I love a good camping trip. An opportunity to get a little outside our comfort zone. Spend a lot of time outside. Just be out in nature.

This trip was a two week long trip to the Adirondacks. For the first week I was camping alone. Then for the second week my wife joined me with our puppy River.

Tent Camping

Our preferred method of camping is tent camping. All of our camping trips have happened in tents. The whole point of our trips is to have as different an experience as we can from our everyday home life. And the more modern conveniences that from home that we bring with us the more likely we are to slide back into those habits rather than enjoying the new and different environment we came here to enjoy in the first place. So we try to keep it pretty minimal. The only technology we bring with us is our cells phones, which we try not to indulge in too much, my cameras, headphones to listen to podcasts, and reading material in the form of my Kindle/tablet.

Week One

My plan for our vacation was to get out on at least a couple big hikes of Adirondack high peaks mountains, I really wanted to make it three such hikes. And also get out on some less strenuous hikes to explore the area more. I also wanted to try and find some waterfalls from a guide book I had. And of course I wanted to create a lot of photography on this trip.

Also, I needed to try and learn to be better at just relaxing. Just enjoy space and time. Not needing to always be on the go and “doing” something. One of the reasons for books and podcasts. But actual relaxation is not my strong suit.

And that’s just what I wanted to do in the first week.

Week Two

To kick off the second week my wife and our puppy would be joining us. And this was going to be an interesting vacation from here on out. When we planned this vacation we were not going to have a dog with us. Our dogs were going to be boarded at a kennel we love. But through the twists and turns of fate we lost one dog and then ended up adopting an adorable puppy. And at the time of vacation the puppy isn’t quite old enough to be boarded yet. And on top of that Since planning this trip my wife injured her foot and now she is in a walking boot. Hiking mountains in a walking boot might be less than ideal. Our hope was that her foot would feel good enough for at least one big hike on an Adirondack high peak mountain and then hopefully some shorter less strenuous adventures.

And that was the plan. Let the adventures begin.

The biggest challenge for me is that I will just have to accept the fact that I will likely never see all of the things I want to see in the Adirondack region. It is a vast and amazing place, filled with so much beauty and wonder. It will take me a lifetime to explore in any meaningful way.

And resting in that knowledge I will have to allow myself more time to relax when I am on vacation.