4 Reasons Life is Better by the Campfire

It’s probably safe to assume that most people’s favorite part about camping is sitting around the fire at night. When we’re outdoors, the campfire is where we gather to eat, share stories and lose ourselves under the big starry night sky. And when we can’t escape into the wilderness for an extended stay, they’re a way for us to transform our backyards into distraction-free zones. Campfires are magic. Here’s why…

1) The best kind of quality time

There may be no better place to catch up with good friends and family than outdoors and sitting around a campfire. There’s no email, no Netflix®, and no distractions. We relax, unwind and let our guards down a bit more around the soft glow of a fire. Because of this, conversations are deeper, stories are funnier and you’re guaranteed to learn a few things about the people you’re with that you never knew before. The campfire is your entertainment for the evening and there’s nothing else to do but be present in the moment and enjoy all of the meaningful connections and deep belly laughs you probably haven’t had in a while.

2) Food tastes better outside

It doesn’t matter how you choose to spend your day outdoors, if there’s campfire cooking waiting for you at the end of your adventures, it’s going to taste darn good. And while you can certainly create extravagant meals over perfectly-heated coals, it’s simple pleasures like hobo packets or hot dogs wrapped in crescent rolls and cooked on a crooked stick that taste especially delicious when you’re camping. Don’t forget dessert, of course. Is there anything more enjoyable in this world than s’mores? Well, maybe, but not when there’s a smoldering campfire available. S’mores are a ritual that should never be overlooked.

3) Guaranteed Zen moments

Inevitably, there comes a point around a campfire gathering when silence falls over the group. The stars saturate the night sky, a chill fills the air, everyone scooches in a little closer to catch the warmth of the blaze and suddenly you’re all in a deep trance. There’s no denying it, the orange glow and flicker of a fire is mesmerizing and meditative. It’s hard to pull yourself away once you’re lost in those hypnotic flames and temporarily transported somewhere else. Where you go in that Zen moment is up to you.

4) Nostalgia

Enjoying a campfire may be all about living in the moment, but there’s something about these gatherings that have a way of taking us back to some of the best times of our lives. In these moments we fondly remember the family camping trips we took as kids. We think back to our awkward teenage years and the time we spent at summer camp. We’re whisked back to the cold nights we spent huddled around a campfire with good friends in college drinking bad whiskey. Or we remember the first time our kids got to make s’mores. For so many of us, campfires are our happy place.

Photos: Dennis Coello/Austin Lehman Adventures (top); Becca Skinner (bottom)