NEWBIES GO CAMPING

You may already know that your adventures in wilderness leave you feeling refreshed, less stressed and happier. It’s also possible they make you smarter.Preliminary results of a new study suggest that prolonged time in nature can boost mental abilities significantly. In an article published in Backpacker magazine, writer Elizabeth Kwak-Hefferan witnesses the phenomenon first hand as she serves as a test subject in neuroscientist Dr. David Strayer's study. Strayer wants to know what happens to the brain after a multiday wilderness hike. Past studies have shown mental benefits do occur after short periods in nature, but no one has looked at the effects of an extended trip into the wild. To get to his answer, Strayer, took a small group of backpackers for a multiday hiking trip in southeast Utah’s Grand Gulch Primitive Area. The hikers, including Kwak-Hefferan, took a cognitive test before heading out on the trail, then again after several days of backpacking. Results showed a 45 percent increase in mental abilities once the hikers had been out on the trail for three days.The theory, according to Backpacker, is that time in wilderness may inspire physiological changes, such as the release of certain hormones, or the use of different brain regions, allowing the overtaxed higher-thinking region of the brain to destress and restore clear thinking abilities. After initial tests in Utah, Strayer did another study on a larger group of Outward Bound hikers. This time, results, showed up to 50 percent increases in creative abilities. Of course, the author notes that some might say the vigorous exercise or unplugging from distracting electronics may have something to do with the results. But Strayer is just at the beginning of his research and hopes to have more answers in the future. Strayer’s studies may help explain why people commonly feel so great after hiking. This “caught up in the moment,” feeling, as described by Kwak-Hefferan, may increase our ability to focus. This is especially important as a kind of cure for the distracted thinking, typical of modern life. Daily routines are often rife with interruptions from numerous technological devices, constant advertisements and over-booked schedules. Nowadays, only by getting outdoors can you reap the rewards of living without constant distraction. The study suggests three days of wilderness exposure will net you the greatest benefits, but making brief but frequent backpacking trips could recharge your mental capacities as well, according to Backpacker. So if you are getting ready for exams or other mental challenges, the best preparation may be to take a break by hitting the trails. Weekend outings could provide the charge needed to perform at your best through the rest of your workweek. The implications of these studies extend well beyond your individual experiences. This research could provide greater support for employer flexibility, outdoor education and of course increased wilderness protection. Until then, you can begin reaping the benefits now by giving your brain the gift of wilderness.   Source: TheWildernessSociety

Many people say that traveling together can make or break a relationship, and the same can be said for camping.Camping is probably the best way to spend time with your loved onesHere are some tips to make you and your partner happy this camping trip. Communication: It's important to discuss what experience you both want out of the trip. If you don’t talk about it beforehand, you could end up being left behind in the tent with nothing but your beef jerky to keep you company. Camp Setup: Have one person take care of the inside of the tent and one person set up the outside. This avoids unnecessary critique of how the other does things.make sure both of you are contributing when setting up camp. The person stuck doing all the work will resent their partner, leaving room for bad feelings later on, so tasks should be divided before you start.Tips’’ Leave the headlamps, bug spray and toiletries right by the door so that you can get to everything you need when the time comes and there's no rummaging around in the dark.’’ Cooking: Just because you are out in the wilderness doesn’t mean that you can’t have a gourmet meal. Plan your meals before you leave and don’t forget all the spices and oils needed. Go through a checklist together and break down meals as well as snacks.Trail mix and fruit are great snack options, pancakes are quick and easy for breakfast and sandwiches are a snap to make for lunch Campfire: Nothing causes more heated discussions when camping (with anyone) than when people try to give advice about how to light a campfire. For the sake of your relationship, it's best to let one person take care of making the fire while the other waits patiently—and quietly—no matter how much they want to give their two cents. Clean Up: Teamwork is needed to make clean up easy so while one of you boils water to use for dishwashing, the other can go and fetch some water in your collapsible water jug for rinsing. Nobody likes cleaning, but we make sure to have a fresh glass of wine or an icy cold beer to sip on while we work. While one person washes, the other dries and within minutes we're free and ready to sit by the fire and reconnect with one another after a long week at work. Important Tip: Employ the rules you have at home for duties such as clean up. Camping is no time to be switching roles.

Going camping as a kid was the best thing ever. It was fun. It was easy. It filled my heart with joy. Going camping with kids can be magical too but it takes planning, patience, and a willingness to roll with whatever happens. Here are a few tips to make your next family camping adventure just a little more successful: 1. Put them to work – When you first get to your campsite, there’s a ton of work to do. It’s easy for kids to get bored while they wait for the tent to go up. But, even tiny kids can help with something, unloading the car, handing you tent pegs, or setting up camp chairs. It gives them something to do and gives them ownership over their own adventure. Chores that are torturous at home suddenly become fun when you’re camping. You know the phrase, “A spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down?” A spoon full of dirt and campfire smoke helps turn everything into a game. 2. Put the screens away – My tent has an electrical outlet flap, a flap through which I can pass cords and cables to power all of my electronic devices. WHAT?! This is camping! With the allure of cell phones, tablets and gaming devices, it’s easy for “just one game” or “one last text message” to turn into a weekend you could have just as easily spent on your couch at home. If you’re in the woods to get away from it all, stay away from it all. Enjoy the wilderness, the family, the friends. Enjoy what’s real. 3. Marshmallows and hot chocolate – Some of the best things about camping are the treats. The memories associated with s’mores and trail mix are emotional. They are sugar-filled. They are magically delicious. Your kids will love planning, shopping for, and helping pack treats that they only get when you’re off the grid. 4. Tell stories – The screens are off. The fire is burning. You have a captive audience. Tell them about when you were little, about how you met their dad, about the greatest vacation of your life. They love these stories and the stories give them a sense of family identity. I recently heard renowned storyteller Donald Davis plead with parents to tell family stories to their kids. He said that kids will grow up whether we help them or not. They will get jobs, find spouses, obtain computers, get educations, whether we help them or not. However, if we don’t tell them our stories, they can never know them. We are the only ones who can tell them their history and the stories that made us who we are. He says there is only one rule to family storytelling – It doesn’t matter if they want to hear it or not. 5. Plastic Storage Containers – Organize the heck out of your camping gear. My favorite organization tip is to arrange all of your gear into kits that you keep at the ready. Keep the kits in plastic storage containers with a checklist of contents on the side. When you want to take a trip, just make sure each one is fully stocked and toss them in the back of the car. For example, the cooking kit contains matches, propane canisters, paper towels, hand sanitizer, sandwich baggies, trash bags, dishes and utensils, dish soap, peeler, knives, cutting board, towels, sponge, and a dish pan. 6. Cook food ahead of time – Whether you’re eating sandwiches, foil dinners, or scrambled eggs with potatoes and ham, prep and cook as much as you can in advance. Cook the meat most of the way and steam the rice or potatoes in your foil dinner. Cook your entire egg breakfast, put it in a Ziploc bag, and reheat it in a pan over your camp stove. Chop all your veggies in advance and slice the cheese for sandwiches. The more you prep ahead, the fewer dishes you’ll have to wash in the wilderness. 7. Let them carry their own hiking stuff – as you go for age-appropriate hikes, let the kids each carry their own backpacks with food, water and other supplies. This lightens your load and makes them feel like real campers. They love having the freedom to grab snacks when they feel like it and you will hear far fewer chants of “Mom. Mom. Mom. Can I have some beef jerky?” 8. Frisbees and balls and card games, oh my! – Stuff the gaps in between your duffles and sleeping bags with games and activities to do outside. Be creative. Late night Uno by the light of a Coleman lamp is an awesome outdoor activity. 9. Let there be light – Every person in the family should have their own flashlight. This seems obvious, but nearly every trip we get to the campground and realize we don’t have appropriate lights for each person, lights with working batteries, lights bright enough to light our way but dim enough that the 4-year-old won’t use hers to burn her siblings’ eyes out of their sockets. 10. Potty time – My best piece of advice for camping with kids is to save the nighttime potty break until the last possible second. I have had trips in which my kids used the restroom no fewer than five times in the night. This was unusual and aggravated by the fact that we were camped about seven inches from a very loudly bubbling stream. And it was uber lame. I’ve had the fewest nighttime biffy runs when I did the entire bedtime routine and then took them in their pajamas to the bathroom, walked them directly back to the tent, and dumped them into their sleeping bags. There is no such thing as a perfect camping trip, but every camping trip can be perfectly memorable and hopefully memorable for all the right reasons.