The Three Parts of Camp I’m Trying This Year

Year One

Here’s what I’m implementing this year:

Hiking

Hiking was a regular activity at Camp Redwood. Our location at a park in a meadow of a redwood forest kind of demanded it. There was a network of trails making up the community forest. Most groups did one big hike and possibly a few smaller hikes each week, not to mention we took a field trip every Thursday and we often would hike there and back. I feel comfortable and confident hiking but there’s also a learning curve for me because I live on the other side of the country from the redwood forest. I’ve not hiked here, nor have I taken kids hiking here. I have new flora, fauna, and critters to understand. I’ve also never hiked with a toddler.

My goal is to do one “big”, new hike with my son each month from August 2022 to May 2023. We live in the southeastern US so we may or may not break for summer. We may take other hikes throughout the month. I’d be happy with one easier, local hike each week. I also plan to do one big solo hike each month to start to build my hiking muscle back up.

Lanyards

Part of the Camp Redwood culture was lanyards. No one had cell phones then, but I’m pretty sure we could have used lanyards to keep cell phone use at bay. Using plastic string we’d weave key chains. Campers (and leaders) would build up their skill to add more strings or be able to do twists. Lanyards were optional but most campers made at least one each summer. They were just always available to start and work on. You kept it in your pocket or fanny pack (there’s a whole post coming on fanny packs – but yes, I did get one to start this journey) and pulled it out when there was downtime. 

Now, my son is too young for lanyards but this is one for me. I want to turn to my lanyard before I turn to my phone when he’s doing independent play or when I have just a few moments of waiting. This is about cultivating less reliance on my phone than I’ve had the last several years. 

And a Rhythm

Finally, I want to build the beginnings of a consistent daily rhythm we can continue to build on for years to come. I’m laying the foundation of our home-life-campschool. I even re-made the Camp Redwood weekly schedule (sharing soon!) to help myself visualize why our days felt so comfortable, even when they were different. One day we might do all-camp activities, or go on a fieldtrip, but there was still this underlying current to the day. It helped me see where we’d built in consistency, so I’m using the same idea to develop the underlying current for us, one we’ll let guide us for years; a place to rest and float in confidence this current is ours and it’s where we belong.

Originally posted 10/28/22 on old website