Alright, you have a few days off between leaving your old job for a new one. What do you do? Play non-stop video games? Take off for a couple of nights at an ocean-side resort? Finally tackle that big project you've been meaning to start? Those are all great ideas.

I didn't do any of those, because I'm weird. I went camping alone in Olympic National Park. Phone off. Sleeping in the back of my truck. Trying to camp.

Although I mainly did this for self-reflection (success) and hoping for an epiphany about the meaning of life (fail), in reality, it was mostly a reminder of what a terrible outdoorsman I am. Here are some of the more frivolous notions that came to me over the course of my trip.

I do not know how to start a fire.
I did not realize sleeping bags are rated for a reason.
I did not realize that the new 0-degree rated sleeping bag I purchased was only 64" long. I am not 5'4".
I did not take into account camping at 5,400' will be colder than sea level.
Camping 45 minutes off the main road in the absolute wilderness, a wilderness full of cougars and bears and aggressive raccoons, does, in fact, make me afraid of the dark. And, therefore, also afraid of peeing in the night.
Most restaurants in Forks have a "Twilight" menu. One hotel had a "Twilight" room. I saw photo proof.
I felt really rugged in my truck, going 16 miles on a rough, rutted logging road to the campsite. My neighbor had a 90's Civic. I didn't feel very rugged after that.
Bees can sting you in the middle of the night. They'll find you. And sting you.
A rubber mallet and a screwdriver make an adequate substitute for a hatchet.
And of course, I encountered some of the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen.

So, no, I didn't have an epiphany about the meaning of life. But it was a little adventure. And, truth be told, I re-learned some things about myself I had forgotten. So that was worth it.