Campman Outdoor Gear & Apparel

Photo: Bjorn Bauer

So you don't actually go on rad adventures every day?! That's ok, neither do we.

Examining the truth behind amazing adventure pics on social media, who takes them and they inspire us. 

In today’s world of daily Instagram and Facebook posts, YouTube videos and more, all of us who love the outdoors and carry our cameras or smartphones with us tend to look as though we are on some epic adventure every day. The truth however is that we’re not, and that’s ok.

We all log on and look at what’s going on in our feeds daily. We scroll through photos of amazing powder days, hikes above the clouds, tents pitched on the edge of cliffs and more. Photos that get us day-dreaming about the camping trip that’s on the calendar two-months out or the ski-trip we know we’re taking next Christmas. Sometimes the same photos also make it look as though we don’t get out enough or that someone else seems to be “living the life” on a daily basis.

The first part of those feelings is how those photos should be viewed. The second part, not so much. Yes, there are individuals out there who really do “live the life” and are always seemingly doing those awesome things on a daily basis. You may have met them or you may even have them as friends. But the reality is that most of the photos we ‘like’ throughout our day and that get us excited about heading back into the great outdoors are taken by “regular” old nature-loving individuals like you and me. Individuals who work hard to make time for that #NextBestDay.

We have jobs, kids, spouses, mortgages, utility bills and car payments to make. Pets that need letting out, birthday parties, weddings and funerals to attend. Emails to write and phone calls to return. It’s life. We all have one, and we all take life’s obligations and it’s adventures the same; in waves.

An outdoor photographer (@bjornbauerphoto) that I happened upon while daydreaming this week put it this way:

“Instagram can make us look like we are always doing awesome things, but truth is everything comes in waves for me. I do lots of other work to make room for spending long days outside with my friends. For the past week and a half I've been glued to a computer. I don't really want to post a picture of me sitting in dirty clothes eating burnt eggs while editing photos of houses, so here's a shot of@jomonkeelandoing something rad.”

We all do what we need in order to make time for rad adventures, or even the simple ones. We post pictures of those adventures to share what drives us and that is how we should view them; a driving force to work hard and make time to enjoy life.

We repost photos from across the country (and world) taken by Campman Community members because they do some amazing things! Ya, we get out as much as possible and we share our photos and adventures as well, but our business and our community is about more than just us. It's about those who share the same passions we do. 

We are often working here to make sure our community is outfitted with the very best gear available and customer service to back it up. We've got products to try, inventory to enter, ads to make and more. That means that like you, we can't always be out in the backcountry even though we want to be. Take a look at our Campman feed on Instagram (with re-posts on Facebook and Twitter as well). I mean, would you rather see a photo of me lying on the floor typing this blog next to my 2-month old who has spit-up running down his cheek on one side of me and my 2.5 year-old on the other side with what he calls his “blueberry face”? I mean ya, they are pretty cute and I love them to death, but I'm pretty sure you'd rather see this,

@outdoor_siren

Or this,

@iztok_medja

Or this,

@federico_ravassard

Take a look at Bjorn’s feed too (www.instagram.com/bjornbauerphoto) and tell me that you’d rather see a photo of his burnt eggs rather than amazing ski pics. Heck no. You (we) want to see photos of what inspires us no matter what day it was taken. It's not about whether you think the photographer or adventurer is out there every day, it's about what they captured in the moment and that they shared it at all. I think we can all agree that we have enough real-world around us. We want to see amazing outdoor and adventure shots captured by individuals like ourselves; outdoor lovers with the real-world lives. Shots that tell a story or share an adventure no matter when they are posted. Shots that inspire us all, knowingly or unknowingly.

That’s why we love Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and other social media outlets; the inspiration. The photos or videos that get our hearts pounding and minds racing. The pics that give us ideas on how or where to spend that next hard-earned day off.

We are a community of outdoor enthusiasts, adventure seekers and lovers of life who work hard to “make room for spending long days outside with our friends”. We are bonded by the desire to be outdoors whenever possible and share with others what we did or what we saw. It’s a way for us to extend, re-live and dream about those exhilarating feelings even when those moments have past and we’re simply awaiting the next. We “like” other’s photos and share our own to inspire one another to get out more. We are as Bjorn put it, #MotivatedToStayMotivated.

To join the Campman Community on social media, follow us on Instagram, Facebook and/or Twitter. And don’t forget to tag your photos with #campmanapproved so we can share them with other outdoor enthusiasts.

-Collin B.

Campman