Do you prefer the outdoors or indoors?

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I always hated camping and playing outside. When we did go camping there were always at least three other people shoved into a little itty bitty RV and my parents would force me to go camping without any prior notice. They'd just announce, "Let's go camping" and make me get in the camper with my four at the time year old neice who was always in my face, loud and annoying. I hated being in the woods with the smell of decaying leaves with nothing to do. I hated being taken away from my everyday routine. My parents always complained of my terrible mood when we went camping. We lived in the boonies anyway so it wasn't like I was being deprived of nature. My life was camping. Maybe if I was the only person around in a rainforest it might not be so bad. I need my routine, my electricity and climate control. I dream of living in a HUUUUUGE pink pint house with every accomation hand and foot.

I.Hate.Camping.

Having to sleep like sardines with others in the same tent, and their snoring aaargh! The mosquitos, and worst of all is camping on the beach. I can't stand sand and being in the sun from dawn to dusk. Running across the burning sand burdened with the pans and pots to a place with a tap to do the dishes. Always being wet, dirty. Having to shower in public showers together with many women, and being careful my clean underwear doesn't fall on the muddy floor. And no privacy, day or night. I did it once and it was traumatic. I'll never, ever go camping again. I can't believe some people actually enjoy it.

Indoor always. always indoor

Indoors.

Though anyone's answer can depend on specific indoor & outdoor options currently available to them (whether housing, who else they live with, etc.-which may be not to their liking, and so don't reflect their general, overall preferences under different specific circumstances). Not to mention, anxieties & phobias that interfere with potential/possible enjoyment of the outdoor spaces & public locations.

Also, I enjoy the compromise of living in apartment that's within neighborhood with lots of trees & birds, so I don't feel beseiged by urbanity & industry. I don't feel comfortable surrounded by the outdoors, when away from home-but when safely enclosed in my home, I appreciate the level of nature in close proximity to my windows.

I love the indoors- but I'm a free-lance interior decorator so I put much effort into making interiors comfy and homey. However, I can appreciate a very safe outdoor environment that has indoor comforts. Our back patio is completely covered, lots of potted plants with comfy chairs, loveseat and even curtains. I'ts an extension of our living room so I feel comfortable sitting out there drinking a beer and reading a book.
This picture is from last year before the furniture was purchased. My partner and I designed and built the arbor. Someday I want to slate tile the slab.

Ugh. I remember doing that kind of camping, and it is indeed horrible.

The kind where there's nobody around, and you dig your own hole for a privy and wash with a cloth and a couple of pots of stream-water, sleep in your own small tent or hammock or just on the ground and spend the day wandering around alone or with somebody who is perfectly content to join you in a habit of stopping for hours to stare at birds and interesting trees and beaver-ponds and things is very nice.

Now I've got the perfect in-between. I live in an old deer-camp cabin and have the shower and heat, electricity and phone, but the square mile of wild land it's on is usually empty of people. A couple of times a year people will ride horses across it. A week ago there were these two guys tearing around on the flat prairie part in this go-cart thing that was pulled by a huge kite, but that's a first. I don't mind. Nobody ever comes from the thick wood behind the house but deer, and I have a clear view of the .8 mile between the house and the main road and will usually notice any car before it crawls its way up here, and can spy on people who get out at the turn-off with a telescope.

Hmm...let's see.

I can look at walls, or I can look at the rocks and the trees and the sky.

Tough choice.

Generally I prefer the indoors, where I can (more easily) control the temperature, light, noise and other factors so I don't get overloaded. Especially during really bright times of the year, I try not to be outside longer than I absolutely have to, so I can actually see (the sunglasses, they do nothing!).

However, being pent up in one place too long makes me stir-crazy, and I generally do try to leave the house for excursions at least once a day. Thankfully, in both of my usual living areas, I live within a very reasonable distance from a bus stop, so I do not have to be outside in weather conditions that are bad for me for very long.

But... yeah, as long as I have something to keep me busy for long periods of time without boredom, I much prefer being indoors.

EDIT: On further reflection, I do like being near the ocean a lot. Especially when it's cool but not actually raining. I've always wanted to live close to the ocean.

Electric_kite,

You reminded me that camping can be very different from what I described. Indeed, once I was invited camping to the north of France, Brittany, with my bf and a few more couples, to a peaceful demonstration against nuclear weapons. Bf and I had a tent for ourselves, spent a couple days just sitting on the grass and watching the various shows on the stage down in the valley from our tents space up on the surrounding hills, like the rest of the public. There were lectures, music groups performing, etc. We ate at some joint close by, so no dish washing. And it wasn't hot, it was partially cloudy all day, so we showered when we got back home. We had nets to pull over the head and face, so the mosquitos weren't a problem. We went for hikes in the lovely scenery a bit. And the people I was with liked me rather than outcasted me.

Last edited by Greentea on 11 Oct 2008, 2:37 am, edited 1 time in total.

depends so Both in equal measure

OUTDOORS!!

But only if the weather agrees with me.

Seems like more people do it the horrible way. I think it's that they want to have extravagant meals while camping and can't possibly hike carrying all that stuff or deal with finding water.

I used to have this little camp stove that packed into its own pots, and pass the pot around to eat. Then you'd scrub it with dirt and rinse it clean. We'd just carry oatmeal for meals and make it different with sugar or salt and herbs or by throwing in the mixes of nuts and dried fruit that one eats while wandering along. If you are somewhere with good water you don't have to carry much and will stop seeing other people after half a day. But then again, I live in Colorado, a magical land with many areas that are practically devoid of mosquitos as well as humans.

That depends on what you mean by liking it in doors or out doors

Wow. OK, maybe one can't turn up the AC outdoors and you might get bitten a few times by critters, but how can you gain any experiences in your living room? Will seeing images of wildlife on an LCD monitor equal watching nature in it's own setting? Will the Discovery channel leave you with memories?
I think I would rather be dirty, wet and outdoors than clean, air conditioned and indoors any day. Spring, summer, fall or even winter.


PS. RV? Cabin? Nah, a tent is fine...if I need that.

blamo, what's wrong with going for the day or splurging on a b&B? Especially in extreme heat, where the men still expect full meals and the women have to prepare them amidst the sand and go fetch water a kilometer away!

spudnik, sorry, that should've read "Where do you want it, indoors or outdoors?" Oh, and so sorry you're gone from WP, I miss you already!

electric_kite, you made me :"Seems like more people do it the horrible way."
I've no idea why they like that horrible kind of camping.

Well, obviously you have never camped with me. I do the cooking (hell, I might as well, I do it at home too...met few women who can cook) and I do it well. If you camp with me, it is a relaxing , fun time, you're well fed and as comfortable as can be.
Only been in a b&b once, on Martha's Vineyard. ( an island off Massachusetts) It was OK.
I have better memories from camping/hiking trips. I have never seen a bear in aB&B