The adventure of a Lifetime - Memoirs of a Camper

‘I feel my heart beating

I feel my heart beneath my skin

I feel my heart beating’

These lines from the song Adventure of a lifetime by Coldplay, aptly describes my experience on the adventure camp I had this January in Karwar. Though I was aware it would be an outdoorsy camp that involved living in tents and being surrounded by nature, I wasn’t prepared for what was to come. The 6 days that I was there, tested my strength, endurance and confidence! Rewarding, exciting, unforgettable and unadulterated fun are just few of the words that describe the camp.

The campsite was exquisite! Right on the banks of the river, greenery everywhere, the sounds of nature followed you everywhere you went. What I am going to focus on in this post is the adventure activities.

Rock climbing, rappelling and kayaking sounds super exciting but when you get around to doing them, they are challenging! Let me start with rock climbing and rappelling, if you ever thought pull ups were difficult, try rock climbing (At least pull ups are done in the comfort of an AC room). For those with no upper arm strength (like me), the first task is to be able to pull yourself up, next you have to look around for places where you can put your feet. Even though you have watched people before you do it when it’s finally your turn, you are just so nervous that the instructions the trainer gives you just don’t seem possible. It goes something like this:

Instructor: Place your left foot on that ledge there

Me: moves right leg

Instructor: No, no your left foot.

Me: moves left hand.

Instructor: Ok, look at me, lift your left leg, yes that’s right, now place it on the ledge there. Good!

Me: That’s just one step! How do I get up to where you are???!!

But when you finally get to the top of that rock face you are armed with expert comments to shout to your friend who attempts it next, like you have been doing this for years. Once you’ve caught your breath and got over your fear, the view from the top is just spectacular.

Next comes rappelling, you’ve gone up the rock but how do you come down? You simply walk down the rock face, in adventure terms it’s called rappelling. That first step takes guts! Once you get past the fear of first few steps it really is quite enjoyable. You just need to trust in everything and go for it! Of course, it helps a lot when you have your whole squad cheering for you and instructors that shout their lungs out and tell you not to give up! I must admit though once you are actually done with the task it’s the greatest feeling in the world. I understand why adventure activities are so great for boosting your confidence.

Little did I know, kayaking would be one the hardest things I have ever done in my life so far. We set off for an overnight stay on an island 3 hours away in our pretty kayaks and canoes by 2:30 pm. It started off fine but then we were kayaking against the flow of the river and it was excruciating! The instructors were there with us throughout helping us but it was something that we had to do on our own. No matter how hard we paddled the water would push us in the opposite direction but surprisingly all of us managed to get past that rough patch by ourselves. When we saw the island it was the most wondrous sight on the planet! Once the whole group had reached, it was almost 6, we cheered, laughed and cried about what we had just done. There were so many instances where most of us were on the verge of giving up and just staying there in the middle of the river but the encouraging word of the instructors, camp guides and most importantly our friends kept us going. I am immensely proud of what I accomplished that day and I am sure all my fellow classmates would agree. The funny thing was once it was time for the next set of activities we were all up and ready to go. During the campfire session there was this sudden burst of energy in everyone and we sang and danced till the guides had to finally shoo us off into our tents. The journey back was a breeze, we were actually very surprised at how fast we reached.

The challenges I overcame was just one of the many highlights of this trip. Singing and dancing around a campfire, setting up our own tents, cooking our own meals, getting your feet dirty, sharing these magical experiences with friends made this trip something I will remember even when I’m 80. It also helped that we had some awesome camp guides and instructors with us.

There you have it, my adventure of a lifetime (so far!). I can finally can relate to all those motivational quotes about “greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it”. Yes! I kayaked for 3 hours and it was painful and I was on the verge of tears but I DID IT! Now when I look back at it, it feels (in the words of Ron Weasly) bloody brilliant!!! Now that I have actually had this experience I feel like I’m allowed to give some gyaan on the lines of, don’t ever belittle yourself! The possibilities are infinite. So now to everyone reading this, go have your adventure of a lifetime!