That’s right, you heard me say it first! You there, with your hipster plaid shirt and cotton pants, big ass gore-tex boots.. be afraid of the icky water! Dance of the rocks to cross the stream and live in the safe little bubble of no dirt, water or bugs!
It’s quite funny I am browsing some of the outdoor online shops and I have a product catalog here and it’s amazing how everyone is so clean and tidy despite the fact they are out in nature. It seems to me that producers are trying to sell a safe, tidy, clean bubble to people – and the worst thing is that I see it on the trail as well. People avoiding water, mud and everything else with all their might. I imagine an entire studio crew out there making sure there is no dust or mud anywhere on the model when they are taking these shots.
Stole this pic from the internet somewhere.. Great product brand just wanted to make a point about how clean and tidy they are..
Am I missing something? How is this possible? I get muddy, dirty, stinky and wet along my hikes… And to be honest I love it! I feel like a little kid again trudging through the great outdoors without a care in the world.
Don’t get me wrong, I know it’s like this in every sport – imagine a tights company who markets tights to ultra marathoners that have better poop “squish-ability”. As most long distance runners and bikers shit themselves – with tights on – as they can’t be bothered to spare a minute or two to draw down their tights and relieve themselves. Maybe it’s a limited market that might actually find this interesting. SO the bubble I imagine sells, but let’s be honest, hiking and long distance hiking is not exactly the same thing as ultramarathon runners; We don’t mind taking the extra minute or two to relieve ourselves, if anything it’s part of the joy of being in the wild!
It reminds me of the two famous transcendentalist philosophers – Ralph Emerson and Henry david Thoreau. Emerson felt that being in nature was about being a kid again, going wild and a chance to pull your pants down and shit wherever you wanted. Emerson loved that idea – the man going back to the wild where he belongs. Thoreau on the other hand felt that toilet duties among others should be done in a proper outhouse with plenty of toilet paper available. Clean and tidy.
I think I will take Emerson on this one – I always feel that it would be dangerous for me to be out more than two weeks at a time.. I turn wild after a few days. My transition back to domestication would be impossible after two weeks 🙂
Please share your thoughts on this!
