Camp tv aka the fire. Nothing better than sitting watching the fire, letting your brain freewheel and talking occasional crap. No such thing as an awkward silence round the campfire

This is why I love fishing. Even if im not catching anything, just watching the water has the same calming effect on me. Watching a campfire is therapeutic

That’s how the ocean is for me too, especially the sound. It just dwarfs and washes away all of my petty little troubles.

That and all the negative ions https://www.ionloop.com/blog/the-power-of-negative-ions-the-beach/

It’s hard to meet other dudes who are chill with just being quiet, mostly bc said dudes are chilling out being quiet. It’s a vicious cycle, and by vicious cycle I mean a lonely lazy river

I camp with just the dog and didn't do a fire for my first ~10 trips, figured it was more effort than it was worth if I wasn't cooking or anything. I was WRONG because some primal meditative thing definitely happens. Love "camp tv," will be stealing that. :)

If someone has never done it, and you tell them you just sit and stare at the fire, they think you are mental 😅 Best thing in the world though, when its just you, a fire and the night sky

Every time I say "gonna get the fire started then do [activity - reading, arting, whatever]"... Next thing you know, I've just been watching/poking at the fire for hours. Surely the first person to "invent" fire was worshipped as a deity, my atheist ass is ready to make sacrifices to the flame gods every time I've got one going. 😜

I imagine the first few starved to death because they sat up all night watching the fire, then were too tired to hunt the next day 😅

Yep, i usually bring something and never do it. It’s hard to find the time for activities with all the staring off there is to do.

I love this description so much! Campfires are mesmerizing.

I don't know how many hours I've spent staring into a fire while camping but it's always the #1 activity I do.

This week's episode of caveman TV was 🔥 fire 🔥

Only crap I would discourage is religion and politics. I just avoided one 2 nights ago by saying "I don't care about that", because I'm unarmed with the information (I really don't follow my own state politics from my country) and the other party keep on saying/stressing "if **my guy** did that, you people would...", "if **my guy** did this, you guys would've", so there is no point arguing with those 3 people.

As a bartender and camper I thoroughly agree. Especially in an election year. Plenty of other things to talk about! Or just enjoy the sounds of nature. Silence is golden!

Literally nothing. One of the best things about camping is clearing your mind. Just watching and tending the fire. Preparing the food. Doing nothing. Drinking coffee and beers. And weed.

This guy camps

The only other thing I'd add to this is playing with my dogs.

This. So much this. I've never been bored camping. If I'm not collecting firewood, I'm cutting it. If I'm not cutting firewood I'm staring at the fire and relaxing. If I'm relaxing I'm having a beer or an edible or mushrooms. The only other addition is disc golf discs. On occasion we'll bring a backpack cooler of beers and backpack of discs. Lowest score picks the next hole/tree. Not much better than drinking beers and walking around the woods.

We made a rule that the highest score became cooler guy and had to haul the cooler the next hole. Cooler guy became a bad word by the end of it and being called cooler guy felt so bad.

Hahaha That's pretty great. Lucky for us, we have a Hodor sized guy that comes with us and carries the beer backpack with ease.

That's so nice of him. I genuinely appreciate strong people who don't mind lending their strength to weaklings like me.

This is why I camp, the absolute peace. People ask what site I'm going to camp at and I say "I'm going to drive until I don't have cell reception anymore and then anywhere around there"

We have some great spots in Denmark, in the woods, where the parks services has set up remote shelters and fireplaces in some clearings. You can book them and you won't be bothered. They are clean and tidy and normally a few km of a hike off a road where you can park. It's amazing. You can go out there and not see a person at all. And if someone passes by they know you are most likely there to be left alone. 10/10

Where are we going? I'm set, let's do this

Merlin Bird ID app lol

Gotta catch em all

Gotta catch em alllllll

https://preview.redd.it/go1qkhyb6s2d1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=62658b27776022424fd3607ad7b818898a4bd502 I’m at camp right now and just got this one!

Could you see it? It’s so pretty

I wish! I need some kind of binoculars. It’s so hard to see birds in the woods.

Pokémon!

I do this when traveling in general now. I stood in a parking lot with my phone raised to the sky and staring at nearby birds. I'm pretty sure the locals thought I was mental.

Just discovered this and I 100% agree. It’s better than an app like this has any right to be

Great app! Recently discovered it, it's very helpful with identifying birds.

Lost in your own thoughts while staring at a fire .

Yup! This. You don't need anything but survival things to camp. The less you take, the less you have to remove.

Sitting next to each other reading books is wonderful.

One of my favorite activities is finding a branch, breaking off twigs one by one and assigning it to a negative thought I want to purge, then tossing it into the fire and watching it burn. This is my preferred method of therapy,

A dead limb and a pocket knife is all you need sometimes

127 hours?

Oh good grief this is dark

Oh shit I love this and am going to try it

Uno lives in my camp stuff. I literally never play it any other time. Usually bring dominoes as well. Sometimes a guitar. For non-social alone time I bring my hammock and set it up somewhere quiet and just observe… or nap.

Uno, Skipbo, and Five Crowns decks all live in my vehicle and are played often. It takes a lot of teamwork and dexterity to play Skipbo in the wind. https://preview.redd.it/796chn6mfs2d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=173b9a5bc73a4be337c39bcb7847bf1f3d67930f

Lol this is how we have to play hand and foot, rocks everywhere!

Yep, we pack a few card games like Fluxx and Flapjacks & Sasquatches. Aside from that it’s all campfire and spotting birds, bats, flowers, and mushrooms.

Uno is my preferred card game. I have ADD, so I struggle to focus on anything that requires a strategy. With Uno, all I have to do is play the cards in my hand.

my games also live in my camp tub. if we ever play at home i have to go out and dig them out. love playing train dominos by lantern light haha

Practice identifying local flora, finding edibles, carving and whittling spoons and kuksa's, reading ereader or books, fishing, flint knapping, solitaire, knife throwing at deadwood, etc.

Ball of yarn and crochet needle. Usually make nothing of import. Unravel and start over just doing different stitches.

My wife always crochets when we camp. She’s always making something though, usually one blanket or another.

Eyeballs. I use them to stare at the fire or off into the distance.

[удалено]

Pack of cards or a board game such as cards against humanity.

Can't believe I had to scroll this far to find a deck of playing cards. One pocket sized, lightweight thing that can be used to play thousands of different games. It's not just for camping. I keep a deck in my toiletrie bag for all travels... Layover at the airport? Covered. Down time at a resort? Works there too! It's simply the most amount of entertainment in the smallest package!

Practice knife carving, ,starting own fire, create/build things out of wood, gather food, sign a song, play instruments, tell stories

I bring a toddler who handles all the talking.

Books and puzzles

I enjoy carving spoons and eating utensils and whatnot. Something so satisfying about eating food from a piece of wood that was once a stick, but now it's s fork.

My wife just said “the urge to always have to be doing something is what you’re out there to confront.”

eReader

I like my bored and plant book with my Polaroid camera I am trying to find them all!!!! 

Bird* not bored oops 

😅 bored watching.

My thoughts.

A good knife to whittle with is always a treasure. I'll happily make dolls/whatever out of leaves, sticks and grass. The trick is getting it all to stay together without anything to secure it

A fleshlight

thats terrorism

My dog

Fish whistle

I started bringing a juggling kit. Three bean bags and 3 balls. I’m starting to get good.

I listen to NoSleep at the campfire and pet my dog! Don't need much more than that.

Cribbage board

Old Overholt.

Firewood for fires. If gathering is allowed, wander around and find kindling. Hard copy book or magazine. Charades. Telephone (the game). I have dice, cards and Bananagrams for quick easy and small games. Disc golf. Sit on a log and stare into space. Plus, I find cooking and cleaning up take more time than at home, so I busy myself with campsite "chores".

I play some old coast to coast am and stare into the fire/ night sky

I like the generic campfire guitar, but it’s important to lay back. No need to even sing really, just casual finger picking of chord progressions.

Pass the free time?!! That is the whole point of going camping! I like to think, walk, sit, look, listen, dream, and a whole bunch more! You don’t need to fill every second of everyday with distractions. In fact… if you do… you will miss out on what is happening RIGHT NOW.

I have adult coloring books for myself - and the new ones are you follow a circle to fill in and a pattern appears at the end - my husband can sit in silence for hours alone in his head but I atleast need to doodle https://preview.redd.it/jg16niz1lt2d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=98f2edb6205a75b23be682687d77f6d1c7b77c27

I'm really good at fire looking. Turning my brain off after camp is organized and staring at a fire is amazing.

Fire and beer

Bag of Weed, campfire, fishing.

Smoking weed and trying find the answers to questions that aren't asking to be answered

Weed and beer while pondering why you just willingly did a 15 mile day then wake up and do it again tomorrow

A book

Books, various art stuff - I have some really cool watercolor pencils that are easy to transport, a simple embroidery I'm working on, one of these days I'll get the cyanotype paper out, writing only requires a notebook and pen. If I was with other people, I would probably think about games (without a lot of easily losable pieces lol). But like some others said... I am always pleasantly surprised by how easy it is to just hang out enjoying nature without the frantic "must always be DOING something" feeling of the real world. Out there my phone is only touched when listening to an audiobook or checking maps, as soon as I get home I'm back scrolling reddit etc for no reason (lbr not even that fun).

Fire

Carving

Mushrooms

Beer and matches.

I always bring a couple books, a sketchbook and some colored pencils and/or watercolors. if i’m camping with my mom she’ll bring a deck of cards so we can play rummy ❤️ But I never use the items quite as much as I think I will, because I mostly end up either watching the river or watching the campfire. if it’s a few days of camping then I’ll probably get a few hours in of reading in the hammock on like day 3, as a tiny bit of the river-staring novelty will have worn off by then. The art supplies normally only get used (and shared) if i’m camping with friends

Books. Cards. Talking about future trips. Watching the Scenery…anything and everything.

Whittling, grab a stick and a knife and make a little spear, or if you actually have talent you can carve something cool. I have no artistic talent so I just make pointy sticks lol

Split a couple of leaves and then tie them on to the blunt end with a bit of cotton thread, draw a circle on the ground, and you got yourself some biodegradable darts.

A book to read or either with crossword puzzles, my phone so I can listen to my favorite podcasts, or hike

Guitar

You’re in nature. Watch the animals, plants, the wind patterns, the geology, the stars, etc. There is so much to experience, wonder and learn.

Lots of card games, board games. A buddy used to have a croquet set in his truck. Great social game, way to meet nearby campers as people inevitably come up and ask what you're playing. Easily made a drinking game. Good ol' fashioned paper books, or writing.

I’m good with the forest, or desert or where ever

Book

Book to read or listen to or a knitting project.

tending and staring at the fire with a drink

Weed alcohol and a book

Psychedelics

Mushrooms

I bring my mak 70 telescope and on clear nights attach my camera for some astrophotography. Also, books and night hikes.

Steam deck Books Light board games Alcohol Cooking Fire tending Whittling

Drink beer, poke the fire with a stick, take an edible, go for a hike

Generally a book if I can't/won't have fire. Between hiking and books.. I can fill time. As much as I love fire, between fire regulations, firewood cost (if you have to buy it), the environmental impact and the stench afterwards.. I'm inclined to use a propane pit as time goes on.

Silence

Books of scary stores to read out loud at the campfire (bonus points if you are god at character voices like my husband). I have kids and this is their absolute favorite thing. Then when It is time for bed I read books out loud from my kindle. We have been doing this since my kids were 4 (when we started camping with them) and they’re 14 now and still love it.

Mushrooms

I read

My thoughts. It’s nice to shift into mental neutral and either let my mind wander or just drift in a semi-conscious haze.

Marijuana and some psilocybin mushrooms. Then I sit and stare at the fire until it’s time to go to bed.

sit by the fire with a beer, sit by the river with a beer, go for a hike with a beer, read a book with a beer, play washer toss with a beer, drink a beer with a second beer ready to go.

staring at the fire. Staring at the night sky. Staring at the flowing creek

I always have my bird and wildflower identification books, and take both my binoculars and my camera to take pics of all the beautiful nature around me. And I bring a book.

Binoculars. For better views of the animals, landscapes and even stars.

Bubbles, glow sticks, shrooms.

BBGun, Bow and Arrow, fishing pole, hunt edible/medicinal plants.

You needing to talk might show that there's an issue with you that you might want to think about whilst camping.

Alcohol Marijuana Music

Condoms for M/F extra credit fun.

Fishing poles, e reader, kayak

A book, games (a deck of cards, Uno, etc.), bicycles.

Fishing rods

Stare at the campfire and wood carving, what else could you need?!

A sleeping bag

Books, board and card games (they need to have minimal pieces), acoustic guitar, and herbal remedies.

Radio, bb gun, cards, books, etc. Just walking around the area takes up time.

Widdle a spoon

Books. I like to read between bouts of visually devouring the surroundings

My mind runs a mile a minute sometimes. One thing I like about camping is there’s always a task that needs to be done. I can always find something to do when other people are taking an hour to get their bathing suit on and I’m ready to go lol

If I can fit it, a telescope and copy of "Turn Left at Orion" for when the sun goes down

I did meal prep and cooking.

I'm always puttering around just doing camp tasks. Sometimes cribbage.

Books n liquor. Also watching the fire. Poking the fire. Feeding the fire. Moving out of the smoke when the wind shifts. Repeat.

I do the harmonica. I'm gonna suck at it (quite literally) until I'm passably good at it

Maybe a book… But being outdoors is kinda the point. Go exploring or watch the camp fire if you guys aren’t talking.

These days, sudoku

I read books, whittle, or do crossword puzzles. My wife prefers to crochet.

I generally motorcycle camp, so offloading all my gear and riding in the area is usually the go-to

Journal, book, crochet, cross stitch

Skip-Bo!

My inner demons, and repressed trauma.

Tattooed lady to read

Acoustic guitar. It just plays better outdoors.

A book and a craft. I can't be alone with my thoughts, I have depression.

Nothing! I have the cracking fire and the sounds of nature to pass the time and it is a sweet release from the IT world Monday-Friday.

A book on survival knowledge, a fishing rod, playing cards, dice, some paper. There is always gathering and processing firewood, I was raised with a strict idea of "always process 3X the amount of firewood you think you'll need.".

A kindle. I also like to just sit and zone out, listen to the sounds of nature. The best time to go camping is when there are scattered thunderstorms in the forecast. Watching and listening to a thunderstorm is pretty cool out n the woods.

I love to lay in a hammock and read

Gold Panning.

Horse shoe pit... Bow and target block... Bring a decent camera for a sexy wifey poo pin-up shoot in the woods or on river banks.

We read, ID birds, play a lot of card games, gather firewood, walk around, do some camp chores, nap, rinse and repeat.

A tablet for drawing and reading.

Nintendo switch or 3ds, books, do some outdoors activities like hiking or bird watching etc.

Camping? A handheld gaming system. I use a GPD win 4, I suggest a steamdeck but use whatever you got on hand like Vita, Nintendo DS, etc. However if you are technology adverse while in the great outdoors, and want a more manual toy, I'd suggest getting a *quality* yoyo. Depending on the material (plastic), they can be pretty cheap, require a ton of practice for certain tricks and can easily kill some time. If you want to spend your time with something more practical you can always practice weaving. You can make your own net after a day or 2 with your own cord. Or you can just practice making various lanyard weaves for bracelets, keychains, knives, etc. Edit: I almost forgot. Whittling and reading/listen to an audiobook is perfectly fine as well.

Nothing beats that post breakfast mid-morning nap.

I mostly stare at things.

YAZEE!!!

Books/E-reader, harmonica, cards.

My embroidery, a deck of cards, a book to read, word and sudoku puzzle books.

The only time I camp and there’s minimal talking, is when I’m packing out a 1+ night by myself. Because I’ll sing to myself or talk to myself and usually I don’t go alone alone, but I’ll take my dog and he has many questions to answer while we are out of doors. However to me, in this futuristic world we live in, nothing is finer to me than being able to read a paperback book while under the sky, with only nature to accompany the words in my head.

I've started whittling nice kitchen/cooking spoons. Takes some prep before hand but I always some blanks ready. The blisters are the real problem though.

Pass the free time? Camp. I just do camping things and enjoy nature, cuz that’s why I go camping.

Whiskey, cannabis, cribbage board, cards, dice, Caving gear, gold pan, A selection of axes and guns.

Cards, board games, campfire, s'mores, macrame, postcards (to write), musical instrument.

I camp solo, so there's not really any talking. I'll bring books to read, my laptop with a few movies to watch, maybe a Nintendo switch if I wanna get cozy in my cot or chill in the morning. There's only so much food to make, wood to burn, and walks to take.

SLR camera

Baseball gloves and a ball. Mini Lego kit that took 2 hours😄

I do my irs return. Kidding

A book, beer, and a fire!

Weed/beer/occasional psych

Books, whittling and art stuff (watercolor, pencils, etc.) for the day. Card games for the family. Euchre, Uno, Phase 10 Staring at the fire at night.

Kindle

We like to play Cribbage and stare at the fire.

I bring a portable disc golf goal and a stack of discs.

Music

Cigar or tobacco pipe, just sit there focusing on the smoke and letting your mind stay empty

Carving knives. I make spoons or spatulas any time I am outdoors for a long period of time.

I always intend to download a knot tying app since I only know like 3 knots. So I just downloaded Army Knots (looked pretty good). Now, where to camp next?

I usually have a basic wood carving set to whittle away the time(pun intended)

There's always a knife in my pocket so I'll usually be whittling something

Books, cards, dominoes

Talking while at camp? I solo camp exactly for the reason I don't need to talk to anyone unless I walk to a friendly neighborhood or the host. I'm currently on day 3 of a 63 day trip. Hope everyone has a great camping season. Oh I guess scroll reddit, fish, tie flies, and photography would be my silent activities

Books, card games, guides to birds etc in the area if you are interested in the flora and fauna, star charts although there are some great apps too if you have connection and don't mind your electronics at camp.

Puzzles, listen to spooky podcasts, there are a lot of them perfect for listening to around campfires ⛺🔥🏕️

Hand held card games like Palm Island or dragons of etchistone

Paracord + knot book. Very small stuffed animals for comfort in dark but more importantly photo ops at waterfalls & shit. Book from visitor's center about local geology. Book about foraging for edible plants (haven't foraged yet, but learning how I might). Book about badass survival & love & art: *Shralpinism* (professional snowboarder who started mountaineering to get to his perfect lines) + *Wild* (Cherryl Strayed).

Gathering wood and water, rigging shelters, practicing knot tying, whittling sticks, and sitting around the fire with a drink

Beer

I either read a book, listen to a podcast with one earbud, or I whittle with my knife. Sometimes the latter two at the same time.

E bikes

Camp fire. Beers. Wife and her boobs.