Camping Central

What I like about camping is you can get really dirty. Either you're all by yourself, so no one else sees you, or everyone you're with is just as dirty as you are, so nobody cares. ~Anonymous former Boy Scout, quoted in Highs! Over 150 Ways to Feel Really, Really Good Without Alcohol or Other Drugs by Alex J. Packer

But the place which you have selected for your camp, though never so rough and grim, begins at once to have its attractions, and becomes a very centre of civilization to you: "Home is home, be it never so homely." ~Henry David Thoreau

A good vacation is over when you begin to yearn for your work. ~Morris Fishbein

A vacation trip is one-third pleasure, fondly remembered, and two-thirds aggravation, entirely forgotten. ~Robert Brault, www.robertbrault.com

Too much work, and no vacation,

Deserves at least a small libation.

So hail! my friends, and raise your glasses,

Work's the curse of the drinking classes.

~Oscar Wilde

Oh, why can't we break away from all this, just you and I, and lodge with my fleas in the hills? I mean, flee to my lodge in the hills. ~S.J. Perelman, Will B. Johnstone, and Arthur Sheekman, Monkey Business

Vacation: a period of travel and relaxation when you take twice the clothes and half the money you need. ~Author Unknown

If we would only give, just once, the same amount of reflection to what we want to get out of life that we give to the question of what to do with a two weeks' vacation, we would be startled at our false standards and the aimless procession of our busy days. ~Dorothy Canfield Fisher

When preparing to travel, lay out all your clothes and all your money. Then take half the clothes and twice the money. ~Susan Heller

The traveler was active; he went strenuously in search of people, of adventure, of experience. The tourist is passive; he expects interesting things to happen to him. He goes "sight-seeing." ~Daniel J. Boorstin

The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one's own country as a foreign land. ~G.K. Chesterton

To get away from one's working environment is, in a sense, to get away from one's self; and this is often the chief advantage of travel and change. ~Charles Horton Cooley

And that's the wonderful thing about family travel: it provides you with experiences that will remain locked forever in the scar tissue of your mind. ~Dave Barry

The most important trip you may take in life is meeting people halfway. ~Henry Boye

How hard to realize that every camp of men or beast has this glorious starry firmament for a roof! In such places standing alone on the mountain-top it is easy to realize that whatever special nests we make - leaves and moss like the marmots and birds, or tents or piled stone - we all dwell in a house of one room - the world with the firmament for its roof - and are sailing the celestial spaces without leaving any track. ~John Muir

Sometimes it's important to work for that pot of gold. But other times it's essential to take time off and to make sure that your most important decision in the day simply consists of choosing which color to slide down on the rainbow. ~Douglas Pagels, These Are the Gifts I'd Like to Give to You

How beautiful it is to do nothing, and then to rest afterward. ~Spanish Proverb

"To sit in the shade on a fine day, and look upon verdure is the most perfect refreshment."

Jane Austen

"Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer."

Leonardo DaVinci

Beliefnet Feature from Oprah.com

You've just woken up, and you're on the wrong side of the bed. Is there any way to switch to the other side? Absolutely.

For those times when your mind is addled, and your center is shaky; open this little black bag of cures and find your beautiful balance!

You already know the number one way of chasing away a bad mood: exercise. A workout at the gym sure helps. But even just a few minutes of movement--a fast walk, for example--raises energy and reduces tension, says mood expert Robert Thayer, PhD, professor of psychology at California State University, Long Beach, and author of Calm Energy.

By Kathryn Matthews from O, The Oprah Magazine, October 2007

10 Tips to De-stress from Work

By Laura Stack

http://www.beliefnet.com/Health/2008/09/10-Tips-to-Destress-from-Work.aspx

Close the Mental Office 'Door'

It's okay to love what you do; it's okay to have passion for your work. But you're not defined by what you do professionally. Stop being a workaholic, and learn to slow down and "turn off" work.

http://www.beliefnet.com/Health/2008/09/10-Tips-to-Destress-from-Work.aspx?p=2

Leave Work on Time

Your personal life is at least as important as your work life. Facing this reality and learning to work with it will make you feel more successful and less stressed. So remember to get home and enjoy your home life.

http://www.beliefnet.com/Health/2008/09/10-Tips-to-Destress-from-Work.aspx?p=3

Laugh a Little

Lighten up and laugh at life's absurdities. Remember, the lower your stress level, the higher your appreciation of life and your ability to care for others.

http://www.beliefnet.com/Health/2008/09/10-Tips-to-Destress-from-Work.aspx?p=4

Rest, Relax, and Play Daily

Some 40 percent of people surveyed say they don't spend enough time enjoying leisure activities. The biggest obstacle to play? Ourselves. Give yourself permission to have fun.

http://www.beliefnet.com/Health/2008/09/10-Tips-to-Destress-from-Work.aspx?p=5

Go on a Long Vacation

Everyone needs a change of pace and scenery and

fun on a regular basis. Vacations offer the restorative power many people desperately need. Without the ability to recharge your batteries for a long period of time, you're on a slippery slope to burnout.

http://www.beliefnet.com/Health/2008/09/10-Tips-to-Destress-from-Work.aspx?p=6

Create Fond Memories

Don't ignore your family in favor of earning a living. Create positive experiences that stir their emotions and will therefore impact them, so they'll remember the good times.

http://www.beliefnet.com/Health/2008/09/10-Tips-to-Destress-from-Work.aspx?p=7

Have Regular 'Family Time'

The traditions you share with your family are important ways to nurture and express your love for the important people in your life, and to create those fond memories that make you a family.

http://www.beliefnet.com/Health/2008/09/10-Tips-to-Destress-from-Work.aspx?p=8

Make Time for a Favorite Hobby

Having a hobby is a great way to re-energize. Whether you like to knit, create scrapbooks, or design clothes, do something regularly. Make time for it. Hobbies are a wonderful outlet for the creative expression missing in many people's lives.

http://www.beliefnet.com/Health/2008/09/10-Tips-to-Destress-from-Work.aspx?p=9

Force Yourself to Slow Down

Time management doesn't mean packing your day like a moving van, ensuring every single minute is full. What's really at issue is not the quantity of time, but its texture.

http://www.beliefnet.com/Health/2008/09/10-Tips-to-Destress-from-Work.aspx?p=10

Take Care of Yourself Regularly

This doesn't just mean going to the doctor and dentist regularly. Reconnect with your childhood, keep up an active social life, pamper yourself occasionally, and don't feel guilty about downtime.

Some people may perceive playing to be frivolous, but they're missing the point. You need occasional periods of recreation in order to avoid burn-out and to keep caring about what you're doing with your life. Slow down and smell the flowers occasionally! Play is more than something "extra"--it's the ultimate pillar on which your life rests.

http://www.beliefnet.com/Health/2008/09/10-Tips-to-Destress-from-Work.aspx?p=11

“All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.”

– Martin Buber

“I soon realized that no journey carries one far unless, as it extends into the world around us, it goes an equal distance into the world within.”

– Lillian Smith

“We must go beyond textbooks, go out into the bypaths and untrodden depths of the wilderness and travel and explore and tell the world the glories of our journey.”

– John Hope Franklin

“One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.”

– André Gide

“To get through the hardest journey we need take only one step at a time, but we must keep on stepping."

– Chinese Proverbs

“It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters in the end.”

– Ursula LeGuin

You all look like happy campers to me. Happy campers you are, happy campers you have been, and, as far as I am concerned, happy campers you will always be.

-Dan Quayle

The fire is the main comfort of the camp, whether in summer or winter, and is about as ample at one season as at another. It is as well for cheerfulness as for warmth and dryness.

-Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862), U.S. philosopher, author, naturalist

It is good to realize that if love and peace can prevail on earth, and if we can teach our children to honor nature's gifts, the joys and beauties of the outdoors will be here forever.

-Jimmy Carter --39th president of the United States (1977-81), b.1924

Backpacking: An extended form of hiking in which people carry double the amount of gear they need for half the distance they planned to go in twice the time it should take.

-Unknown

Vacation used to be a luxury, however, in today's world, it has become a necessity.

-Anonymous

A vacation is like love - anticipated with pleasure, experienced with discomfort and remembered with nostalgia.

-Anonymous

Sometimes the most urgent and vital thing you can possibly do is take a complete rest.

- Ashleigh Brilliant

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time.

-Sir John Lubbock

True silence is the rest of the mind; it is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment and refreshment.

- William Penn

Rest is the sweet sauce of labor.

- Plutarch

“Rest when you're weary. Refresh and renew yourself, your body, your mind, your spirit. Then get back to work.”

-Ralph Marston

When you're depressed, the whole body is depressed, and it translates to the cellular level. The first objective is to get your energy up, and you can do it through play. It's one of the most powerful ways of breaking up hopelessness and bringing energy into the situation. - O. Carl Simonton

Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves. ~John Muir

Look at the trees, look at the birds, look at the clouds, look at the stars... and if you have eyes you will be able to see that the whole existence is joyful. Everything is simply happy. Trees are happy for no reason; they are not going to become prime ministers or presidents and they are not going to become rich and they will never have any bank balance. Look at the flowers - for no reason. It is simply unbelievable how happy flowers are. ~Osho

I remember a hundred lovely lakes, and recall the fragrant breath of pine and fir and cedar and poplar trees. The trail has strung upon it, as upon a thread of silk, opalescent dawns and saffron sunsets. It has given me blessed release from care and worry and the troubled thinking of our modern day. It has been a return to the primitive and the peaceful. Whenever the pressure of our complex city life thins my blood and benumbs my brain, I seek relief in the trail; and when I hear the coyote wailing to the yellow dawn, my cares fall from me - I am happy. ~Hamlin Garland, McClure's, February 1899

To sit in the shade on a fine day and look upon verdure is the most perfect refreshment. ~Jane Austen

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,

There is a rapture on the lonely shore,

There is society, where none intrudes,

By the deep sea, and music in its roar:

I love not man the less, but Nature more.

~George Gordon, Lord Byron, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage

Camping is a good hobby for those who want to progress in this world and want their future bright as it needs extensive mind work.

-Anonymous

If you have gone to some picnic with friends and doesn’t use camping, you have not taken the best taste of your picnic.

-Anonymous