culture shock?

[Man of Tanith]

Does anyone else experience a bit of an overload when returning from time in the woods?
for example when i did my fundamental course and campcraft course the first few days afterwards were a bit surreal with so many people around and being in a building once more.
in fact after the fundamental myself and lisa stopped at a big service station and the amount of folk around mixed with the noise and variety of scents they were wearing really threw me.
i kind of noticed it this weekend after the over nighter i did with pete and mesquite, it seemed odd being inside in the warm able to have hot water at the click of a switch rather than splitting wood fueling the fire and waiting for a while for it to boil.

anyone else experience this?

[Ogri the trog]

Too true Sam,
Not only do I recall the same thing after my "Fundamental", but having to then fight my way from mad Surrey to sleepy Mid Wales, seemed to magnify the feeling.

The Bushmoot does a similar thing but the re-supply runs into Bridgend are a mid-term reminder of what we have to face once its all over.

Ogri the trog

[Man of Tanith]

glad it isn't just me then
i think what threw me about the fundamental was i went from a group of approx 20 people including the instructors so was familiar by the end of it with all the faces then suddenly in like half an hour there was hordes of folk

[Mesquite]

Yup... I'm with you on that Sam... got my 'culture' shock overload when I go back to work today.

There's going to be the usual questions and comments... most along the line of 'you went camping in -12degC, WHY?' 'you're mad... you really must like roughing it'

[Man of Tanith]

i got that with added well your face didnt break this time but you must be mad we turned our heating up etc etc

[Shewie]

I get it sometimes, more so if we've been off the beaten track somewhere and not seen anyone else for days.


I think with solo trips you notice it even more

[Biker]

I get it a bit since I live in the middle of rural Normandy. It could be days when I don't see another person, yet the resupply trip into town can be either a culture shock or a "Phew the world is still there" experience. Not quite the same I realise what with still living in a warm-ish house with hot water at the turn of a tap etc, but simply interacting with people again can be a bit of a chore. Going up to Caen for anything can be a right shock, I don't do crowds so well now and a getting jostled in a shopping centre does my head it.

Worst shock I had was spending two weeks alone in the house, I had supplies and no reason to go out for stuff, other than drag the dog twice a day. Got on with a ton of stuff, but what shocked me the most was hearing my own voice when I called to the dog for something. Found myself talking to the dog after 4 days. Going into town after that was an experience I can tell you.

Was nice to be on my own, yet at the same time odd.

[blacktimberwolf]

I wouldn't say culture shock exactly, more a little 'post outing depression' ..............Takes a day or so to get back into normal life..

[salad]

I had it when I got back from an extended trip to india one time.
People had told me that when I went to India it was normal for people to experience some culture shock .When I went there I had kind of mentally prepared myself so I was fine and had no problem like this but when I returned I got straight on a bus from heathrow to southampton then spent an hour wondering round southampton. The whole place felt empty of people and weird compared to what I had become used to over 6 months in india . That was my biggest culture shock experience I had and it lasted for a few days .

I think it is easy to forget to prepare yourself for your return to normality as most of the fun of getting ready for a trip/adventure is all around the trip itself and not around coming back to normal life

[ex-member Raikey]

We spent as a family 4 - 5 weeks in a mixture of woodland and beachs last year , some of it glamping, some of more my kind of thing,


after one particular stint (about 3 weeks in cornwall) i got home and found myself repeatedly in the garden with no shoes on,...just mooching about and feeling restless and wanting to light a fire,

[John Fenna]

I have had it after everyone of the overseas xpeds I lead.... and even after one nighters in my own locality!
It is not so bad if I do not have to visit big cities after being away and these days I cannot handle visits to small market towns too well.
Living in the rural outback of West Wales gives you a mindset a little like on Bushy trips (our heating is still provided mainly by burning wood - and in the cold weather the duvet is suplimented with a down sleepingbag, opened up and held on top of the duvet with bulldog clips...
I lived in Brussels for 10 years and rode a motorbike through all their mad driving ... these days I think more than twice about driving into Carmarthen in my van!
I do not think I could live in a city again ... but I could happily become a modern hermit in the woods
Returning from things such as the Moot (where I have yet to leave for a resupply run - I bring EVERYTHING for the duration with me!) has proved ... interesting... in the past as I tend to get ratty with the "norms" of modern life
Equally though - if I start getting fed up with life I go up to the woods for a couple of hours and it calms me down to a point where I can deal with the BS of civilisation

[Jaymzflood]

if I start getting fed up with life I go up to the woods for a couple of hours and it calms me down to a point where I can deal with the BS of civilisation

couldn't have put it any better.

[Paul_B]

Every June I head to Scotland for a little potter in the hills. That feeling you describe kind of hits me at the services I stop at on the way home. I park the car, get out and walk into the building wanting turn around and head back. It feels strange.

Then when I get home it doesn't quite feel like home anymore if you know what I mean?? Nothing seems quite right and it is always cold even in summer. Well feels that way.

What does it say about us? Are we just happier outdoors? Is it a remnant of old times when we were outdoors most of the time? Not just us as kids playing but us as a species living, hunting and gathering in the outdoors. That is still our home in these modern times.

[wicca]

In January 2007 I crossed the Atlantic from Las Palmas, Canary Islands. Because of the 2007/8 world cricket series and all the (rumoured on the grapevine) associated red tape involved in berthing on arrival in Barbados, a 'Cricketing Island' I decided to make landfall in a non ex British island and so avoid any cricket formality problems.

31 Days out of Las Palmas I anchored in the bay of Port De France, Martinique, a 'French' island. After 31 days totally alone and in a silence broken only by the sounds of the wind and sea and the creak of the boat's rig, the noise ashore was almost painful. Everything moved so fast!! Almost lost in this strange world I looked before venturing across the road and was promptly hit by a taxi...Ah! they drive on the wrong side. Wake up! look to your left dummy. No harm done, the wing mirror hit my wrist that's all. After a visit to immigration I sat at an outside street cafe for a couple of hours just waiting for the world to slow down and my head to get accustomed to the dreadful noise..

[Blackberry]

can feel odd but id feel worse if i got back to the city and no one was there!!

[Jaymzflood]

Imagine Will Smith in I A Ledgend...he starts having conversations with Manikins he's so lonely ha!

[Ace Rimmer]

Imagine Will Smith in I A Ledgend...he starts having conversations with Manikins he's so lonely ha!

Please watch the earlier veriosn of the film and then read the book......This is the worst of the lot IMHO!