It's been so many years since I've done a solo overnighter, and reading the "To solo or not to solo" has gotten me pining for some time alone with the bush... alas, not this year.

What do you find yourself doing on a solo trip, that you wouldn't do otherwise?

I would like to say "talking to trees", but I tend to do that anyway. I'd say I go a step further and start talking to the elements - the lake, or, the wind "Please take it down a notch - I'd like to get to that campsite over there!"

I also find I spend time just sitting and listening. I never do that in the city (for obvious reasons).

How do you become a strange when you play the part of a bush-recluse?

Get naked.
Otherwise, I pretty much do the same things except I do them all by myself.

One of the good things about living in TO is the nudie beach!

I religiously thank and toast the men and women who serve, to preserve our freedom next to the park. -freedom isn’t free.

Enjoying more then my normal 5 seconds worth of quiet time on a sunbaked rock or sandy beach without someone coming to request something.

Being able to sleep in more.

Talk to the fish and bugs more (the trees tend to ignore me)

I'll also now be spending a few extra minutes looking around to make sure Preacher isn't solo camping within eye shot of my solo'ing experience...

Dangerous Question, JD, for the AA Forum, where the naked truth is no more than a mouse click away . . . .

I truly do enjoy camping and canoeing with others, especially those who love the experience as much as I do. A good deal of that enjoyment comes with the good humored fun, the story telling, and the expanded awareness that comes with sharing the experience with the additional eyes and ears of others.

It’s not that one is better than two, or three, or more. The experiences are just different.

When traveling alone, my world becomes more centered on my experience; I am less distracted by my relationship to others and become more focused on what I am doing and where I am. Over a matter of days, I believe my thinking becomes less verbal and more visual and aural. I think I see and hear more acutely, and with that, move more quietly. And the most amazing experiences just start to happen. I come upon birds, animals, and even fish, (or perhaps more mystically, they make themselves visible to me) and they seem to accept me in ways I never experience otherwise. I notice the smaller world around me, plants and lichens in ways I normally overlook . . . . and if you are not careful, you will be transported into the rapture of solo canoeing lala land (did I mention I am a child of the ‘60’s :~).

When I return from a solo trip, I find it takes some adjustment to drive a car comfortably at highway speeds, or walk into a room full of people or into the bright lights and busyness of a supermarket without sensory overload. I often have to compose my thoughts in order to speak in complete sentences or express a complex thought. I realize how much of the world I normally screen out, just to get by. Unfortunately, or fortunately for my ability to make a living, it seldom takes more than a day or two at work to fall back into the routines of the work-a-day world.

-Mark

Mark you wrote it well....things slow down and you see things that normally pass by unnoticed.

I talk to the spirit world....very relaxing!!

Now I wish I wasn't shy as I can tell a lot of stories by the campfire!!


Bo

Sometimes I have found myself tippie-toeing around my campsite, so as not to disturb the rabbits and other resident forest animals. I never thought of it being a silly practise, but more of a habit I developed as I learned to appreciate wildlife more and more, the longer I have been soloing.

Markus
Etobicoke, Onterry-airy-airy-Ohhh!

Likes

Do what ever when ever

Getting to learn what you really prefer and
being able to do it! ( takes a while as one is generally
conditioned to compromise )

Chowing down e.g. Bring lots of food

My Dog as my buddy

You against whatever is always doable ( or just as easily deciding to sit upon the shore and watch the storm pass

Dislikes

Short nights at campfire ( No buddy to BS with )

Delivered coffee as wake up ( Buddy is well trained )

Trees/fish never talk back and I do not care to chat
with the spirits as they are better savoured in a plastic glass


Rac n