Part of the problem has been the sciatica that followed me home from the bush. Yes, camping is very good for you from a bushwalking/swimming/fresh air perspective. Not so good from a 'compressed nerve from sleeping on an air mattress' perspective. I've found it difficult to sit and... well, do anything frankly. I wrote a feature story under the influence of pain medication the other day - and can't remember a single thing about it. I can only hope I got my sentences in the right order.
I must also confess that I enjoyed switching off. There was no mobile reception where we went (which made finding the place a challenge of old-fashioned proportions). I didn't really miss it. Well, maybe the nightly Words With Friends ritual I seem to have established. But that was all. There is so much white noise in our lives these days - tweeting, updating, emailing. Take it away and there's just talking, thinking... or silence. It's not a bad way to live.
We immersed ourselves in the grey-green of the bush. Surrounded by the ghostly white trunks of gums. A slip and slide down a steep bank to the river, where the water was fresh and shone golden in the sunlight. A lovely place to wash off the film of dirt that had us all spray-tanned dark brown. The days were bright and warm. The nights were clear and cold. The campfire was a hungry beast, stoked day and night, wafting us all in the aroma of Eau de Smoke. With top notes of bacon.
Would I go camping again? Yes, I would. Assuming I could take a queen-size pillow-top mattress with me. I'll need to go back anyway - it seems I left my blogging mojo somewhere under a tree.
I lost my blogging mojo for about a year. Thankfully I found it recently under a rather large mess in the teenager's bedroom.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE camping. Wish we took the boys camping more often. Fantastic getaway from everything.
When I stopped blogging, I was amazed how easy it was to let it go. For four months - FOUR MONTHS! - I left it behind, and I don't regret a second of that.
ReplyDeleteI think bloggers (like I did) put too much pressure on themselves to stick to a blogging schedule of some sort. If you force it, it doesn't work. And like I've said before, there's not much point writing about nothing when you could be out in the big world experiencing life, and giving yourself something to write about!
If you feel like a rest, have a rest. Then you can come back refreshed!
(Glad to hear the camping went well. I get a nervous twitch whenever the kids ask about us going again!)
xox
I hate camping for that very "lack of mattress" reason. I totally understand re lack of mojo and the freedom that comes from being unplugged. Hope your back improves x
ReplyDeleteI endured a digital detox this weekend too. I say endured though because I wasn't prepared for it. I forgot my wireless USB, and was actually looking forward to doing some blogging and catching up on my favourite blogs over the weekend. I think it can be a great thing though to take a break from the noise of the world, but Al, please don't enjoy it too much. We would miss you!
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed camping (apart from the sciatica that is!)
It is so good to have a break. Top notes of bacon - ADORE!
ReplyDeleteSelfishly - I need you to go back camping so you can get your blogging mojo back!
ReplyDeleteBut I also do love the digital detox thing. There's a place here in WA called Dunsborough (the home of my heart) and for some reason, the minute I arrive in that town when I visit, despite the fact that it has wonderful wireless reception, I just turn everything off and don't miss any of it for the whole time I am there.
Eau de Smoke and bacon top notes made me giggle. Sorry bout your back. Hope it gets better soon.
ReplyDeleteHey mi'lady .. welcome back. Your mojo will return, like a hungry stray .. in its own time.
ReplyDeleteNow I feel like bacon.
I just got my laptop back after a 3 day absence and even that provided some relief. I missed it sometimes but as always without the laptop I just read more - actual novels - and that gives me joy. I find that visiting Australia also provides periods of relative disconnection considering the outlandish fees on wifi in hotels! Wifi is almost everywhere here so it is just a bit too easy.
ReplyDeleteLovely post,
Michelle
I adore the smell of campfire smoke. And bacon – love that smell, too. You evoked happy memories of campsites past. But... MUCH less fond of the intense discomfort that sleeping rough brings these days. Poor you. :(
ReplyDeleteFunny about the mojo. Annie and I were sending out search parties for ours earlier in the week. All under a tree together? Lucky things!
This blogger fatigue happens to all at some stage I feel - just enjoy rediscovering the sounds of silence!
ReplyDeleteIt's the toilet situation that turns me off camping, though my tendency for sciatica doesn't help either! Sometimes we just need to take a complete break and switch off from the noise and buzz of the online world, in fact, regular breaks must be good for our health...I am just not sure that I will spend mine camping :)
ReplyDeleteNo camping here in suburbia. We love our McMansion too much. Maybe a caravan trip if it was a Winnebago with a toilet and a double bed and a soundproof door between the kids and I.
ReplyDeleteSo you loved it then! Knew you would :-) Sciatica though - ouch! If space isn't a problem you can always get those big comfy queen sized air beds that fill up in seconds with a vacuum thingy. It's nice having a break from blogging from time to time, especially when it starts to feel like a chore. I reckon it's because you've just had a lovely time away and it is hard to get back into it after a change in routine. Same thing happened to me after our big trip around the country - so much to write about and then back to we had cornflakes for breakfast today :-) PS I went through the words with friends thing and now I'm onto "Draw Something" - it's like pictionary. Mel xx
ReplyDeleteAnother happy camper - if you disregard the pain factor!
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed it.
:-) xx
We're singing from the same song book Al, singing those bacon top notes. I am the least bloggy blogger you are likely to *meet*. I find gadgets/the internet/blogging/tweeting/social media-ing - basically everything - exhausting. How can it be so draining sitting at a computer for hours on end? And yet, it is.
ReplyDeleteSorry this probably isn't helping you find your mojo. Hope the sciatica clears up. :)
I think I could camp if I had a comfy bed each night, otherwise I would probably be on pain medication like you.
ReplyDeleteHope you get your blogging mojo back soon.
I am addicted to words with friends and like Mel have become addicted to Draw Something too, I would miss these if I had no phone or wifi. The rest I could probably go without, for a short while, it's nice to disconnect.
That sounds like a wonderful trip Allison. There really is nothing like getting back to basics... and camping is the king of basics... unless it's 'glamping' and I don't really get that whole phenomenon anyway. It is easy to detach from the technology after a day or two of being without it. Not a bad way to be really. Sorry to read of your sciatica, that must be terribly painful. I don't blame you for feeling you've lost a bit of the will to blog. Hopefully you'll be back into the swing again soon... we would miss you if you went away for too long xo
ReplyDeleteYou are back. I missed you. The whole blogging life-cycle - it's like a child - it does through stages...
ReplyDeleteKNEW you would love the camping.
xx
Great that you loved camping - not so great about the back. Hope the pain is getting better now and, as someone who has gone through a lot of back pain, I must say just remember to keep moving. Walking and stretching are the best things for it, even if it seems like the most painful thing to do.
ReplyDeleteI've got sciatica and would never go camping, so I know the pain involved. As for switching off and not feeling like blogging. I tend to think it comes at several stages during the year.
ReplyDeleteWe get a head start in January and go gung ho with blogs and post, tend to drag a bit in April, have a break. Get back into it in May/June until about Sep and then drag again, and then go until lat Nov/early Dec when we've just had enough and need a long holiday.
Of course, all of that means we have absolutely nothing to blog about and clearly have boring lives,lol.
Mine's been missing all year. Did you perhaps take it with you? If you did, it's ok. It's still not worth camping for. :D
ReplyDeleteThanks for your honesty Alison. It's a big thing for bloggers to put it all out there, online so often and I think it's great to say out loud that we sometimes simply need to turn off, fall off the grid... It's not an easy thing to do though, nor is taking time and headspace for yourself. Love camping and the basic skills and instincts it brings out in us and our children - very cleansing. Hope your sciatica improves. Yoga. It saved my life.
ReplyDelete"There is so much white noise in our lives these days - tweeting, updating, emailing. Take it away and there's just talking, thinking... or silence. It's not a bad way to live."
ReplyDeleteSo true!
We went away camping as well for 4 nights and it was great. I was looking forward to no phone, tv or computer. It was amazing how long the days seemed but in a good way! More time for play!
I love getting away from all the electronics, but I oddly hardly ever choose to do so. I love camping for that reason, but I think my days of enjoying sleeping on the ground are far behind me. My family is planning on backpacking at least a few days this summer or maybe even a longer trip, depending on how those couple of days go.
ReplyDeleteI know what you are saying. So many of us know what you are saying. It's a delight to be away from the computer. But we keep getting drawn back somehow, don't we?
ReplyDeleteI've only been blogging for a month so I haven't had time to loose my blogging mojo. I just hope I don't have to camp to find it if I loose it!
ReplyDeleteSo cool, attitude & the Keep Calm sign, love Posie
ReplyDeleteSorry about the pain, but the camping sounds great! As for blogging, I here you. I'm not as desperate to blog as I was. Do what works for you. X
ReplyDeleteAah, here's the PS I was looking for.
ReplyDeleteI see that there are posts to follow, which is the happy ending we all seek from a terrific read.
Hoping that the sciatica has disappeared and all that remains from your adventure are happy memories.