I have yet to dig out and use the Mr. Buddy heater this winter, despite the inside temperature falling close to 40 F at night. Is that a silly bit of mock heroism? Some people would think so.
Maybe I should virtue signal that I am resisting the propane heater to show solidarity with my NATO brothers and sisters in Europe. But nobody would believe that.
A certain amount of austerity is implicit in any camping experience -- if that has no appeal, you might as well go back to a stick and brick house in the suburbs. Recall the quote that I have given several times from Joseph Wood Krutch, in his biography of Samuel Johnson:
Many men, oppressed with a sense that most of life is [mere illusion] and trivial, have sought in various ways to make contact with "reality." To some, that has meant hardship in remote places; to some, as to Thoreau, solitude and simplicity; to still others, it has meant the search for God in mystical experience. To Johnson it meant reminding himself of the struggle for existence on the most elementary level, refreshing association with people who knew, as he did, what it was to be close to illness and to want.
And indeed, when camping I do get contact with reality when eschewing some ordinary comfort of modern life. Other people do, too. Why is Comfort so sacred anyway? All it does is anaesthetize the Soul.
And yet the RV industry and the "nomad van life" videos are about nothing more than buying crap that will make your camping-life less real and more humdrum and comfortable. Just think how much of this pretty big industry is destructive to the very people that they are claiming to help!
But, the long-suffering reader says, we have heard this tendentious sermon before. That is the reason for finding a fresh illustration of the general principle: to bring the General back to life again.
How many times in your life have you bought something that delighted you for a long time, rather than disappointed you? One of my rare success stories is the office chair, the only piece of furniture in the camper (other than the bed.) It is perfect in several ways, the most important way being its mesh fabric that stays cool in the summer.
...which makes it cold in the winter. It was long overdue but I finally taped two pieces of closed cell foam onto the seat and lower back of the chair. I was surprised how much difference this made!
Every time a problem needs to be solved when camping, there is an opportunity to escape the usual habit of buying something, and to get a bit innovative with something you already own; something that might have seemed like worthless scrap before. It might seem pretentious, but you have a humble and real chance to imitate:
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