Dreaming of escape in a tent

One of the things that helps me in the midst of a tough time or extra busy time is to have something to plan or dream of for the future. I noted this last year in the midst of the craziness after the earthquake/tsunami disasters in March — it helped us in the midst of stress if we could dream about something like camping (see here).

This is the first time we camped last year, we'll be
back at the same campsite in under two weeks.

Yesterday I had a lunch date with my husband. It was tough to pull away from work, or even to pull away from discussing work at that time (I find that easier at night). But one thing we could talk and dream about was camping. Especially our vague plans for camping around Hokkaido next year in June/July. That is going to be a bigger undertaking than the short two-night jaunts we did last year fairly close to home (under two hours away). But we're looking forward to the challenge (and seeing Hokkaido countryside again).

We're also going camping again in under two weeks, back to the same place we first camped at last July.

It's been nearly seven months since we froze while camping down near Mt Fuji. It's been a long time in coming, we've been waiting for the weather to warm up and our schedule to be freed up. For this Queenslander, the winters, even in Tokyo, are long. I'm excited.

This time we're upping the bar and going for three nights, though for two of the nights we'll have two boys, not three. Our two older sons are each going to summer camps (a bit like SU camps, for my Aussie readers) in the same district. Their camps are separated by one day only, so our first night we'll camp with our eldest and youngest boys, then second day pick up our middle son and on our third day drop off our eldest son and on our fourth day go home. Confused yet?

This is a gorgeous part of Tokyo!

But now I need to figure out a menu. With no electricity on site and no gas fridge, it is a bit limited. Here are my thoughts:

Monday
Arrive after lunch
Tea: BBQ chicken wraps with salad. Dessert: brownies.

Tuesday (can do some shopping this day, get some more ice etc )
B: Sausages and toast
L: Sandwiches and fruit
T: Yakisoba (Japanese fried pork and noodle stir fry) with damper on sticks for dessert


Wednesday 
B: Bacon and Eggs and toast
L: Two minute noodles and fruit.
T: Nanna's Sausage and tomato soup spaghetti. Dessert? Marshmallows over campfire or banana with melted chocolate.

Thursday
B: Pancakes then pack up and head home.
L: Packed sandwiches (on the way home).


What do you dream about when you are under stress? Or do you have a different way of coping?