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On Being Prepared

September 12th, 2011

Mr Chiots and I are campers, we love to tent camp and now we enjoy camping in our little camper. As we were traveling across the country we stayed in some campgrounds that were very nice with showers, laundry and swimming pools, but the majority of the time we were in campgrounds with pit toilets and some had no running water. We had no internet or cell phone service for most of our trip. We actually appreciate that part of camping, it’s a great way for us to take time off from our busy technology oriented life.

Camping is great preparation for those time when you’re without power because of a storm. You learn how to cook unconventionally, live on small amounts of water, and to live without electric, phone, TV, internet and refrigeration. You learn what supplies are necessary and which are not.


September is National Preparedness Month and I thought it was important to take some time to encourage any of you that haven’t to come up with an emergency plan and to get your emergency supplies in order. For an in depth post, head on over to Your Day to read up on Preparing for Emergencies. Head on over and share your emergency plans.

Are you a camper or do you prefer more plush accommodations when you travel?

13 Comments to “On Being Prepared”
  1. daisy on September 12, 2011 at 5:55 am

    We used to have a trailer to camp and it was fantastic. We are thinking about a pop-up, but I’m wondering if we should try tent camping, just so we can get out there! I’d love to see you post about the essentials needed for tent camping and tips about how to find great tent camping spots.

    Thanks for the link! I may do a post on that this month!

    Reply to daisy's comment

  2. Lisa on September 12, 2011 at 7:56 am

    We’ve done it all, backpacking, tent camping, pop up camper, camping cabins, and near-luxury (relatively speaking) VA State Park cabins for the week. There seems as if there is a pattern here, I know, but we’ll be tent camping for a long weekend in October. I have to admit, though, that I just ordered camping cots w/thick foam camping pads online at Gander Mtn Outdoors for t his trip, but my husband and I are a little older than you and Mr. Chiots are… :) Our kids are still fine with the ground. I just love your handcrafted camper!

    Reply to Lisa's comment

    • Susy on September 12, 2011 at 8:02 am

      Our camper is more comfortable for sleeping than our backpacking air mattresses that we use when tent camping. In it we have a 2-3″ thick wool mattress we made with a 3″ natural latex foam topper which we ordered. This combo seems to be very comfortable, although not feasible for carrying if you’re backpacking. My parents have the nice thick therma-rests that are fairly comfortable for tent camping and sleeping on the ground.

      Reply to Susy's comment

  3. goatpod2 on September 12, 2011 at 8:40 am

    We’re not much of campers though because of my Mom’s asthma. We used to camp in our backyard though or in cabins at Mohican.

    Amy

    Reply to goatpod2's comment

  4. Allison @ Novice Life on September 12, 2011 at 8:54 am

    Good idea! Now that we have a baby, I finding myself looking at things so differently and this is probably something I want to do now – be prepared and have a plan!

    Reply to Allison @ Novice Life's comment

  5. Sincerely, Emily on September 12, 2011 at 11:25 am

    Our family camped a lot when I was growing up. Tents for 2 weeks in Canada in the Boundary Waters fishing and canoeing. I went to a camp up that was too were we canoed and portaged all around for the two weeks. And the many of our weekends were spent in a pop-up camper at many rifle ranges where my dad was a competitive shooter. Loved it all. I have not done any of this in a long long time, but the memories are so vivid. Emily

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  6. Sincerely, Emily on September 12, 2011 at 2:27 pm

    I went over and started a comment at the Ethel Glove blog, but I am confused on the comment system. I know I have commented there before. Have things changed, or am I just losing my memory. It tells me I can only comment under facebook, hotmail, yahoo or aol…is that correct. So I have to have one of those accounts? I don’t remember doing that last time, but again, I might be losing my memory! ha.

    Reply to Sincerely, Emily's comment

    • Susy on September 12, 2011 at 2:48 pm

      Interesting, I’ll have to ask about that. They did just change things around.

      Reply to Susy's comment

  7. anotherkindofdrew on September 12, 2011 at 4:50 pm

    We have a pop-up camper that we purchased (okay, okay…they gave it to us and we made some repairs) from my folks this past year. We love it. We spent a month on the road in 2010 camping at state parks, KOA parks, and a couple of backyards. It was great. We don’t have a potty in it and we don’t have a stove with it. We prefer to use bathhouses or our solar shower and we love cooking either on our little propane grill or the open fire. Nothing beats castiron cooking. So, we have a bit of both; luxury and raw. It’s all good though when we snuggle up at night with a warm cup of coffee and just listen to the world around us.

    Reply to anotherkindofdrew's comment

  8. KimH on September 12, 2011 at 6:32 pm

    My family & I used to camp a lot from childhood thru my 30s.. but I dont think I camped out once in my 40s.. Im ok with it though, since I seemed to be the one doing a huge part of the work, and I totally love a nice clean bed to crawl into to ease my aching bod at night without having to worry about sharing it with cridders..
    My current Mr. doesnt express any interest in it, though if he were, Im sure I’d be game.. I cant imagine otherwise.. ;-)

    I tend to keep a fairly updated emergency kit/supplies up to date..and am prepared for many events. One thing I dont have is a generator if the electricity goes off for a long time. I’d lose all the stuff in my freezer which would be awful so I just pray a lot. ;)

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  9. iris on September 12, 2011 at 7:02 pm

    I was just thinking the other day when the hurricane was coming, that everyone’s “emergency” list was mostly included in my backpacking packing list. I don’t really need to stock up on water, because I could just filter-pump it, or chemical treat it.

    Reply to iris's comment

  10. brenda on September 13, 2011 at 2:43 am

    For all the younger years, we always tent camped. I’ve even just hung a hammock between two trees. It was great, but these days, having a bed/cot up off the ground is better, and hiking off to the bathrooms in the middle of the night is not so good. And setting up camp in the summer with high temps and high humidity just makes me cranky.

    So, I actually dream of having a small RV with bed, kitchen, bathroom, and air conditioning. Somedays, I think I could just toss the house altogether, and live in the RV. But then, at some point, I would want my dirt.

    Usually in an emergency, I am roaming the house in the dark hunting candles and matches. But, in the past few years I have really ramped up with a first aid kit and emergency kit that can even travel with me. And I keep some stored water and some food stores that don’t require cooking.

    I adored your vacation photos.

    brenda from arkansas

    Reply to brenda's comment

  11. risa on September 14, 2011 at 11:21 am

    We are fairly primitive, a cheap tent, cheap sleeping bag, hip pad, space blanket, matchsafe, compass, map, candle, multitool, duct tape, DEET, camera, binoculars, ointment, hat, jacket, gloves, gorp and water on a backpack and away we go.

    Oh, and sometimes a kayak, paddle, and PFD.

    Reply to risa's comment

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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