Camping with the right people feels like slipping into a hoodie that survived 3 moves, 2 breakups, and a 1-year stay in a car trunk. Doing any activity where everyone knows the routine, the jokes don’t need setup, and the decisions happen on a telepathic level requiring only a nod is just the best, whether it’s a long weekend of camping or a couple of hours over drinks.

And I know this might sound like Guy Talk, but while I am a guy, this is absolutely not about a boys’ trip. The way I see it, it’s about different social situations and how we act differently in relation to who we’re with in these situations. 

Different social settings have their own unspoken dress codes. At a house party, you can thrive shouting over loud music, competing for aux control with someone attempting karaoke with the confidence of a rockstar during a stadium tour. Dinner with relatives demands softer voices, careful topics, and the emotional labor of pretending your aunt’s story about her neighbor’s cat is the highlight of the evening.

You see my point.

So, for this guy, if you change the camping trip crowd, the same weekend turns into a supervised field trip where every activity needs a group vote, and the fire has to follow a manners and etiquette protocol.