I Lived In A Tent For 3 Months. It Changed Everything….In A Good Way
I Lived In A Tent For 3 Months. It Changed Everything….In A Good Way
It’s the summer of 2020. I’m unpacking my small overnight bag I’m not planning on staying long, three days maybe four max. I begin opening up the tent for the summer and quickly realize how relaxed I am. I hadn’t felt at ease or truly relaxed for months, even though I tried to find some peace. New York City has been so tense and sad throughout March, April and May yet now I needed to focus and set up the tent for the arrival of my parents coming in two weeks.
For the past 32 years my family has spent every summer at the Victorian beach town of Ocean Grove, New Jersey. Each summer my family, along with 113 other families also known as “tenters” by the locals, move in for the summer season. Our summer tent is connected to a cabin which houses a bathroom, kitchen, and living room. All the tents and cabins are set up and decorated differently and our tent neighbors over the years have become our extended family. Since we were in the midst of this horrific pandemic, I didn’t know how I would feel being there or even who would be coming to stay, as our neighbors come from far and wide each year. After a few days of settling in, I am feeling more relaxed than I thought I would. I quickly enjoyed seeing friends walking around town or speaking through the simple screen porch doors. It was such an incredible change of pace from the experience of living in NYC for the prior 3 months.