> I remember reading an article in the New Yorker about a retreat where people would go to participate in extended fasts. It struck me you need to come from abundance for the idea of recreational starvation to be appealing, and I think something similar could be said for sports like running, where punishment and self-denial are nearly an aim in themselves.
This reminds me of camping which seems to be primarily a first world/affluent pursuit, at least imho.
>>This reminds me of camping which seems to be primarily a first world/affluent pursuit, at least imho.
Really? I see it as the exact opposite based on my experience - people go camping because it's the far cheaper alternative than staying at a hotel. You can get a tent pitch for close to nothing, hand-me-down family tent and suddently staying for 2 weeks with your family on a Croatian coast doesn't seem impossible anymore.
Like, I always said that if I had the money I'd just stay at a hotel, camping is something you do if you're poor. Obviously nowadays that notion has changed for me seeing as you can spend a lot of money on camping equipment(and people still do), but at the end of the day, your super fancy 1000 euro tent is still standing on a 3 euro/day pitch next to a family that brought 3 kids in their 1992 VW Passat and they are holidaying for close to nothing next to you - not that there is anything wrong with that, that's how my childhood holidays looked like.
I could be incorrect but I don't think camping is popular with people who live in the 3rd world. That's what I was trying to allude to here, hence my inclusion of the first world.
It wasn't always this way / this may be culturally dependent. In the UK at least there used to be a big working class connection to outdoor walking (Kinder Scout trespass!) and camping, as it was the cheapest form of holiday. I think this may have gone away with the advent of cheap flights to cheaper drinking locations.
I suppose it depends on what version of camping you’re looking at. Backpacking in the wilderness seems to draw a crowd of either students or middle class people. However, pull into a state park in Michigan and you’ll see the whole range of socio-economic groups. Additionally, in this style of ‘camping’ the wealthier people actually show up with a whole house on wheels so I don’t even know how you call it camping.
This reminds me of camping which seems to be primarily a first world/affluent pursuit, at least imho.