Originally broadcast on CHED radio - Tuesday, May 25, 1965

I thought I'd take the family camping this year. This is something we have never done, and quite honestly, I looked into it in the interest of economy. Then too, there is something genuine and challenging in setting up a camp in the wilderness; living; cooking; sleeping in the great outdoors.  Because I am a novice, I got a book called "guide to family camping." Reading that book blew my enthusiasm for the adventure sky high. In the first place there is a checklist of 125 items I should have for a minimal camp. There is a further checklist of 180 items of clothing that my family of four boys would require. Naturally, with a family of six people I'd have to have a large tent, something the size of the Sportex would seem sufficient for my purposes. Then there would be six ground sheets, six air mattresses, six sleeping bags all required to bed down for the night. Of course there would have to be stoves and things like that, plus camp tables and chairs, in case we were forced indoors to eat. Bad weather can occur in this country you know. One passage in the book intrigue me.“ "Carry a small ditty bag for needles, thread, buttons, pins, large spikes, small nails, glue, extra flashlight batteries, bulbs, pliers, wire cutters, extra valves for the mattress pump, some patching material, whistles, several different kinds, and of course lots of extra waterproof matches." Of course. Also recommended was a "survival kit" which scared the pants off me. The passage on survival reads as follows. "We have scattered several small compasses throughout our gear. When we get into the bush, every member of the family has his own survival kit containing some waterproof matches, a bandage or two, some fish hook and line, a hatchet, hunting knife, a folding saw, and any other odds and ends one might need if he were lost." Funny they didn't mention the distress rockets. Now here's the payoff. "All these survival items are placed in a waterproof bag and buttoned into the shirt pocket.” The paragraph on survival says of course you have to train the kids how to use all this gear. That in itself would take three summers. I'm an old man, and I can't read a compass. I know exactly where I am when I look at one but I haven't a clue where I've come from or where I'm going. Well, after checking off this book on happy camping and all the things I’d  need, I figured it would cost me about $4500 including the cost of a new, more spacious car to accommodate the family and the equipment so what I'm going to do is fly the family to Europe on Air Canada for a month on the Riviera. It will be considerably cheaper.