Happy Camper

From the time I was a little kid, I have been fascinated with nature. I remember going on “nature walks” with my grandmother. She’d tell me about the leaves and the clouds and we’d wave to the deer in her backyard. If the temperature was above 40 degrees, I was exploring the woods in my neighborhood. And if I wasn’t, I was playing in the snow. Nature brought out the best of my childhood imagination. In fact, some of my fondest childhood memories are of days spent. sunrise to sundown playing in a pile of sand.

 

Yep. a pile of sand off a river in Ontario, Canada entertained me for three whole weeks every summer. One day it was a zoo, another day it was a water park and sometimes it was an intricate system of caves waiting tobe explored.  I’d collect rocks, sticks. cattails, shells, and whatever else I could find. I’d paint scraps of wood, given to us by the carpenter down the little dirt road leading up to our cabin. I’d swim in the river for hours, not afraid to tangle my feet in the seaweed - or even take the occasional mud bath.

 

At the end of the day, my family would roast s’mores around the campfire. And the best part was, no technology. Shoot, we didn’t even have indoor plumbing.

And it was great.

 

Happy Camper is a monthly journal meant to capture that spirit and offer a fresh perspective in the outdoor lifestyle publication sphere. It’s about embracing nature in your everyday life, whether you’re hiking in the Amazon or simply stopping to admire that tree you see every day on your way to work.