An Old Camper’s Emotional Camping Beginner Story 1 - Prologue

Reflections on memories - a star tens of light-years away, the starlight I see today is the trace of that star from those days...

The first time I pitched a tent with my friends, set a mess kit on a kerosene burner, and went camping was during my first year of high school.

My first camping memories began with Jirisan and the sea of Namhae,

and after that, throughout my twenties, there were many other memories, including six full traverses of Jirisan, five climbs of Seoraksan, various other hikes, and seaside camping.

Back then, the stars and Milky Way filling the night sky seemed so ordinary that they were not particularly new or rare experiences.

After graduating from medical school, the harsh life of residency was an even more grueling period, one in which I could no longer even think of the luxury of camping.

Then one day, after I finally had a little room to breathe, I suddenly realized I had naturally drifted far away from the memories and culture of camping.

For years, I had only been planning that someday I would set out a mat on the dirt, use the sky as my roof, and enjoy a generous sense of ease~~~

Before the kids got any older, I thought I should give them an uncomfortable but vivid experience in nature,

so after persuading my son during his elementary school years with sweet talk that he should spend a night on the dirt,

I finally ended up buying the auto tent that was ranked number one in online purchases.

First phase - Where can a wandering old camper find the flower patch of days gone by?

For someone who could see patients until Saturday afternoon and rest only on Sunday,

the first phase of this out-of-date old camper became a memory of gloom and disappointment.

Having made up my mind, I loaded the newly purchased number-one-selling tent, burner, mess kit, and other gear from an internet price-comparison site into the trunk of the car,

and on a late Saturday afternoon, I set off with excitement and pride.

After struggling through weekend traffic, the campsites in the hills near Seoul that I arrived at without a prior reservation had no vacancies at all,

and after moving from place to place and searching, I finally found one empty spot.

By then it was already 10 p.m.ㅠㅠㅠ

I was hungry, and it was too dark to see anything....

In the pitch-black darkness where nothing could be seen, I managed to pitch the tent with only one headlamp and one hand lantern, then crouched on the ground and prepared the burner and mess kit.

There was no table, no chair, and no bright lantern either,

and we only had one burner.

After heating up some instant rice, I quickly cooked the meat I had brought, ate it with hunger as the side dish, and took a look around.

All around us were flashy, massive tents that looked almost like houses had been moved there - some had separate living rooms and bedrooms, some had TVs and fans set up, and some even had a separate house for their pet dog...

Looking around, the majesty of our four-person auto tent, the number-one seller at an internet shopping mall, seemed to have been reduced to little more than another camper’s bathroom.

The neighboring dog, with its well-equipped setup, looked more comfortable and happier than we did.

Feeling that something was missing, I boiled some water, burned a packet of coffee mix, and drank a cup. Then I went back inside the tent, laid my sleeping bag over the damp ground, and tried to sleep.

Whether it was because of the sadness and disappointment of the situation, the coffee I had drunk late, or the rocks jutting up here and there from the ground, I kept tossing and turning without sleep, when joyfully enough, raindrops started knocking on the tent...

Thinking this was our chance, I woke the family and said that since we didn’t know how much rain might fall, we should pack up and leave. In the pre-dawn hours, we returned to the comfort of home.

Intermission - The passion had not cooled.

While looking at star photos, sea-of-cloud photos, and long-exposure photos of rivers and the sea, I kept gradually building a vague longing for car camping.

What ultimately set it off was this:

because of the dreamlike memories of the sky and grasslands of Mongolia in August, a trip I had suddenly taken,

the smoldering passion of this old camper was reignited.

Mongolian grasslands in August - a Milky Way photo I took myself after spending the early morning tossing and turning in pitch-black darkness, setting up a tripod, and using a timer

A ger in Mongolia

On the grasslands of Central Asia~~~!!!

Second phase - In the end, is it all about the gear?

In a world where the internet is well developed, the old camper, having picked up a lot of prior knowledge from YouTube and experienced online tent camping, prepared with the resolve that there would be no more failures.

"In the end, it’s all about the gear~!!!"

As someone afflicted with gear obsession, I prepared with the determination that there would be no more failures.

One weekend,

I spent the entire day searching the internet shopping sites furiously...

Comforting myself with "Yes, this is the small but certain happiness of life,"

and reminding myself of the truth that "hesitation only delays delivery,"

I put it into action.

Oh no, the number of parcel boxes scheduled for delivery on Tuesday~~~ㅠㅠㅠ

I hurriedly call my son.

"There will be camping supplies delivered to the house today, so you must hide them well where your mother can’t see them!!!"

The operation seemed to be proceeding successfully...

And then, it begins