I’m going camping today.

To the River Red Gums along the Murrumbidgee and the Murray Rivers.

Just me without the girls and Craig and only for the weekend. I have chest pains. I don’t want to leave my girls again and it has been so long since I’ve been camping.

This is the real deal too. Deep into the bush. no electricity, no showers, no rubbish bins.

I panicked this afternoon. “Oh Craig, what about when I need to go to the toilet?”

“Oh Caz, you’ve done it before. Remember Mt Fansipan?”

How could I forget those two squatting planks suspended above the creek?

And I have to fly there on a small plane. Rex airlines- never heard of them. I’m trying not to think about it. If I drink bourbon at 10am on jumbos, how is the heart going to handle this one?

I’m trying to turn the pains to glee thinking of kayaking and bushwalking and going to bed at sundown with an actual paper book and a decent night sleep.

I can’t wait to hug one of those Gummies. It has been far too long. I like hugging trees. I like being in nature.

I think the camping trip will be good for me because of that. I think my body and soul is a little misaligned because I don’t spend enough time in nature anymore. That’s the place where I feel most alive.

Maybe this will help me return to my girls refreshed and rejuvenated so I can hug them a whole lot better too.