I feel the best when I am canoeing and camping in the wilderness.  No matter how down, stressed or anxious I become, camping and canoeing unfailingly relieve me.  With my first breath of moist, white pine scented Algonquin air my diaphragm and shoulders drop and I inhale deeply.  I feel my feet solid on the ground while my worries slowly evaporate.

Being in nature, focusing on food and shelter, using my own physical power to transport myself all help me ground and reconnect to my basic needs.

I have longed toyed with the idea of applying camping principles to my daily city life to gain some of the same benefits I get when camping in the wilderness, and although I unconsciously do some of these, I have decided to embark on this whole heartedly and fully consciously.  At one point in my life I prided myself on being able to fit all my possessions into my 1976 Cutlass Supreme and being able to be gone from one place to another in one trip in a few hours.  I don’t plan to go that extreme yet but hope to find something in the middle that works with having a family, a home and a steady job.

I begin my urban camping trip with a public declaration of my intent by posting an Algonquin Park Official Campsite Sign on our front yard maple tree.  Although it does not look like much in January with no snow cover, I have planted all native Ontario plants in our front garden to bring a little wilderness to the city.  I will keep you posted as the pile of dirt, sticks, and leaves burst forth into an urban wilderness this spring and summer.

I’m packin’ up my gear and headin’ out trippin’.  You’re welcome to come along on this adventure so enjoy the view, wave when I paddle by or just check out the slide show.