Page 71 - Reading and Writing 6

Listen and Read

The Funniest Camping Story Ever

Let’s just say that when it comes to camping, it can sometimes be an excellent
learning experience! A lot of people who decide to go camping picture themselves
pitching a tent like they were born in the wilderness! They roll out all their tools and
magically, within a few minutes, their tent is up and looking as cosy as can be. They
picture themselves rubbing a few sticks together and voila! There’s a cosy fire to sit by.
Or maybe they plan their trip thinking to themselves “Oh, it’s spring; the weather will
be warm!” and visualise themselves relaxing under their portable camping umbrella,
enjoying a few naps in the sun.

Well, not to burst anyone’s bubble, but allow me to let you in on a not-so-well-kept
secret: camping can be hard! Sometimes in one trip, everything that could possibly go
wrong does! So, here’s the good news; you’re not alone! Allow me to tell you a personal
short story that captures my own experience of camping. And yes, there are a few
laugh-out-loud moments there that every camper can relate to.

During a camping trip last October, a few friends and I packed our bags for a two-
day camping adventure. Although we knew that the weather forecast was looking a
bit rainy, we decided to go anyway! Thinking to ourselves that we weren’t wimps, but
young, brave adventurers, we threw our bags in the trunk of my car and headed out
to the local campsite, near Sonmarg. It was the bumpiest road we had ever travelled
along, but the scenery that unfolded around us made the ride worth it.

When we got there, we set up our tents in a record ten minutes, and there were smiles
and high-fives. Patting ourselves on the back for a job well done, we decided it was
time for a little hike before the sunset. As we climbed around in the woods, it started
to drizzle and then rain, and finally, we were caught in a downpour! We all ran back to
the camp with sopping shoes and some dampened spirits, but decided we were going
to try and make a little dinner in the rain anyway. Another adventure and another
mistake! One of my friends humoured us by holding a tiny umbrella over our sad little
fire, which tried fiercely not to blow out, but eventually did!

After the cooking disaster, we all went to our tents and dined on snack bars! Thank
goodness we had plenty of those! After a while, we decided to crawl into our sleeping
bags and wait out the storm.
To our unpleasant surprise, our sleeping bags were soaked! Yikes! There was a hole in
the corner of our tent that was letting in all the rain. We might as well have not even
been inside a tent for all the good this one was doing us! After an hour, we packed up
our bags, took down the tent, and officially called off our camping trip. We decided to
lay out some sleeping bags in my living room, and watching a movie was adventurous
enough for us that night! What a fiasco! But we managed to find the humour in our
disaster and vowed to try again, this time on a sunny day!

The lesson that was learned: rain can be a camper’s worst nightmare, especially for
a poorly-equipped group of first-time campers! Next time, we’re making sure we’ve
got good weather, the right tent, and our portable camping umbrella to keep us
protected while we’re roughing it!

Have you got a funny camping story you’d like to share?

69