Not totally sure this qualifies as a “hobby” in the way I’m conceiving of the word, and I don’t really know what I should put here, but camping is definitely one of my discoveries that you would know about if we were friends, so I’m putting a placeholder here.
Waking up out in the world is so different than waking up in your home. It doesn’t have to be in the woods: I’ve camped on a rooftop deck in Brooklyn and in my best friend’s suburban back yard (totally legitimate guest (or host) accommodations for houses short on bedrooms and you’ll often get better sleep than on a couch in the thick of things. I generally think lawns are a waste of water and planting space, but it might make sense to leave enough flat green space for a tent; I have a clover patch ☘️⛺️)
It’s also a useful skill/affordance—with wildfires or drifting smoke and various other hazards, it can be nice to be able to evacuate on your own terms instead of needing a hotel or official shelter, and it can make a long drive a little easier/more fun (I drove cross country during Covid and camping was a lot less stressful than navigating hotels along the way).
I should also note that some of the most extreme camping actually happens at Burning Man (which I highly recommend only attending with friends who are good campers).
These are some of the objects that I put in this category:
⛺️ Buying a tent?
Regardless of your favorite color, or plans to blend into your surroundings, I highly recommend getting a fly that’s yellow/orange—the golden light in the tent in the morning is such a delight! 🌅
It’s wierd that I don’t yet have a page for headlamps—great for Camping, great for Burning Man (which is really just an extreme form of camping), great for Property Management & Maintenance, and I also keep one in my Advice: Car bin for longer trips) Be sure to get one with a red light option for preserving your night vision.
There are all different levels of camping, but the two main categories are “car camping” where you don’t need to carry anything more than say 25ft, and “walk-in camping” or “backpacking” where you’ll want a more minimalist setup that you can carry with you all in one go.
I use a small gas camp stove for boiling water, etc. A friend gifted me a PocketRocket from MSR 20 years ago, but if I were buying one today I might try something with more wind protection.
For car camping, I love my small gas grill—it doesn’t take up much space on my back portico most of the year, and it packs easily into the car. There’s something really fantastic about camping + grilled food (hot dogs, corn, burgers (veggie or otherwise), summer squash, etc.)
I also love my exped megamat — two barely fit side by side in my tent (providing more isolation than a double wide) and while it isn’t something I would backpack with, it packs down small enough to serve as a decent option for overnighting on the floor of my dad’s art room.
I’m pretty excited about all the small containers here. (Some of which are available at the Container Store or REI.)
I generally encourage people to get travel sized containers of their actual branded products and just refill them (even toothpaste is easy to transfer by squishing the openings together), but often they’re still just too big, or unavailable (e.g. for topical prescriptions), so these + a modern label maker might be the way to go. (I personally use painter’s tape or washi tape and a fine tipped sharpie and I generally use symbols when I can, instead of words, e.g. ☀️ for sunscreen and 👁️ for eye cream, etc.)
Muji also has some nice solid options that I feel fine cramming into a bag (e.g. pill organizers), but they’re not as lightweight.
Draft packing list: