Getting back to basics

Growing up my family never had a lot of money.

We never had much in the way of material possessions, but we always had the undying love of a mother that sacrificed for her children on a daily basis. That love has sustained my brother and I through a lot of trials in our lives, and it is still there today as bright and beautiful as it was the day we were born.

As a family with little resources we never went on the big family vacations that so many people have come to expect, it simply wasn't in the cards. What we did do, every single chance we had, was camping. While we never explored the world, we got to explore parts of this country that many people to this day will never have the joy of discovering. We did what is known today as wild camping.

We drove, in my mom's little hatchback, all over Alberta and British Columbia via logging roads well off the beaten path. How we managed to go where we went in mom's little car was amazing. She was fearless when it came to navigating those back roads (some were more like trails) and managed to get us to places that 4x4 vehicle drivers would even shy away from.

We always were close to a lake, river, or stream but that was as close to running water we ever got. There were no picnic tables, toilets, outhouses, or showers and we could go weeks without seeing another human being. We dug a latrine, and we made our own tables and other items of furniture out of deadwood and waxed twine. We slept in tents on the ground, Mom got a tent with the dog and my brother and I another tent.

It was fabulous and gave me some of the best childhood memories that I have to this day.

To most people my mom has always been an elegant, well put together woman. She is smart, beautiful, kind and tenacious. This type of camping was not what anyone would have ever expected from her, but I know that she loved it just as much as we did. We would swim in glacial lakes and rivers that were (and still are) shockingly cold. We would hike and explore parts of the country that were so far away from civilization that we were convinced we discovered them anew.

It almost always rained while we were out there, and mom got very adept at what we lovingly now refer too as Tarp Technology. Our camp would be covered in blue tarps, and the prevailing wind blocked by others. My brother and I shimmied up more than one tree to get the height needed and make sure that there was drainage for the inevitable downpour that would happen.

My brother and I would build forts deep in the woods, or on the beaches and we all sat around the campfire secure in the the peace that surrounded us. We always brought just enough food and we always took out everything that we brought in, there was never a scrap of garbage left behind. The only sign we had ever been there was the soggy fire pit that we thoroughly doused with water and the tracks from the skinny tires on the car. We did eco camping long before it was a thing, and we always left the site better than we found it.

It has been over 20 years since I had a wild adventure like that. As mom grew older and was more financially secure camping became more what most people think, a camper and lots of equipment. We still loved our time in the woods, camping as much a part of our family as sunday dinners together.

This past long weekend my brother and I packed up some basics and we hit the road. We explored the rough and tumble places of BC and did some real offroading in our search for the untouched wild. We had a tent, food, and only the basics. There was no cell service, no running water, no toilets. We spent a weekend exploring, and just being.

We never quite made it to totally untouched wilderness, but we did manage to find some very isolated places. It felt as peaceful and magical as I remembered it as a child. All of the stresses and worries of our modern world melted away and we breathed deeply of the power that is nature.

The only disappointment of the trip was that we knew that we were not in untouched wilderness because we found discarded water bottles, cans, and other garbage. We collected some, probably should have collected more. (Unlike those careless people, we brought out everything that we brought in).

That disappointment aside, it was a trip that reminded me of the more simple joys that life can bring. That sometime getting back to the very basics of life is exactly what we need to do in order to understand what is truly valuable in life. This trip re-ignited memories that had been lost in the jumbled mess of information in my mind, and my brother and I connected in a way we had not in years. We never suffered from not having technology, and we didn't miss out on anything that was life changing. Our escape refreshed and energized our spirits bringing life back into focus and renewing our deep love of nature.

My mom once said that she had wished she could have taken us on big trips like so many families have done. The thing is, I don't and I believe my brother feels the same. While we may never have had the excitement of Disney Land, and such in our childhood what we did have cannot be bought for any amount of money.

The adventures we had with our mom as children created a bond in our family that is unlike most. To say that my best friends are my mom and my brother is not an understatement, and it was our camping adventures that helped create the connection we share today. We not only got to explore the majesty that is western Canada, we were given the invaluable lesson of simplicity in life. We learned how to fend for ourselves, to explore, and to see the world not through the eyes of technology, but in nature. For this I will forever be thankful for my mom and the sense of life that she gave us.