My 1st weekend in a tent with friends

3Rd stage: spending your first night in a tent

It’s time to go to bed. Tomorrow we’ll explore the surrounding area and, who knows, we might have a swim if the weather’s fine (and warm enough)!

In this new tarpaulin house, although I feel as good as if I were in my own bed, I find it
hard to get to sleep straight away. It’s pitch black and the silence is deafening. I have to admit that I’d almost forgotten what it felt like. Right this moment, I feel both vulnerable and at peace in equal measure. Life goes on outside, something is moving. I heard that there were foxes in the area. No worries, it’s just Hélène who went to find a sweater. Indeed, the temperature has dropped. Will my sleeping bag keep me warm enough and do I have a sweater in the car? What if it rains? What do we do if it rains? Will it hold? These are just some of the questions that I will be able to answer tomorrow, because tomorrow, no longer will I be an amateur camper. Indeed, I will have spent my first night in a tent.

It’s Saturday and, without consulting each other, we all indulge ourselves in a lie-in. We’ve deserved it. I wake up before the alarm because the sun’s rays are shining on the tent and warming up my face. My nose is slowly warming up and I can start to breathe in the smell of coffee: Hélène and Nathan have prepared breakfast (I did the right thing asking them to come). Between the scrambled eggs and toast with jam, everybody is talking about the first night in a tent and everyone agrees: it’s a unique experience. It has to be done, even if it is just about having the sense of being alone in the heart of real things, nature, the wind and the cries of animals.

All my questions have been answered. Indeed they now seem a little absurd in the cold light of day: the sleeping bag was indeed warm enough. Worst case, I would only have had to grab a sweater from the car, like
Hélène. It didn’t rain and, if it had, the tent would have held and I would have got to sleep with the sound of water dripping. When we experience something new, when we leave our comfort zone, we always need time to adapt, it’s quite normal. Indeed, if there’s one thing I’ve learnt from travelling is that we can get used to anything.