Roughing It

I was discussing some of the finer points of being a geologist with a friend of mine, and one of the things I was saying is that to me, the camping/"roughing it" aspect of geology is one of the greatest things about it. I went on to say that I think each person should, at least once in their life, spend 6-8 weeks living out of a tent far enough away from civilization that the only running water is that in a creek or river. My reason for making that claim is that while geology is certainly not for everyone, I think a wilderness experience can change every life for the better. There are so many little things I appreciate that most people never will. And they all make my life more enjoyable than it would be otherwise. To illustrate my point I thought I'd share with you my top ten "little things" that I am grateful for post-camping.

1.) Drinking out of a clean glass....as opposed to a Nalgene bottle complete with it's own ecosystem of "funk" which can either be "red flavor" Gatoraid metabolizing bacteria or photosynthetic algae...I never could tell for sure.
2.) Not having to put on boots, a jacket, a head lamp, and a hat to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. And not having to be worried about stepping on/or sitting on a cactus, poison oak, anthill or being assaulted by an opossum, raccoon, skunk, or curious bear on the way there.
3.) Waking up in a bed as opposed to a sweaty sleeping bag smelling of camp fire and feet, with a stiff back on a half inflated air mattress that feels more like a "bowl" the farther past 5:00 AM you go.
4.) Eating food without any of the following in it: Dirt, leaves, small rocks, ash, mosquitoes, flies, sunscreen, bug replant, animal droppings, sweat, sand or cooler water.
5.) Speaking of cooler water.... Not having to eat anything, or even be within 10 miles of the ever-horrifying bacteria-festering mystery meat/ yogurt...or was it cream cheese? cocktail that IS cooler water. I'm referring to the melted ice in the food coolers after a week of people improperly storing meat and dairy products in it. I'm not sure you can even understand how much I hate it. Just thinking about it makes me gag. I am so happy to have a clean refrigerator to keep my stuff in!
6.) Having more than EXACTLY 7 days worth of clean clothes. I have half the wardrobe that my BF does, but even so I feel like a queen. So many options, so many combinations! And I can coordinate my outfits on appearance, not functionality which often had me donning some very unbecoming styles and color combinations.  And I don't have to panic if I get something dirty and have to change, nor do I have to resort to wearing dirty clothes when the outfit I was planning to wear accidentally got caught in a rainstorm.
7.) Discovering what the weather is going to be like by ANY means other than standing on a mountain top in the middle of it. This includes my smart phone app, the Weather Channel on TV and weather.com. Hallelujah for meteorologists and 24 hours notice on bad weather (I know they only get it right half the time, and beyond five days chaos theory comes into play and their predictions are almost meaningless, but I don't care. They are still awesome)!
8.) Not having to spend my day off/ weekend in a laundromat. Pretty much any day "off" while camping or "in the field"  is just an un-intuitive way of designating time to do all the boring stuff you don't have time to during the week. This includes laundry, picking up supplies (i.e. band-aids, sun screen, baby wipes, Cortizone for bug bites, toilet paper that doesn't feel like sand paper, jar of peanut butter that hasn't been chewed on by a mouse, enough alcohol to survive the next week etc.), paying bills, finding a mirror (usually in a grocery store restroom) to look in and fully appreciating how horrible your appearance has become. Forget about sleeping in (tent is too hot anyway), relaxing (no comfortable chairs within 10 miles), when camping. Sometimes I sit on the couch in my living room and think to myself "This is so awesome and soft. And it's in the SHADE too! Sa-weet!"
9.) Taking a shower with water that I didn't haul up from the same river I saw a deer taking a shit in. Don't get me wrong a sun-shower is great when it's all you have. But you never really feel clean when the water in your bag looks like weak coffee with a splash of non-dairy creamer and sand in it. Never mind the time someone (not me) found a tadpole in their bag...
10.) Being dry in bad weather. It seems that no matter how hard you try there is just no way to avoid the weather when camping. Especially wet weather. Even if you have a tent and manage to make it inside before the deluge, there is always that one boot you left out, or the book on the picnic table, or your ipod, or map, or the temptation of a hot cup of coffee in the cook tent, that coaxes you from safety and into the wet. And then you don't want to go back in your tent because you will get everything in there soaked, and then you would have to sleep wet too! I can't even express how satisfying it feels to sit inside on a rainy day and look out the window and feel so DRY.
11.) Oh, actually I thought of one more. Not having to indulge fellow campers in eating their special "camping" recipe that they make EVERY time you are together, which you despise and which requires  a shovel and an extra roll of toilet paper to be brought into the field the next day. Camping recipes are never good. Especially complicated ones that involve eggplant, sesame oil, any sort of "baking". I stick to sandwiches, or meat cooked on a fire. I'll pass on Xxx's "infamous" Spicy Mexican spaghetti with a side of heartburn.

Anyway, do you see what I am saying? I mean do you appreciate any of those things? I live in a tiny apartment that costs way too much, but in some respects I feel so grateful. And I think everyone would benefit from appreciating those small conveniences that make regular life so...easy. When is the last time you felt excited just to be clean and dry?