Chances To Connect With Nature If You Live In a City

Cities offer great nightlife, but it hard to connect with nature.
Source: Wikipedia

 City living is a bit of a conundrum to me. People go to the city as it provides the best chances to get employment, and the best educational opportunities, and it also has the best recreational activities, like parties, museums, art galleries, not to mention that this is the place where you can meet the most interesting people simply because so many people are live in the city.

 However there is a big problem with living in a congested city, or at least it is a problem for me. I miss the tranquility of the outdoors a lot. I love connecting with nature, and it is hard to experience that connection among the concrete walls and buildings of a major European city.

 However not all hope is lost for those of us who want to experience nature while enjoying the peaks of living in the city. There are city parks, and some cities have such a good infrastructure that you can get out and experience nature with a small amount of travelling, not to mention that some cities are surrounded by beautiful, magnificent forests.

 The first thing that helps is if you are living in the outskirts of the city. This can be the suburbs, but I don't really enjoy living there, the whole mindset of the people there is not very interesting, and not very entertaining. With a little bit of research you can find places that are located close to the outskirts of the city, and you can go running in those areas. My benchmark for deciding if the area is close enough to where I live is if I can get to the forest and get a good jog in, and get back in a total in sixty minutes.

 If there is a forest, there are going to be chances to go camping. These chances include just a small patch without vegetation in remote areas, where not many people go, and you can set up your tent. These are excellent for spending a day or two during the weekend if for some reason you can't travel far away from the city you live in.

You can find great information on what to do in specific cities if you want to escape the hustle of your habitat. For example this website offers great ideas on where to spend your time in London if you are looking for a bit of outdoor experience.

 City parks also offer a great chance to connect with the wild. The best cities make sure that they have enough green areas in them, and big enough parks so that the inhabitants of the city feel like it is livable and the city is not just one big sea of concrete. These parks are excellent for cycling, jogging or just having a lunchtime stroll.

 The infrastructure also matters a lot. If the city is well connected it becomes easier to get out of it and reach remote areas that are excellent for outdoor activities. Such areas are little villages next to lakes, in valleys or forests. These places are reachable, and excellent for outdoor activities.

 Camping is an awesome way to spend time together with the ones you love. However it is important to do some kind of activity instead of just sitting around. Taking part in activities is going to give you new experiences and ways to get together, experience each other in different ways, and it is going to provide you with memories that you are going to remember for the rest of your life, and will create lasting friendship among you.

 What can you do on a camping trip? Well, this depends a great deal on what is the make up of your group. Obviously if you are a group of adults drinking games can be fun, but those are forbidden for children. There are activities that everybody can play regardless of age or sex, like sports, cooking, fishing, hiking, horse riding.

A delicious barbecue.
Source: Wikipedia

 The obvious activities include cooking outdoors. Most campsites allow you to set a fire in their designated picnic area, and some even allow you to do it by your tent. There are places and times where you are not allowed to start a fire, obviously you must not start a fire in the summer months when it is so hot that plants are dry and catch on fire easily. Always ask the local authorities about rules and regulations in the are. Get to know exactly when and where can you start a fire. After you are done cooking, make sure that you put out the fire. The obvious way is to pour some water on it, or if you are a boy, you can do it in another way as well. The safe way is to put some dirt on the ashes, so that you deprive the fire of oxygen.

 If you are cooking outdoors, you can choose to prepare many different kinds of food. Tinfoil cooking is a very common, popular way of cooking outdoors. It is easy, hygienic, and you can prepare delicious nutritious dishes this way.  All you need is the ingredients of the food you want to prepare, you wrap the whole pack in tinfoil, you put it on ember, and wait for around thirty minutes until it is done.

 The other popular way of preparing food outdoors is a BBQ. You will need special equipment in order to prepare food with BBQ, but it is worth the effort. Nothing makes the meat as juicy and as delicious as a great barbecue. Most campsites have a designated camping area that include gear for BBQ, you have to pay a little bit of extra to use these areas, but the money that you have to pay is worth a bit of great time with your friends and family.

 Most campsites have sports courts. You should definitely try these out, sports is a great way to connect with other people while breaking down social barriers, and sounding like the Incredible Hulk. Not all campsites have the same courts, call them before your camping trip so that you can get ready and bring all the equipment you need to use the courts. Such equipment might include tennis rockets, tennis balls, a basketball or football. Some campgrounds are built next to a lake, river, or they have a swimming pool. You might want to bring balls, mattresses and all the gear you need for sunbathing in order to make the most of your camping trip.

Some campsites have a badminton court.
Source: Flickr

 All in all there is nothing like connecting with the people that matter to you the most. The best way to do this is by going on a camping trip. It allows you to try out many different activities that break down social barriers, and provide you with long lasting memories that will fuel your friendship.