5: How to Have Sex in a Tent Without Destroying It
Setting the Mood
Building Your Love Nest
Doing the Tent Tango
Keeping It Clean
Toys and Tools
Chapter 6: Making Car Camping the Ultimate Drive-In
Luxury on Four Wheels
Avoiding the Family Free-for-All
Private Parking in Public Parks
Campground Sexual Etiquette
Going Out of Bounds
Chapter 7: Paddling to Paradise
How to be Romantic When You’re Not Even Facing Each Other
Wet and Wild
Rocking the Boat
Whatever Floats Your Boat
Chapter 8: Holding Hands While Backpacking
Romantic Gestures in the Wilderness
Selecting Secluded Trails
Frontcountry Foreplay
Building a Desirable Campsite
Boinking in the Backcountry
Returning to Civilized Society
Appendix 1: The Most Romantic Campsites in North America
Northwest US
Northeast US
Southwest US
Southeast US
Alaska
Hawaii
Western Canada
Eastern Canada
Appendix 2: The World as Your Outdoor Bedroom
Mexico and South America
Europe
Asia
Africa
Australia and New Zealand
Appendix 3: Absolutely Everything You Need to Get Outside and Get It On
Books, Toys, and More for Wild Couples
Singles Outdoor Resources
Gay and Lesbian Outdoor Resources
Camping
Backpacking
Paddling
Gear and Clothing
Parks
Cooking
Introduction:
How Camping Can
IMPROVE YOUR SEX LIFE
I know what you’re thinking: How could a book on camping possibly improve your sex life? Admittedly, it sounds unlikely. For most, camping is about challenging ourselves against nature, with only a thin layer of Gore-Tex to protect us from the elements. Traditionally, people went into the woods to tough it out, not to get it on. Most likely, your idea of a romantic weekend away involves crisp linens and room service—and there’s nothing wrong with that. But once in a while, even the bottle of sparkling chilling in a stand next to the rosepetal-covered bed in your five-star hotel gets a little mundane. Maybe you and your lover are ready for something different. Something wilder. Something outside the walls of your bedroom. Something just plain outside.
The exhilaration of the wilderness can really fan our flames when it comes to love. In reality, the pursuits of the great outdoors and great sex are not all that different. Think about what people look for in great sex: spontaneity, adventure, mystery, excitement, uncertainty. If you asked Sir Edmund Hillary why he “mounted” Everest, he just might give you the same list.
If your sex life is lacking excitement, the problem might be the scenery, not the performers. Camping together will definitely change the scenery. After all, it’s something we do to put some adventure back into our lives—and if you believe the dozens of best-selling books, talk shows, and advice columns on improving your sex life, adventure is the one thing we could all use a bit more of between the sheets.
Consider Heather, an Arizona camper who is so enthusiastic about her outdoor escapades that she maintains a website entitled “Naked in the Woods.” Heather and her husband, John, make it a point to “play naked” whenever possible on their outdoor adventures. In their nine years of camping together, they have had sex on the top of a mountain, on hiking trails, in the water, and, of course, on a beach. According to Heather, the whole idea of being someplace where they could get caught is enough to keep them seeking out more romantic adventures on our public lands. And indeed, she says, “We’ve been caught many, many times! That just makes it more exciting!”
Not everyone is so comfortable with public exposure, but these two have found the perfect way to rejuvenate their sex life by taking it away from their regular routine. According to Esther Perel, a therapist who counsels couples in the urban wilds of New York, the domestic comforts of home can be a real turnoff. In her book, Mating in Captivity: Reconciling the Erotic + the Domestic (HarperCollins 2006), Perel looks at the things that can get in the way of erotic desire for long-term couples. She thinks it’s a great idea to trade mating in captivity for mating in the wild now and then. With no bedroom, no TV, no phone, and no schedule, you’ll be free to let your imagination take over.
“We tend to associate home with the place where you feel serious and responsible; it’s not a place we associate with playfulness,” Perel says. “You can make home predictable, but you can’t make nature predictable. It can bring out playfulness. When you go into nature, you go to play.”
That
