For the last few years, I’ve worked pretty much nonstop to build a business, one that can be done from anywhere. We are in the prime of our lives and would like to be able to travel more—to pick up and go when the mood strikes without having to worry about things like jobs. 

Last week, hubby and I decided to take a couple days and go camping. It’s something we hadn’t done in the entire time we’ve been married, but that we’d both done as kids. The weather was perfect and the park where we went was beautiful. Another bonus was that they didn’t have wifi, so while I could work from there by using hubby’s phone as a hotspot, I didn’t spend a lot of time online. I worked for four hours in the afternoon when it was the hottest and the rest of the time we just enjoyed the little things.

We talked to each other more in those two days than we normally do in a week. We went on walks around the park and took pictures. We sat in front of the campfire at night. Hubby attempted to make popcorn over said campfire. He ended up burning the majority of it, which was okay since I like burned popcorn, so that meant more for me. We had a few missteps, forgot a few things that we needed (cooking utensils anyone), and we found out that we are both older and more out of shape than we realized. Something else we plan to change this year.

But we had a good time and both of us are looking forward to doing it again soon.

Those few days away from the everyday hustle and bustle was nice and really made us realize how much stuff we have that we really don’t need. At home we watch television waaaay too much. Before we left I’d downloaded some movies to my laptop and before bed we’d watch one. When I wasn’t working, I didn’t spent a lot of time online and I accomplished a lot more in those four hours than I normally do at home because I wasn’t having to stop every twenty minutes to respond to emails. And I wasn’t distracted by social media, which we all know can be a real time-suck. Instead, I checked my email in the evenings and responded to any that required my immediate attention and ignored the rest until I got home. 

We didn’t have all of the fancy kitchen gadgets and yet we were still able to make everything we needed to. I mean, we managed to cook for two days straight without a single cooking utensil. LOL. Although, next time I’ll be sure to pack those. I’m making a checklist for future camping trips, hopefully we’ll be less likely to forget the important things. 

There are a few things we’d like to get, like better folding chairs. The ones we have sit lower to the ground than we realized, making it hard to get out of them. Especially when I had the dog on my lap. Let’s just say I’m in no danger of being called graceful anytime soon and leave it at that. We’d also like to get one of those camp stoves with the wind break panels. But neither of those things are something we need right away. For now, we’ll make due with what we already have. 

Other than sore legs from all the walking we did we managed to survive without any injuries. Which was good because the first aid kit I’d put together was sitting on the kitchen table at home. We didn’t spend a lot of money for this trip, but I enjoyed it more than our last vacation.(Which was longer ago than I want to admit.) Instead of being tired when we got home,—like I usually am after a vacation—we both felt rejuvenated. Like those few days recharged some of our batteries. At least enough to last us for a few months. It also made us realize how much we wished our everyday lives rejuvenated and recharged us that way.

It also made me realize that I want more time to enjoy the little things in life. The things that build memories and connections. Instead of working all the time to buy more things we don’t need and to pay for the things we already have.

This is going to be a year of change for me… for us.

So, here’s to the little things in life.