By: Blonde Two

Clearly, somebody somewhere has been messing around with time because at the end of this month I will celebrate my 50th birthday (B2 stands back and waits for the gasps of denial). I am not too bothered about the numbers, life is good, I still love the outdoors and I have new adventures planned for 2018.

That said, in the interests of menopausal wellbeing, I feel that I need to mark the year with some kind of outdoor challenge.

A turning fifty challenge

I did consider running (for a nanosecond) but it would have had to have been 50 metres not 50 miles

I thought about swimming but 50 minutes in the January sea would probably kill me

Walking is a possibility but I do a lot of that every year

So I decided to do sleeping instead! (I am particularly good at sleeping!)

50 Nights Out 2018

#50sleeps

Wild camping women

Outdoors sleeping of course… well nearly. I have tried the bivvy a month thing before and failed miserably (apparently I am only capable of bivvying during the winter months). 50 nights camping is (as Mr B2 pointed out to me) around one a week. I have debated with myself about whether to include camper nights and bothy nights and have decided to allow both. Camper nights have the word ‘camp’ in them and anyone who has ever slept in a bothy will know that they can be colder and damper than the space outside them.

Camping challenge

So this is my 2018, 50 for 50 challenge. I will (note the decisive verb here) either tent camp, bivvy, hammock, tarp, sleep in the camper or sleep in a bothy for 50 nights during 2018. The good news is that I have already completed one night out in the camper, have a birthday bothy night planned with B1 and another ‘friend who says yes’ #FWSY, have a possible DofE wild camp and have promised to take Not-At-All-Blonde camping before she goes back to university.

That’s 4 nights out for January sorted! Only 46 to go!

Update… Find out how B2 got on with her 50 Sleeps Challenge! The highs, the lows… and of course, the slugs!

 

Learn how to wild camp (the fun way)

If you fancy trying your hand at wild camping but either don’t know where to start or would prefer to be with other people the first time, we have just the event for you. Our wild camping courses are based on Dartmoor (where backpack or wild camping is legal in some areas). We always look forward to them because they are so much fun. Book your place today, and learn how to wild camp in a sustainable and safe way.

How to go to the toilet outside