Hammocking Alone

Who would have thought that a city girl like me can survive being alone in the woods? Never in my wildest dreams before I have thought about camping alone. I’ve never been a girl scout before. But here I am smiling because I can’t believe that I actually did it. For me, it’s another achievement. I’ve learned a lot about being alone, being helpless and coping with mixed emotions.

My motivation for this trip is not that big actually. I just wanted to test my camping gears because I’ve already invested some of my savings in it. Also, I wanted to listen to the birds. The sound of the birds are therapeutic for me and makes me relax as well.

So, the very first challenge of camping is deciding where and when to camp! I’ve spent weeks on figuring out where I could spend the night outside. Then when I found a potential place, I checked the weather forecast for the next two weeks. It’s to figure out what to wear and what to pack. According to the weather forecast, it’s going to be at least 7 degrees Celsius after midnight on the day I was planning to camp. Cold but it was actually one of the best days to camp because I didn’t need to stress about waking up so early the following day because of work. I didn’t have to show up to work before lunch so I grabbed the opportunity.

Packing for this trip was easier than I expected. It’s because I’ve made my research and made sure that I didn’t forget the essentials. My number one priority is to keep myself warm and dry the whole night. I made a rule which I learned from others who are more experienced than I am. And that is when packing for a camping/hiking trip, pack what you need and what is necessary to survive being outside first. Then you can move on to those things that are good to have.

So, for this trip, I chose my Hawaii Hammock that I got as a birthday/Christmas present. Then I drove to Bekkjavatnet (a nearby lake). And from the parking spot, I walked approximately 1.5-2 km carrying my 35L backpack. My plan was to camp on the camping site but later on during the walk, it’s already occupied by a big group of teenager so I didn’t bother to set up my hammock there. It was very tempting to just turn around and go back to the car but I refused to go back without trying. So I looked for other spots to hang my hammock. Later on, I found a nice place with a beautiful view and I found two perfect trees for my hammock.

The best feeling is after I hopped into my hammock and just relax and enjoyed the serenity.

Then, call of nature, I had to get off my sleeping bag and off the hammock 2 am. I hated it to be honest. 😂 However, it’s a part of the whole camping experience.

I woke up from the sound of the birds which is a good way to wake up. But I was too tired so I slept for two more hours.

One of the things that I like camping by the lake aside from the view is the water accessibility. I didn’t have to bring extra water for food and for washing and that saves me an extra kilo to carry. 😁

When it comes to food, I didn’t bring something fancy nor I made something from scratch since it’s my first time to camp alone and I had limited time that day. I brought a dehydrated meal with me. Just add boiling water and voila! Easy and time saving! 😄

Anyway, to sum up this trip. I had a great camping experience despite some of the challenges that I encountered. I made some mistakes when hanging up the tarp and it cost me time and energy. I got frustrated, hopeless and also there’s a feeling of regret. I wanted to just give up and drive home but I didn’t! So, I’m proud of that. I learned that all the feelings that I felt are valid. It is okay to feel that way and those negative feelings doesn’t mean that something bad is going to happen. I also learned to make use of the things that I have and be creative.