The Feel-Good Camping Beginner’s Journey of an Old-School Camper 5 - Caravan + Shelter

At some point, the roommate became my most reliable ally...!

After two trips out, my confidence had risen little by little, and now I’m getting ready for a 1-night, 2-day camping trip.

Luckily, there was a holiday period in early May, so I picked May 4 and 5 as D-day and started frantically searching for campsites.

‘Donggang View Jeongseon Natural Recreation Forest’ had already been fully booked for a long time, and several places near Chungju Lake had also finished reservationsㅠㅠㅠ

So now, my roommate, who had transformed into my biggest ally, starts showing off his natural abilities.

He finds a campsite near Cheongpyeong, close to Seoul, and asks for my opinion.

It has caravans, auto camping sites, and a somewhat diverse setup, and he asks what would be best to reserve.

Hmm~~~Since we hadn’t prepared self-inflating mats or foam mats, I thought sleeping in a tent might be a bit uncomfortable, so we decided to book a caravan.

Ah~~~But caravans don’t allow petsㅠㅠㅠㅠ

Then, this would be a good chance to reserve both a caravan and an auto camping site together.

Because our dog has to come too!!!

If we left him at home, everything would be easier, but it’s Children’s Day...

Our dog has to come too!!!

At last, the reservation-confirmation messages for the caravan and auto camping site at Y Camping Site in Cheongpyeong appear in the family group chat~~~So satisfying, so exciting:))

What does a gift mean to us?

After thinking it over by myself, I decide to buy a self-inflating mat.

The ‘Swiss Alpine Club Heliya TP Self-Inflating Mat’ seems like a hot new item, but when I call Gorilla Camping, they say it’s already sold outㅠㅠㅠ

Holding my smartphone, I search online.

Ah~~~There’s a sales site for the ‘Swiss Alpine Club Heliya TP Self-Inflating Mat’!!!

So I place an online order first.

Half expecting to get a call saying they don’t have stock, half not...

But the next day, I get a message saying it’s being prepared for delivery.

On a weekday evening, five days before the camping trip, I have dinner with a couple of acquaintances for the first time in a while.

We had traveled to Mongolia together, and because we have many memories and are comfortable with each other, we show our back-and-forth bickering about camping gear purchases between me and my roommate without filtering anything out.

The next day, I get a message.

"Did you happen to buy a new kettle?"

"Noㅠㅠㅠ"

"Then I’ll send you a kettle as a gift!"

"......." (Should I shamelessly accept it???)

"I’ll engrave it and send you a Snow Peak kettle!!!"

"Thank you...." (If I refuse, they’ll probably insist on sending it anyway. I should have bought a kettle sooner ㅠㅠㅠ)

I blame myself for my lack of quick reflexes in that moment.

But, not thinking of such a gift as ‘burdensome or embarrassing’ and being able to receive it ‘gratefully and gladly’—a good connection like that is, in a way, an even bigger gift to me.

The Bluetooth speaker that disappointed me on the previous trip is passed on to my ally, and the newly purchased Bluetooth speaker, self-inflating mat, and the symbolic kettle steadily come into my hands.

As expected, the whole preparation process is the most exciting and happiest time.

I can’t help looking forward to the holiday.

And from time to time, I also check the weather forecast...

Ah—and the Folding Box and top board from Minimal Works, which I had to endure more of my roommate’s nagging over, also arrive.

"That top board costs four times as much as the folding box we saw when we went to Costco together last time!!!"

I open one side of the Minimal Works folding box and show it to him,

"This has such convenient features too, so it’s really great...."

It seems like he isn’t even listening.

The Half Moon That Came Out in the Day and the Feast of New Members

At last, D-day arrives.

As I pack the gradually increasing amount of luggage, I worry that it might not all fit in the trunk.

I give up on a few things.

Top priority to give up - self-inflating mat

The self-inflating mat is bulky by itself, but I’d also read so many reviews saying people end up sweating while trying to let the air out again after use that I decide to buy a pump for deflating it and use it later.

And then, the drone...

Even though I always carried the drone around, it was never easy to take it out and fly it.

Restricted airspace, the way people around me would look at the sound of the drone flying.

And when I’m busy with all sorts of setup tasks, it’s hard to find time to take even one photo...so why bring a drone at all!!!

I give up on the sleeping bag too.

I tell my ally in advance.

"We’re going to have to do Tetris now"

People often compare the process of packing camping gear into the trunk to Tetris.

Fortunately, after several adjustments, the prepared luggage settles into a completed Tetris with a perfect, neat shape.

Tetris Stage 1 Clear!!!

At 2 p.m., we depart for Y Camping Site in Cheongpyeong.

My son, my ally and scout, takes the wheel, and my daughter, who is in charge of selecting the music, takes the passenger seat.

My dog, the roommate, and I are placed in the cramped and uncomfortable back seat, made even tighter by the trunk load.

Still, our dog seems comfortable and secure.

Y Camping Site feels very close to Seoul, with a Hanaro Mart and convenience facilities nearby—it feels almost like a campsite on the edge of the city.

And there’s a stream flowing right next to it!

The sink area, restroom, and shower room were all well set up.

We are assigned an empty caravan.

Just the inside of the caravan is already quite spacious.

There is a two-person bed and two single beds arranged as bunk beds. The two-person bed is wide enough for four people to lie down on.

After taking a look around the inside of the caravan, we unload our gear and start setting up.

While the two men are setting up the tent, the two women have already set up all four tables and chairs.

We set up the wood shelf and stack the Minimal Works folding boxes two levels high.

In the blue sky of May, the ‘half moon that came out in the day’ hangs like a painting.

The season is May, but the daytime is already dressed in summer clothes.

It feels like the perfect time for a refreshing beer.

As expected, the beer tastes excellent.

Looking at the newly joined kettle and the opened-up interior of the Minimal Works box, I feel rich and full.

My ally goes for a walk by the nearby stream, and I try capturing the scenery of Y Camping Site with my camera.

Someone approaches me.

"Are you a photographer?"

"No????"

"I’m the owner of this Y Camping Site"

"Ah~~~I see? This place is really nice"

"The scenery you’re photographing right now is the composition I like most here! The mountain visible over there is Homyeongsan, and this angle from here is the most beautiful! You framed it really well!!! If you walk along the stream for just 5 minutes, there’s a lovely bridge, and the lighting from 7 p.m. to midnight is beautiful!

Also, the very first riverside song festival was held right here by the river! They even floated a big ship on the river!"

While the owner is talking, he glances over at me and says,

"I don’t know how old you are, but you know the Riverside Song Festival, right? At the first one, a song called ‘Prayer’ won the gold prize, sung by Hong Sam Trio"

I fall into thought by myself.

‘Ah~~~the Riverside Song Festival.....Over the Sea, Over the Winter... To J... Becoming a Dandelion Seed...’

.....

"Boss, is it okay to fly a drone here?"

"Of course—you can fly drones freely here"

When I carried it around all the time, it was just extra baggage, but when I actually need it, it’s not thereㅠㅠㅠ

After drinking one or two cans of beer,

oh no~~~it looks like we’re running short on alcoholㅠㅠㅠ

Our DJ volunteers to go to the nearby Hanaro Mart (870 m away) to buy more alcohol.

After enjoying a brief moment of idleness, we slowly start preparing dinner.

Tonight’s dinner menu is: beef brisket, sea bream wrapped in foil, and pork belly.

The sea bream, which the roommate had prepared with little enthusiasm and a somewhat indifferent air, was actually carefully placed on top of onions and zucchini, sprinkled with salt and olive oil, wrapped in foil, and brought in a refrigerated bag that was something like an icebox.

As expected, the roommate grumbles.

"The dandelion seeds are flying everywhere..."

(To be honest, I did think the dandelion seeds, springing up from here and there like slow military drones, were a bit annoying.)

I jump in abruptly.

"Dandelion seeds??? I brought a song that’s perfect for this moment!"

I immediately select and play ‘Becoming a Dandelion Seed.’

The version of ‘Becoming a Dandelion Seed’ I prepared this time isn’t the original—it’s a remake.

I give the family a quiz.

"This song isn’t the original, it’s a remake. Who do you think the singer is?"

No one can guess~~~ㅋㅋㅋ

Since the original song came out in the 1980s, the intro and sound quality don’t quite fit with today’s style, so I prepared Davichi’s remake version...

Still, to my ears, it feels like it falls far short of Park Mi-kyung’s tone and vocal power.

I pose another quiz.

‘The Time Walking on Memory’

It’s not NELL’s original version, but another singer’s...

Our DJ guesses it right away.

"It’s Kim Pil!"

Even to me, who’s of the latte generation, Kim Pil’s vocals are full of really compelling charm.

I set Mozart and Weber opera arias as background music.

With Mozart’s ‘Deh vieni, non tardar’ from The Marriage of Figaro playing in the background, I watch the smoke rising from the barbecue grill where we’ve barely managed to get the fire going.

A scene from The Shawshank Redemption comes to mind.

I feel relieved once again, thinking that I’ve escaped from daily life and that the freedom I was granted is guaranteed at least until tomorrow.

First, I put the beef brisket on the grill pan and cook it just enough to eat a quick bite,

and as usual, the roommate, who has a dry and indifferent manner, carefully seasons the sea bream, wraps it in foil, and places it on the barbecue grill,

and while we wait, we grill the pork belly on the barbecue.

The owner comes over and kindly explains to my ally how to grill meat over firewood so that soot doesn’t stick to it.

My ally has a bit of a hard time with the smoke, which writhes and gets chased away by the not-quite-dry firewood.

"Ah~~~Why is there so much smoke..."

Beside my ally’s ordeal, I once again jump in without reading the room.

"Do you know what not-fully-dried firewood is called?"

My ally doesn’t seem very interestedㅠㅠㅠ

Before long, darkness falls, and we set up the lights one by one.

I watch the water heating up in the newly joined kettle slowly releasing warm breath.

The roommate, who had always insisted on simple coffee mix, has brought hand-drip coffee!!! What’s gotten into him???

The cozy, modest looks of the surrounding campers and the smoke rising here and there look like a watercolor painting, and I think that we’re becoming part of that scenery too.

And so, the eagerly awaited eve of Children’s Day in May comes to an end...

Here is the Children’s Day morning appetizer I prepared.