play in lakes and rivers and sand and mud.
I would spend hours hammering bottle caps (from the aforementioned beer bottles) into tree stumps with my dad’s shoe and catching tadpoles and frogs in jars.
However, whenever I saw my mom bringing the kitchen utensils out to the backyard followed by dad testing out the propane stove, in the middle of May, I cringed.
This is when my favourite family holiday turned sour. Why? Well in two words - Mother Nature.
She never seemed to cooperate with us for May long weekend. In fact, looking back I can’t remember one May camping trip where we weren’t hanging tarps to keep dry, searching for an extra sweater while wearing three pairs of socks and swearing at a soggy fire pit while trying desperately to light even wetter fire wood.
Needless to say, since becoming an adult, my husband and I have opted for more traditional vacations, jetting all over the world and taking in sites and cultures of far off lands.
However, as I get older and look to start my own family, the appeal of camping is calling again.
It is an affordable way to see your own beautiful country, while instilling values and life lessons in your children.
My experiences while camping allowed me to be independent (or at least I thought it did because I was under the impression my parents let me venture out on my own when really they were watching from nearby).
It taught me to respect nature and wildlife and many valuable tools like starting a fire without matches and cooking dinner on that fire.
For these reasons and more, I see camping in my future.
Whether or not my husband and I end up purchasing a newer version of my beloved yellow motorhome, one thing is for certain, we will not be venturing out on May long weekend.
I wish all you hard-core campers the best of luck and will hope for sunshine from May 16 to 19.
