Women, "roughing it" and The Outdoors

[dragon wench]

A while back I created a thread about the possibility of us embarking on the "ultimate escapist fantasy"... which is to say, selling our place, buying a boat, and sailing off into the wild blue yonder.

Now, that idea is not dead. Indeed, it has gotten under our skin in a serious way, and is causing a real itch. Partly because of the opportunity for adventure and travel, and partly because it would actually solve a number of problems we presently have. In short, not only is it eminently doable, it actually makes considerable sense in some ways.

I'm not deluded. I know it would not be 'rum and calypso' every day. There would be storms to navigate, literal and metaphorical.
Yet, it would be a tremendous experience in terms of personal growth. I mean, when you have to fight through gale force winds and heaving seas, and are just shy of making brownies, you are going to learn a great deal about yourself. There's nothing, IMO, quite literally, like confronting fear directly in its face.

Anyway.. I digress, sorry I've been thinking a lot about this idea lately

In the course of reading about cruising the world on a sailboat I have come across *a lot* of material talking about how this is a really big deal to women. Apparently women are frequently just dragged along on this type of a trip, and only really acquiesce because it is something their male partners wish to do. It seems that quite a significant number can't bear to leave domesticity and security... the ability to go shopping...to have all the comforts and familiarity of home.

The 'tomboy' in me just does not get that, I simply can't relate to such a mentality.

I have encountered similar attitudes when I tell other women I like hiking in backcountry. Often they look at me as though my head is screwed on backwards.

OKay..maybe I'm simply weird, but I'm having a lot of trouble understanding why so many women apparently have such issues with "roughing it."

I know a lot of women are very happy to head off into wilderness adventures, and indeed long for it, so I do realise I'm not alone. But.... so much of the material out there seems to highlight the "Holly Hobby" types who can't bear to be without all the latest comforts, modcons, and fashions.


I would have thought that in the present day and age those sorts of attitudes would have diminished at least a little bit....

[Lasher]

i know what you mean DW. i dont dig women that cant go camping with me a week without seeing anybody or the outside world. time i've spent alone with someone doing that has been the most memorable, educational, enlightening, all around good karma, ... awesome experiences i've had. down with dependence! burn televisions, praise the internet, read a book! cuddle with a loved one, under the stars freezing your butt off. good stuff. yeah escapism ftw

[Dottie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dragon wench I would have thought that in the present day and age those sorts of attitudes would have diminished at least a little bit....

I would certainly like that to be true.

While the difference in rights between genders have decreased a lot the difference in gender ideals have decreased much less. Yesterday a friend told me that several of her friends had felt "unwomanly" when young because they where taller, heavier or had bigger feet than their boyfriends. It's really the same thing I believe.

[Darzog]

Don't feel too down on your sex DW... men can be the same way. A lot of men that I know wouldn't want to rough it either. Some are just older and wouldn't want to deal with the inconvenience or discomfort but many of them are just too plugged in and wouldn't abandon their email / TV / computers / cell phones. Then there's the pansies that just couldn't hack it.

Personally I love hiking and camping but probably wouldn't be up for much more than a week or two unless it was something significant (just a vacation for 3-4 weeks wouldn't cut it).

So while there might be a higher percentage of women that prefer their creature comforts, they are by no means alone.

[C Elegans]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darzog Don't feel too down on your sex DW... men can be the same way. A lot of men that I know wouldn't want to rough it either.

Same here, the massive lack of people not wanting to do what I do, is not gender related at all.

First, I'd like to point out that I am not at all a "tomboy", on the contrary I am very feminine. I am petite, I look quite feminine and the figure skating and classical ballet training I grew up with etched in a certain way of moving my body and coordinating my body parts, which most people perceive as feminine although perhaps a bit speedy.

When I started climbing back in the 1980's, almost no women were climbing. Actually, very few people at all did climbing because it was the yuppie-era and freezing your arse off in the gale at an icy peaks was certainly not fashionable. However, during the 1990's when the eco- and adventure-tourism boomed, rock climbing developed to a girl's sport, and alpine climbing, which I was doing, also saw a lot of popularity among females.

Travelling in risky, uncomfortable, dirty and exposed conditions is something that is worth it if you want to experience something special you really appreciate. I don't think it's a gender thing (well, perhaps in North America it is), I think it's just that the majority of Western people are too lazy and too oversensitive to feel it's a holiday to be without running water and a toilet.

PS mind you, Sweden, like Norway, is a typical outdoors country, everybody do hiking and sailing. Sailing is viewed as a comfortable sports here since most boats have toilets and running water.

[Phreddie]

Tied for first on my favorite things to do list are reading a good book, playing a good game (video or otherwise), and backpacking/camping. Unfortunately I dont get many opportunities to just drop everything and camp, too many mediocre books to read, essays to right, labs to complete. And then theres the problem of companionship, while I enjoy my solitude, I also enjoy the company of an good friend. I know of maybe one person I cold camp with for that long/short a time.

Hopefully once I get my drivers liscence Ill be able to get out more...

[Mr_Snow]

Forget about what anyone thing DW, if you want to go sailing go for it, there's heaps of people that "live" permantly on a yacht (and not just mored in a yacht club marina either, if you've got the will to go sailing round the world all the mariners luck to you.

As for people not finding "roughing it" appealing, that's probably more a symptom of the dis-association with nature that happens to some in the this modern world, not helped by some of the tourist industry, i mean hows touring around in a 4wd bus "roughing it"? (obviously if you're physically impared it is great, but for health co-ordinated people say they went traking into the bush in a air-conned bus is a bit rich).

If you and the hubby descide to do it then good luck to you

[shana]

Sailing around the world sounds like a wonderful adventure. I love boats and being on the water.

I only like hiking in the fall and winter, though, because I am terrified of snakes. This fear started when I was hiking one day, and a gigantic snake (had to be at least 16 feet long!!) fell out of a tree and landed on the trail, right in front of me. I sprinted out of the woods, and have not returned, except on days when the weather is cold enough to keep the snakes out of the trees!!!!!!! If that makes me a "Holly Hobby", so be it!!

[Luis Antonio]

@Shana, snakes are also active in the winter, depending on the species. The best trick against snakes is to keep an eye out for them and dont stand nearby, just keep hicking. They seek smaller "foes" instead of humans, who can literally crush their skulls with a bare feet or a piece of wood. I dont fear snakes anymore, except perhaps if there's a really huge snake (1,5 meters +) nearby, as once happened. But at that occasion dad was there, and the snake was interested in climbing a tree, not in biting us, you know.

[Darzog]

Quote:

Originally Posted by shana I only like hiking in the fall and winter, though, because I am terrified of snakes. This fear started when I was hiking one day, and a gigantic snake (had to be at least 16 feet long!!) fell out of a tree and landed on the trail, right in front of me. I sprinted out of the woods, and have not returned, except on days when the weather is cold enough to keep the snakes out of the trees!!!!!!! If that makes me a "Holly Hobby", so be it!!

Shana, just more evidence that we are actually related in some way. I have the most unreasoning fear of snakes (I can't even watch the Animal Planet because they pop snakes into commercials and show previews) also. When we go to the dog park I can't visit any area that I've seen a snake in before. I can't recall anything that started it, like you can, but it's been going on for about the last 8-10 years.

[shana]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luis Antonio @Shana, snakes are also active in the winter, depending on the species.

Oh, great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How do you feel about the possibility of a huge snake falling on you head??

[shana]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darzog I can't even watch the Animal Planet because they pop snakes into commercials and show previews

After I submitted that reply--GB popped up the ad for Snakes on the Plane!!

I had watched a show about the brown snake overpopulation in Guam ( I think), and that night I woke myself up by yelling and punching in my sleep. I was fighting off the snakes in my dreams! I have not watched a snake show since then!!

Sorry for the double post!!

[Phreddie]

Snakes are really harmless creatures unless they are in a situation they find uncomfortable. I used to own a Ball Python who qwas about three feet long when I had her, and she only tried to kill me once, and it was my fault. If you dont bother them, they wont bother you. Unless they are hungry. And they are big enough to swallow you whole.