Camping...

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Anyone else here absolutely loathe the great outdoors?

My folks forced me into Boy Scouts because they thought it would help me socialize. Instead, it got me a concussion(and bleeding to the point of shock) from a rock to the head(sixteen stitches), a raccoon bite(and rabies shots), a broken ankle, getting abandoned for 22 hours without food or water, etc.

And with it all came a horrible distaste for all things outdoorsy. I refuse to go camping, ever. My idea of "roughing it" is a hotel room without cable and a pool.

Am I just traumatized, or is this common among Aspies? Are we as a group more likely to hate camping because it takes us outside of our comfort zones? Or perhaps I'm the exception and many Aspies enjoy it for the solitude.

I'm curious how everyone else feels about camping in general.

This may sound surprising, considering I've lived in Idaho my whole life, but I've never been camping before. My dad and brother used to go camping all the time, and I sometimes wished that I went with them. I've always wanted to camp in the Idaho National Forest. The Idaho National Forest is a very gorgeous place - clear, clean air and silence for miles around (except for the birds and insects of course). Not to mention the view.

My grandparents live in Paris, Idaho, and are big on camping(well, in an RV at least). I've been there several times, but don't recall Idaho National park.

I loathe camping and outdoors stuff.

Not very good thing, considering I live in Alaska.

In the winter I hate it due to the cold, in the summer I hate it because of the mosquitos and the sun.

I never wanted to go camping when my family went, but they made me go anyway. And I don't really like going outdoors, it's doesn't help that the sun hurts my eyes and makes my skin feel like it's burning and itchy.

Are you kidding? I adore camping. There is nothing better than sleeping under the stars out in the wilderness in nothing but a sleeping bag.

Burzum, could you explain the why of it to me?

Because to me, after all the times I've been hurt and/or miserable while camping, it seems to me that spending money on camping is essentially spending money to make your life more difficult on purpose.

A couple hundred dollars on a tent for me would be better spent on video games and lobster dinners.

I know people like it, and I don't fault them for doing so. I just don't "get it."

I detest contemporary society, and camping is where I can be free of it and its influence. I suppose you could say it gives me a sense of freedom.

I also have an inexplicable love of nature and all things natural.

So it's partially a byproduct of misanthropy then?

I can understand that. I like to get away from people also. But I think I like my creature comforts too much to do so.

Maybe if I'd camped more on my own and not with others,I would have better associated it with happy isolation instead of "I could be alone in my bed right now playing video games."

As for the other part:

I'm not nature's biggest fan. Nature has tried to kill me too often for us to be friends.

Such as how?

I been camping when I was little but it's been at least 15years since I went. I did not have fun but I HATE traveling, I like predictability & my routines, I'm an extremely picky eater, I hate the heat & humidity & when the weather is really cold as well, I also have sinus problems & I had bad skin eczema when I was a kid that was made worse by things in nature. I do NOT hate nature thou despite not liking camping; I support the environment, I like animals & I think my allergies would be a lot better if i lived in an environment that was more away from toxic chemicals in the air other pollution

Last edited by nick007 on 16 Jan 2012, 6:36 am, edited 2 times in total.

Spell-check gave me the wrong word. I edited/corrected

Flooding, snake bite, rabid raccoon bite.

And I got hit by lightning once.

That's rather unlucky. Snakes should not be a problem if you make a lot of noise as you walk.

It was a copperhead in a lake.

So yeah, I tend to stay away from places that have caused me harm. I also won't go to concerts because at a Smashing Pumpkins one I was stabbed by a random guy for no reason.