Camping can be such a peaceful, surreal experience. Other times, you wonder why you didn’t just stay home and binge watch your favorite show. This story is about our first camping faux pas.

The first time Ethan and I ever decided to go camping on our own was at Inks Lake State Park in Burnet, TX. It was late August in Texas, so it was pretty warm. This trip was one of the first steps in our journey to getting out and enjoying life more than we had ever before. It felt important, and I desperately wanted to like camping. I spent weeks researching and ordering everything we could possibly need. Days before the trip, I spent hours carefully making a packing list so that I wouldn’t forget anything important. Yes, I am that kind of person.

When we arrived at Inks Lake, the first thing we did was set up our tent. It went way faster than expected, and we even had time to wander around and check out the park before dinner. When we got back to the campsite, I started taking out our kitchen bins and getting everything ready. We put the charcoal down in the fire ring because we were planning to make the ultimate camping dinner…hot dogs! Things are going so smoothly and according to plan, and then Ethan asks me for something that made my heart drop to my stomach: a lighter.

My heart dropped because I knew everything on that packing list forwards and backwards, and a lighter was not on that list. Ethan looked at the way my eyes widened after his question and immediately knew what happened. We quickly began brainstorming solutions to our problem. How can we start this fire?

Matches? No.

Rubbing two sticks together? Probably not.

Setting the charcoal ablaze with the burning panic that was filling my already hangry brain? Unlikely.

I was growing more discouraged by the minute. I was so excited for this new adventure, and I messed it up. Eventually, Ethan happened upon a friendly neighbor that didn’t mind lending us their lighter for a moment, so we could begin preparing our hot dog feast. We made dinner, ate, cleaned up, and by that time the stars were out.

As we laid in our small, hand-me-down tent with no rainfly and stared up at the stars, the feeling of failure passed, and I let my anxieties go. I knew this wouldn’t be our last time camping, and it definitely wouldn’t be the last thing I forgot on a trip. It wouldn’t be the last story we would look back on and laugh as we continue to go there and do that. 

Feel free to leave a comment about your most memorable camping mistakes.