Travel stories from friends and family groups

Diehard Camper (2)
II had not yet expressed my doubts about myself as a diehard camper or the plan to go on a survival trip was born. Instigator was the youngest, my tinkering child, always busy with duct tape, glue, found objects, batteries, wire, cardboard, marker and scissors to make something. Something graphic. Something that gives light. Something that drives. Something that comes in handy when scootering or fishing.

Youngest so thought it would be nice to go wild camping and walk ‘with the tent and mats and stuff’ on our backs. The innocence was touching. Five kilometers I gave it maximum, hiking the boys with a full pack. But otherwise a great idea. A few days in the Ardennes, hiking, back to basic. Screenless too. My love and I decided that there had to be a permanent base, from there we went on a survival trip.

I couldn’t have imagined a more beautiful setting for a story. The steep walls of the old quarry made the site as rugged as it was sheltered. By the way, camping was a big word, there were exactly three places. There was an eco-toilet (cover everything with sawdust) and you could take a shower with a bag of water heated in the sun that you could hang up. The bar made of tent cloth had a wood stove, outside was a large fire pit. There were canoes at the lake. Manager Ton entrusted his guests with everything and, if desired, could arrange all conceivable outdoor sports.

Not long after arriving we went on an expedition. For a moment there was some fuss about prickly pear plants and who should carry which backpack, but soon the trip was too strenuous for squeaking. We squeezed through a rock crevice and slid down on ropes. After more than four hours it was time for our dried adventure food. The matches were damp, but luckily the youngest conjured up a gas lighter from his backpack, which also turned out to contain a boar hat stuffed toy, a first aid kit, bug spray, flashlight, knife and so on. After eight minutes in warm water, the nasi cashew and the pasta carbonara were ready. Hunger sweetens raw beans, youngest’s shining eyes did the rest. That night my sweetheart, who often has difficulty shutting himself off from sounds that irritate him, lay awake because of the silence. Only when the rain drowned out the falling stones and scurrying beasts did he fall asleep.

The next day, the eldest son climbed a twenty-five meter wall as if he had never done anything else. After a pep talk from Ton, I abseiled down the same wall. Youth care youth, top managers, families, his message was the same, Ton told: ‘Are you in danger or are you just afraid? Afraid is not a problem.’ During the last walk, the youngest electrified herself on electric fencing. “It wasn’t too bad,” he said after a tear.
If this journey has made one thing clear, it’s how stretchy boundaries are. How they are sometimes very different from what you think.