Help is anyone familiar with camping or alternatives?

[Ah.ow]

I seek help and I don't find understanding, responsive places.
I wondered if here might have people who could help in direct messages or in this thread?

I wondered if just find a location, gear, and money was all that's needed?

my location might be the hardest part, but also maybe helpful? if I rely on public transport, and am in a city? for nyc

I didn't know if camping was the best option for someone without much resources, unable to sleep/lay on hard ground, needing to avoid light sometimes and to avoid heat waves, and unable to hike/backpack for long? would those needs add heavy gear to carry?

but I need breaks sometimes, and will more if i continue to be around overwhelming people like medical workers, so I wondered if nature overnights can be spontaneous breaks?

 

[Praestat_Mori]

Not familiar with camping but I would say if you can relax in a natural environment that can have a really positive effect on your mental health. Getting rid of everything what stresses you directly (and in the best case indirectly) can help to gain energy again.

 

[Dr Iron Arc]

I went camping with a bunch of friends once in the summer of 2019. It was pretty uncomfortable sleeping on the ground even with a tent and a sleeping bag. The mosquitos were also really annoying. It didn't matter how much mosquito repellent I sprayed on myself, my O-type blood and type 2 diabetes made it so that those tiny bitches were dead set on getting my blood at any and all costs. The only fun part about the trip was driving to a nearby grocery store to pick up supplies and then sitting around the campfire and talking about random shit but we can technically do all that without having to go camping.

 

[ConfusedClouds]

I love camping but its taken a while of trial and error and gradually building up and adapting my kit collection to reach a point where I can head out with very little. As with a lot of things, you can get some pretty good kit these days, but the better (i.e better quality and lighter weight), the more expensive. And with so many variations, there's a lot of personal preference too.

My favourite parts about camping trips are 1. how over just a few days your body clock adjusts to daylight hours without having fluorescent lighting around you 24/7. Something primitive/resetting about that. And 2. The minimalist side of carrying everything you need to survive on your back and being able to chose which way/how far to go and where to go and it doesn't affect anyone else what you choose - no meeting times/points/places

Kinda annoyingly though I find I almost 'thrive' more in these 'basic survival' type scenarios but given the opportunity to 'thrive' in the real world, I can barely survive. Urgh.

A few terms you can look up that might help your research (though I am UK based so terminology may vary slightly)

Wild camping - camping away from official 'campsites' with facilities such as toilets/road access, classic Leave No Trace camping. There are folk with youtube channels I believe who do wild camping near cities/urban areas. Though my first few attempts at wild camping near people ended with a lot of hypervigilance at every sound and not much rest/sleep at all.

Leave No Trace - an approach to camping where you do things in certain ways to not impact the environment. Much bigger in the US than UK

Bivvy/Bivvying/Bivvy bag - camping without a tent - a bivvy bag is a sort of waterproof cover for your sleeping bag to sleep outdoors. Much lighter weight but also much more exposed to the elements/no privacy (e.g can't get dressed/changed in the tent)

Bothy/Hut - this one varies a lot country to country but is essentially a very basic building in the middle of nowhere where you can stay indoors but usually in a shared/communal/dorm setting. First come/first served. Depending on country they can vary from just being unlocked for you to walk to and noone knows to places needing a national membership to huts with full time guardians where you have to pay to stay and can buy food cooked for you. In terms of sleeping, most bothys/huts just have wooden platforms or floors so you need your own mat/sleeping bag etc. These tend to be more in rural areas/National Parks and away from 'civilised' areas and often have long walks in.