Old Camper’s Intro to Sentimental Camping, Part 4 - Finally, We Head Out!

Is the excitement before departure mine alone?

With departure just one day away, my heart feels much like the excitement I used to feel as a grade school kid before a field trip.

Because I need to check the preparation status in advance so I can leave right after work and finish setting up before it gets dark,

I show a planning side of myself that is unlike my usual self.

Since I always ended up arriving around sunset wherever I went because of Saturday work, and I have vivid memories of scrambling around in the dark, this time I plan to set up as quickly as possible, sit back in a chair, and leisurely welcome the evening while watching the sunset settle in. So I tell the others the setup order and plan an organized division of labor.

I’m not sure I understood the main point correctly, but the roommate is startled and starts warning me, in case I decide to buy a hammer.

Of course, I had no plan to buy a hammer~~~If I look around the house, there are at least 5 or 6 hammers:))

At this point, I need to make a small confession to correct the one-sided view of the roommate to some extent.

This is about me.

I have a kind of shopping addiction, and I have a chronic habit of impulsively buying tools and small electronic devices without distinctionㅠㅠㅠ It’s more frightening than alcohol addiction...

There are products I bought that I haven’t even opened for months — 대표적으로, such as a video editing controller keyboard or a Wi-Fi-connected otoscope ear cleaner, and even when I do unbox something, I never throw away the box until I’ve handed it off somewhere else.

So the boxes piled up at home...

It’s no wonder the roommate is always on edgeㅠㅠㅠ

In fact, when I brought up a few things during the preparation process, I was shut down immediately...

Me: For sentimental camping, we need wooden tableware like a wood plate and a wooden spoon... Roommate: Who’s going to do all that dishwashing~~~!!!

Me: Still, if we think about the environment...

Roommate: !!!

Me: We need a tablecloth to set the mood...

Roommate: Do you even know how hard it is to clean food stains off a tablecloth???

Me; ......

And that’s how part of my plan for a 'sentimental camping' setup is frustrated.

'Even a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step~~~!!!'

'One step back for two steps forward!!! Step back today for tomorrow’s leap!!!'

The eldest child had plans to attend a birthday party with friends on the weekend and couldn’t join us, so the four of us — me, the roommate, my ally, and our dog who absolutely does not understand a word anyone says — set off together.

Like looking at the delicate teeth sprouting on a young child’s gums...

Encouraged by my organized preparation, it was a little after 3 p.m. on Saturday.

At last, fully prepared, we head out.

While my ally drives, they keep repeating, "Wow~ today’s weather is really nice~~~!!!" It’s the late afternoon of Saturday,

and the weather is the bright, clear kind seen in mid-April in central Korea.

The scenery sweeping past the car windows feels like it is rushing into my arms.

As we enter Gapyeong, auto camping grounds begin to appear here and there. The tents dotted around here and there look like new shoots sprouting in April. We arrive at our destination before 5 o’clock. Many sites are already packed with tents,

and only a few empty spots are visible.

Since I had never come to an auto camping site with a reservation before, when we arrive, I have only a vague idea of where to park and where to set up.

As we park in an empty spot that seems suitable, someone runs over in a hurry.

"Ah~ this is the place we were preparing to pitch our tent..."

After an awkward greeting,

"Ah~ yesㅠ Sorry. I didn’t know..."

My ally goes and brings back someone who looks like the owner managing the auto camping site.

To the kind-looking owner, I speak as if I have plenty of experience with auto camping.

"I’m planning to set up a docking tent connected to the vehicle trunk. Where would be a good spot?"

The owner says,

"Ah~ if you want to set up a trunk docking tent, the only place is way~~~ inside, but cars are blocking it....."

The owner seems troubled, and for a moment it feels like they are silently making some kind of plan for us.

My ally follows the owner and returns looking like a confident scout.

They say they will move the two cars at the entrance,

so we can just go inside.

The very back looks quite spacious, but there aren’t any clear boundary lines, so I ask,

"How far can we use?"

The owner, in a not-particularly-systematic tone, looks at me and says,

"Just use all of this area."

At that moment,

I felt like it had already been exposed that I was a beginner camper coming to a place like this for the first time.

Anyway, the reservation management system did not seem systematic at all, but the owner looked like a very kind neighborhood uncle.

The spring celebration and the torch announcing our first departure are burning...

After unloading the luggage from the trunk, we busily begin setting up in the planned order.

First, I need to set up the Zed Auto Dual Palace 2 docking tent, which I am unboxing for the first time.

I had already instructed everyone in advance to learn the Zed Auto Dual Palace installation method on YouTube, but my ally apparently had not done the pre-setup through YouTube.

The installation is so simple that once I demonstrate one or two parts, they quickly do well like a skilled assistant.

The Zed Auto Dual Palace 2 is truly easy to set up, and with two people it seems to take less than 5 minutes.

Even though it was our first time!!!

The Zed Auto Dual Palace 2 is a self-supporting tent that can easily be set up by one person,

and I think it is a really highly versatile tent that can also be used as a standalone shelter without docking it to the trunk.

If you bend the four joints of the tent poles and simply extend the length by pushing out the overlapping poles used for storage, the tent forms almost by itself~~~!!!

However, the packed volume and weight are enormous...

And taking it down and packing it away was a bit more difficult than setting it up.

I was too busy to capture setup images or video, so I plan to share them next time.

Once the shelter had taken shape and we had simply docked it to the trunk,

it started to look quite promising.

Now we move on to the table setup.

I take out the Marex table frame and stand it up, then assemble the tabletop, while the roommate starts grumbling again from behind.

Roommate: "What am I supposed to do!!!" Me: "You already assembled the chairs last time, so start with the chairs!"

My ally whispers quietly to me.

"She’s doing that because she has nothing to do."

'What a diligent tsundere~~~!!!'

The roommate is subtly diligent and works quickly.

All by themselves, they somehow manage to set up all four chairs.

Even though everything was set up —

the shelter (Zed Auto-Dual Palace 2),

the table (Marex Table, Zed Camping Table),

and the chairs (Marex Long Relaxing Chair, Zed Camping Chair) —

the bright spring sunlight was still filling our little yard in front of the shelter.

After moving around a bit while setting things up, I even start to sweat a little.

Once I set up the three-tier wood shelf, I feel a sense of calm.

For a moment, I sit in the chair (Marex Long Relax Chair).

I place the Bluetooth speaker (Fix Dual-Fi Bluetooth Speaker) on the table and play music.

When I try connecting my phone, I dislike how various notification sounds keep popping up in the middle of the music, so I try connecting the microSD card filled with music I prepared at home.

Ah~~~ this thing does not recognize the microSD card and keeps switching from Bluetooth connection to FM radio.

Maybe the problem is that I formatted it as NTFS in order to use a larger microSD capacity.

As I keep trying, my ally connects with their own phone,

and plays their music.

Quietly flows the OST "I'll Never Love Again" from A Star Is Born, which completely redefined my prejudice about Lady Gaga.

Lady Gaga’s expressive vocals are, as always, superb!

For a moment, I close my eyes and, as if writing a handwritten request on the DJ box at an old music café, I think of a song to request for myself.

Hmm~~~ I think of the aria "Though the Clouds May Hide the Sun" from Weber’s Der Freischütz. The soprano must be Elizabeth Grummer!

Ah~~~ a quiet, peaceful feeling...

The end of this sweet moment of leisure is, as always, the responsibility of the tsundere roommate.

While I am imagining Elisabeth Grümmer’s aria, a sudden recitative breaks into my time.

Roommate: "Hurry up and set up the fire pit and dinner table~~~!!!" Me: "Ah~~~ honestly, it’s not even dark yet, so why are we talking about a fire pit...."

I had wanted to sit a little longer in our yard as the evening sunset settled in, and I suddenly feel like I’m being treated like a lazy person.

I set up the Gui Bada and Kazmi cutlery set and cup set, and set up the Bap Grill, the portable fire grill from Bap Camping.

Kazmi cutlery set

Preparing firewood

I place charcoal with fire starters on the Bap Grill and light it with a gas torch.

It’s bright outside, so I can’t really tell whether the fire has caught... I add firewood again and light it once more with the gas torch.

The fire begins to burn in earnest.

'Like the torch announcing the full spring celebration and our first departure ceremony...'

On the pan set on the Gui Bada, I grill meat, and on the portable gas stove I boil water and warm the instant rice in a hot-water bath. While the roommate doesn’t notice, I quietly make a promise to myself: 'Next time, I should make rice in a pot.'

In an instant, darkness arrives,

and now it feels like the thrilling moment for my secret weapon, the lighting setup, has come.

The impressive sight of the Claymore 3Face lantern mounted on the Iduzen lantern stand

Inside the shelter, I set up the Claymore Ultra Plus lantern,

and in the yard, I install an Iduzen lantern stand and set up the Claymore 3Face.

On the wood shelf, the sentimental lanterns I had been worried the roommate might notice greet one another gracefully and quaintly in their own language.

I think the Iduzen lantern stand was truly an exquisite choice.

One of the reasons nights are so nice is that they wash away mismatched backgrounds and let you capture only the proper scenery, almost like cutting out the subject in a photo.

After mounting the impressive Claymore lantern on the stand, being able to freely adjust its position to suit the conditions feels like an indispensable element in shaping the evening scenery and atmosphere.

Once the Claymore lantern is mounted and the stand is raised as high as possible, it almost becomes a streetlight, and because the Claymore lantern can adjust brightness and color temperature (daylight, cool white, warm white), it can create the atmosphere of mercury lamps or sodium lamps however you like.

I set it to my preferred sodium-lamp color (3000K, warm white).

Barebones sentimental lantern (Forest)

Lantern and isobutane gas warmer

On the table and wood shelf, the sentimental lanterns and lanterns fill the space in their own language.

Our dog, who had been ignoring instructions and wandering around everywhere, looks cold and pitiful.

That feeling when you share your body heat like this...

I think about the word 'love.'

I set up the portable hydraulic screen (Grandview 40-inch) and project with the portable beam projector (ZTE Spro2, also known as Uplus Beam) using its own battery.

Now it is bonfire time.

The crackling sound of the burning firewood is charmingly audible, and from the smell of burning wood comes Brahms’s String Sextet No. 1, second movement.

Looking at the kettle sitting there like a kind-hearted aunt, I think to myself.

The impression that kettles have left on me for a long time has always been that of a warm, kind neighborhood aunt.

Sometimes it spits out makgeolli from its spout, and sometimes warm sake flows out generously, when winter is cold, the sound of water boiling in the kettle on the stove brings to mind an affectionate scene.

In my childhood, the rooftop room of our house had no heating, so the stove kept winter at bay, and hearing the sound of water boiling in the kettle on top of it reminds me of the kind things my older brother used to tell me when I was a young boy with a buzz cut.

"Doesn’t the violin pizzicato in the second movement of Vivaldi’s Winter feel similar to the scene of water boiling in a kettle?"

Watching the kettle on the brazier constantly exhale steam,

and waiting for the potatoes and sweet potatoes warming themselves in foil,

a spring evening slowly deepens.

Addendum - Clarification

1. About the sudden impulse buying of camping gear that might seem impulsive...

After ordering the camping gear online, I tell a friend about the situation while waiting anxiously for the time to go home on delivery day.

Friend: "So how much did the gear cost in total?" Me: ".. ten-thousand won" The friend offers me words of courage and comfort.

Friend: "Well, that’s not even the price of one tent!!!"

That’s actually true.

Even if you add up all the items on the equipment purchase list I shared in Part 2,

it’s cheaper than a single lens for someone who likes cameras,

and cheaper than a single turntable for someone interested in audio.

Or even cheaper than one decent camping tent.

2. About the frequent references to classical music...

I’m explaining this because I’m worried it might come across as overly pretentious.

For someone like me, who gets bored easily, classical music has been a friend by my side for my entire life.

Because of its diverse harmonies and structures, even the same piece always shows a new side depending on the situation and my emotional state.

Sometimes music that once felt cheerful and lively becomes poignant,

and sometimes a melody that once flowed warmly can sound lonely...

In my twenties, I associated Brahms’s String Sextet with the smell of burning firewood; now it feels like Brahms’s melody flows from the smell of burning firewood.

Equipment review