Getting Used To Doing Without

How long do you think it would take you to either miss, or get used to doing without, anything beyond what you would take on a really basic camping trip? Conan, you just had a camping adventure, would you care to comment? Were you getting used to, or really starting to miss, the conveniences you had at home?

Depends on how simple you plan to go. I know when on holiday for a couple of weeks I don't miss stuff until I get home and am reminded of it!

PS I am assuming you don't plan to do without basic hygiene stuff like bathroom facilities? I would hate to have to manage without a decent clean toilet, wash basin and shower.

Just a question, Holly, I don't plan on doing without ANY of the commonly accepted conveniences! To me, "camping" is a nice cabin in the woods. I was just wondering how long it would take others to either miss, or get used to, doing without maybe just the conveniences you might find at a basic campground.

The only thing I was really missing was a warm bed. A heavier sleeping bag would have done the trick. Other than that I was enjoying being in the woods and eating my Ramen. Having no immediate responsibilities, other than making it home before my food ran out, rocked.

I once read that primitive people, living a hunter gatherer lifestyle, average a little more than three hours of actual "work" a day. There are times when I wonder if a car and television is worth telemarketing for forty hours. Then I remember that primitive people are also known for brutally killing each other in large numbers with machetes. It makes me look through the want ads again.

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"Crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentation of the women!"
Conan

"Without change there can be no improvment."
Zeek: The Art of Shen Ku

Great Post, Conan!

Over any extended camping trip the only luxury I have missed is my motorcycle. Other than that. I've done without the "basics": bathroom, shower, toothpaste, etc. for a couple of weeks at a time. Pop a tictac in the morning, throw some multiuse soap on a toothbrush and brush up. Once every couple of days hop in some natural water and bath yourself sans soap. Perhaps if I took a longer trip I'd miss some stuff from home, but I honestly don't think that would happen for quite awhile. Now on the other hand if I were around other people that were not withholding from such basic essentials of civilized life, I would probably instantly miss it.

Want is definitely a relative feeling.

Excellent point, Jeep. So in a sense, it's like keeping up with one's neighbors? If you're around people with more, you want more? I guess we all do that or at least most of us. I don't have to keep up with anyone, but if you're exposed to a very upscale environment, it's difficult not to long for more. When I lived in L.A., I had to deal with a lot of people with a lot of money who would occasionally invite me to something fancy. If you ever want to feel like the poor relative.... When I was not with them, my lifestyle didn't bother me at all (I was hardly poor), but when I was around them, I couldn't help at least notice what they had I didn't.

A perfect example of this is my work experience. When I used to work in fine dining just outside the city(NY for all you non-New Yorkers), I would see limos, porsches, ferraris, cadillac, benz, bentley, lambo, etc. daily. I took a liking to these cars and bought a cadillac. I wore a $500 watch in high school doing this. Designer clothing. etc. I smoked Dunhills for pete's sake. They're like twice the price of any other cigs in the US.

Moved upstate to go to college. Now I work at an auto parts store, drive an old beat up pick up truck, don't wear a watch, most of my clothes are up to 5 years old (ie I haven't bought much more since fine dining), smoke either cheap smokes or roll my own, fine wine has been replaced with decent cheap beer. And I enjoy myself just as much if not more than before.

Now that I'm in an MBA program with several successful business men/women, I see their flashy cars and nice outfits and feel a little bit of a yearning for what I used to have. Then I light up a cheap cigarette and smile because I've been there and done that. And I like where I'm at.

Love it, Jeep! It is lots easier not to miss stuff when you're not around it as much. I'm going to be moving back to the area I lived in which has more of the flash and I've decided to keep it simple and let people just think I'm (hopefully!) coolly eccentric by just wearing almost all blacks and grays. So much easier to just buy five of the same shirt or something I like on sale (I do get well made stuff because cheaply made isn't worth it). You can go crazy trying to keep up with every one trying to one up each other and aren't any happier in the end.

You see people living beyond their means in rural areas too. It's not just a city thing.

When I was working in schools I got talking to one of the Ed Tech's. It was nothing to her to blow $500 at a whack shopping for clothes. During breaks she routinely went to Florida with her friends. And she drove a sports car and ate out all the time. That was all on top of having $100,000 in student loans for an Education degree. She couldn't bring herself to just go to UMF. She had to go to college out of state.

Bare in mind that an Ed tech in these parts makes about $13,000 a year. It's an entry level job for people hoping to work their way into a teaching position. Pretty much all of it went on credit cards. I have no idea how she slept at night.

This all brings to mind the lessons I learned reading The Millionaire Next Door. Very few rich people live affluent lifestyles. You couldn't pick most of them out of a crowd. The guy driving the BMW likely isn't rich. Think of him as a guy who used to have $30,000.

_________________
"Crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentation of the women!"
Conan

"Without change there can be no improvment."
Zeek: The Art of Shen Ku

L.A. was definitely like that, Conan. There was a movie with Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy where a producer was trying to be taken seriously, so put on a show when he was really broke. There was a saying in L.A. about people sleeping in their Mercedes because they couldn't afford rent. All to try to keep in the game. L.A. is probably one of the poster children for living beyond your means to impress. Or lots of "new money" and people who suddenly became rich and spent it very garishly and had no class or taste.

I think I would miss a toilet and good soft toilet paper the most (in a 'carry everything on your back' camping scenario'). As I've stated before, I'm preparing to expunge 99% of my possessions in about 6 months when I get married. Just keeping the bedroom set and the PS3 really. And its not like I have crappy stuff either. Anyone want to buy a 56" Samsung 1080p DLP?

Anyway, I haven't worried or even thought about it one bit recently. It pretty freeing.

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http://themccannon.blogspot.com/

Congrats, Adam, both on the wedding and the expunging! As long as I can watch movies, get on the computer and have my books, I'm pretty happy re material things. I don't have very many sentimental possessions except pictures, but we all have the things we'd hate to part with.

Shit man, (no pun intended), I completely forgot about TP. If there is one thing I will not go without(unless I runout) it is TP. You really miss it the moment you don't have it, I don't know how people live without that stuff. On extended trips with a group I bring a large package of nice TP to where we stage for the trip and distribute it amongst the group. And then after its all distributed, I hide an extra roll in the bottom of my sleeping bag. Everyone runs out, so when you have a secret stash you know how to ration your TP for yourself and yourself alone.