I hate people. Let me rephrase that. I hate dealing with people. Most people. But I have to make a living. It's just that when you've come out of a two hour meeting listening to people jabber about shit that really could have been hashed out over an email or two, it makes you realize that you'll never get that time back in your life. What a waste.
My name is Bryan Stone, I'm 34 years old and I work as the shipping manager for a high end outdoor apparel and gear company. Because of my job I constantly have to communicate with a wide array of people. Most are OK I guess, but the ones that stand out are the real assholes. They tend to be the ones that make us the least amount of money of course. They complain when their shipment of a single pair of gloves is a day late. Like it's my fault I didn't drive their shit halfway across the country to hand deliver it myself.
After the worthless meeting, I made my way back to my office, wishing I could just slam the door shut, but it wouldn't stay shut for long anyway. The holidays were coming up and as usual we were slammed. I sat down and tried to decompress. My thoughts immediately went to my Christmas vacation plans. A week alone out in the wilderness.
I had just finished building a dugout cabin out in the middle of nowhere, a good hour and a half hike from where you could park the most rugged of vehicles. I had done this before, but I was really proud of this cabin. It was dug out of the side of a hill, as most of these types of structures were. It was built out of local dead trees that I harvested and cleaned into building logs myself. It was lined with tarps for waterproofing and drafts, but none of the tarps could be seen. They were either behind the log walls that had been constructed on the dugout sides, or as in the case of the roof, between the logs and the earthen cover that was piled on top. The front of the dugout sported a heavy door and I even had the ability to add a plexiglass window with a shutter on that side.
The best part was I had made the space significantly larger this time than my previous primitive cabins. So much so that it easily fits a built-in stove. I had hiked in all the fire bricks myself during all my treks out to the site. The chimney reached through the roof and when I first fired it up to cure the cement, I noticed the airflow was perfect. It was easy to light and maintain. The area on top of the firebox included two stovetop openings that were covered by metal disks and rings. It would be a dream to cook on as well as provide the heat I needed for cold winter camping.
The cabin also sported two wide benches for sleeping. No more rolling off onto the floor for me! It also included a fold down table for food prep and eating inside when the weather was too rough. Outside I had a small table with tree stumps as seats, a fire ring, and a lean-to to store dry firewood. During my last trip, just as the leaves were nearly finished falling and the temps were starting to cool, I finished insulating the cabin by pressing felt in between the gaps in the logs and door jambs. She was ready for winter.
"Another productive meeting, eh Bryan?" Will's question brought me back into reality.
"Uh...yeah...right." I said as we both rolled our eyes. Will was my boss, but also was one of the folks working here that I didn't mind chatting with so much. He was also an outdoorsman, and was a pretty rugged dude himself. Not much like all the other suits we worked with.
"You ready for your vacation?" Will asked.
"You bet," I said. "One whole week with noone to fuck with me and no phone service! Just me and nature." I knew Will would be envious. He'd heard my stories of building the dugout and was really interested in getting out there, but his family required his attention.
"Lucky you, Dude!" he responded. "I get to spend the holidays with my Mother-In-Law. I'd rather face a polar bear in a complete white-out."
I chuckled. His was a fate worse than death. "Maybe you can camp out in her front yard." I joked.
"I'll probably end up there after she kicks me out of the house." Will complained. I don't know what the wife was thinking. After a whole week with her I'll need another vacation!"
"Well, if you can get a hall pass, maybe we can hit the cabin next time," I offered.
"I wish," Will stated. "Hey, I have a product for you to review. You can take it on your trip, but hopefully you won't need it much."
"Whatcha got?" I asked.
"It's a lightweight first aid kit from Camp Safely. We want to market it to hikers and campers," Will said. "If you don't end up using anything in it, you can at least evaluate it for size and weight."
This was one of the perks of working here. In fact it was one of the biggest reasons I even worked for this company. Access to top-notch gear at a deep discount, or in this case, free-99.
"Will do!" I responded. "And yeah...I hope I don't need much from it." Safety was always a number one priority when camping in any weather, especially when camping alone. I was well versed in survival techniques. I'd even done a whole series on many of those techniques on my outdoorsman vlog. The following I was garnering from my videos was really growing, so much so that my company started sponsoring me. It was adding significantly to their bottom line.
"Thanks," Will said, ignoring my poor attempt at humor by using his name in my response. "I'm looking forward to your vlog after this trip. It should be a good one!"
