The Blog Post That Started The Blog

I have to be honest, I never really pictured myself as a blogger. Not that there’s anything wrong with having a blog, I think it’s a pretty cool space where people can be themselves and share a piece of who they are or what they’re passionate about. But I am (or was) one of those people that when looking for a recipe, would skip directly to the bottom of the blog post, barely skimming the text until I found what I was looking for. Kinda hypocritical considering I started a blog, right? Oh well, just being real (and I know I’m not the only one who does this).

Anyways, here I am, stepping out to share some things that I’m passionate about and hopefully inspire others to pursue their passions as well. And I thought it would be fitting to share a little about the why and how behind Camp Kitchen as my first post on this site!

Rewind to March 2020, I had just finished up my studies in nutrition and was looking for jobs as a dietitian. Turned out to be a little harder than I thought, considering COVID-19 was just getting started in Canada and things were starting to shut down. Business closures, job layoffs, so much uncertainty in the air (much like the rest of the world). With little/no response after months of applying, I started to doubt myself and question my place in the profession. In the middle of this process, I became aware of an online community specifically focused around empowering Canadian women of all ages, from business owners to stay-at-home moms to students, and everyone in between. And there was an opportunity to get involved by submitting a blog post to be shared on their online platform.

I started to think what I would write, IF I were to write anything. I mean sharing a blog post is scary, you’re putting a piece of yourself out there for other people to see, to critique. But I thought about my process of trying to start my career in the middle of the pandemic, I thought about my struggle with self-doubt, with disappointment, with feeling like a failure or not being good enough, and I thought surely I am not alone. Maybe someone else needs to hear what I have to say and maybe they need to know they’re not alone too. So on a bit of a whim, I submitted my application. I was a little surprised when I got the go ahead to write the post. Uh oh, what did I do! Now I actually have to write something that is going to be shared publicly!

I nearly didn’t finish in time for the deadline. We were actually on a surf trip with a couple friends, surfing all day and staying at a campsite with patchy wifi in the evenings. I used that as a bit of an excuse not to push to get it written and submitted in time. But my (wonderful) husband gave me a bit of a kick in the butt and encouraged me to finish it. So at 9:30pm sitting around a campfire in Tofino, BC, I quickly typed down the rest of my thoughts, ran over to the bathroom (where the wifi router was located) and hit submit.

One of our last evenings in Tofino. Cooking fish over the campfire and watching the sun go down. Pretty hard to beat.

What may seem like a pretty small or insignificant experience, simply writing a short blog post for someone else’s platform, turned out to be an eye-opening experience to what my place in the food world could look like. I realized what it is about food and nutrition that I am passionate about and how it connects to other passions in my life (like the outdoors). I realized how much I truly enjoyed the process of learning how to dehydrate food for backpacking or experimenting with different camp recipes, like nachos or waffles. And I realized that I wanted to share these things with others. It was kind of funny how writing a blog post was the stepping stone to actually starting a blog myself.

Anyways, thanks for reading (if you made it this far, haha) and for caring about the why behind this site. What you can expect to see on here moving forward is tasty recipes for backpacking, camping and just general outdoor activities, how-to posts on dehydrating and camp cooking tips, and maybe some posts talking a little about nutrition and exploring what a positive relationship with food looks like. I am committed to learning and growing in my knowledge of food, cooking and the influences surrounding the how/what/why we eat. I would love for you to come on this journey together with me!

You can read the original blog post here. Thank you again to Sarah Swain and The Great Canadian Woman for giving my voice a place to be heard!