October 11th, 2023
A lot of people have asked me about my experience tent camping at PauseOnError. Overall, I’d rate the tent camping experience higher than the hotel experiences I have had at Pause. I slept better, felt more refreshed, more connected to the community and more at peace. It’s a 100% recommendation from Sully: if you have the chance, you should camp at Pause.
Here are a few benefits of camping at PoE.
The price is right. I’ve stayed in the hotel twice and it’s quite nice. Cabins are cool if you have a big group that wants to share. Still, I’d rather spend my money on reusable stuff. I don’t ever camp, so I had to buy all the gear listed below, but it was still cheaper than a hotel room. And, I can now camp anywhere for the cost of a checked bag.
- a 2 or 4-person tent
- a tarp to put underneath my tent
- a full sized air mattress
- a fist-sized, battery operated pump for the air mattress
- a light sleeping bag
- a two pack of LED lanterns
- a wheeled duffel bag to transport all of the above.
The camping locations are waaaay closer to the action. Pause is on the side of a mountain and it’s very spread out. The hotel rooms are approximately 120 feet higher than where people gather during the event. Last year, I saw that I still had 10 beers left in my hotel minifridge at the end of Pause. Those leftover brews were a strong indicator that I was spending all my time away from the hotel. I really liked being so very close this year, as I got to spend even more time with everyone. I also avoided lugging a heavy pack around because I didn’t want to climb the hill. Instead, I left my tent with only the items I needed, then returned at my leisure to switch out gear throughout the day.
There’s no outlets in your tent. If you’re trying to unplug from the daily grind, that can be a huge benefit. If you can’t fully unplug, you’ll need to bring a spare battery and have a plan for charging. I prefer to go as low-tech as possible for the week so I don’t have to think about where my stuff is. I only had to charge my cell twice and during the times it was charging somewhere else, I was truly free.
There is a sense of adventure that comes with sleeping outdoors. I live in a concrete jungle 361 days a year. So, the first night when I was alone in my tent and it was time to sleep? I actually remember thinking, “ZOMG, I’M REALLY DOING THIS!” I know I’m a dork, but I had to calm myself down even though I was tired. What fun.
There is a bond between those of us who chose to camp in tents for a few days, and I’m glad I was a part of that. I knew that no matter how prepared I was, I wouldn’t make it without relying on the community in some small ways. That made the experience that much more special. Shout out to my camping friends: Corn, Ben, Anthony, Travis and Micah. I hope you all return in 2024.
Every year, Pause runs out (or very nearly runs out) of hotel rooms. Every camper is an extra person who doesn’t occupy one of those rooms. If more people camped, more people could come to Pause. I’m all for more people at Pause, so I camp to make room for others who need the hotel.
Here are a few things you should know if you’re considering camping at Pause in 2024.
Yes, you can pack enough gear in a single checked bag to fly and then camp at Pause. The camp is a Jewish summer camp for kids who sleep in cabins and tents. They’ve done this all before. Frankly, if the airline lost your bag you could show up without so much as an extra pair of underwear and you’d still have a great time. You just don’t really need much gear to camp at Pause. Most of the 2023 campers at Pause drove themselves to the event with their own vehicles and had far more extensive gear than I did. Next year, I’m hoping that will be different and that more people will fly and camp. Everything I needed was already at camp, except for a shelter to sleep in. I was able to hitch a ride from ATL with the crew from Informing Designs. If they had also chosen to camp, we might have needed a larger car to get there. With a little planning, however, you can absolutely fly and camp at Pause.
If you’re planning on driving your own car anyway, bring extra gear. You won’t need food, but it’s pretty rad when you can cook stuff next to your tent. If you have space, bring a few extra camping chairs and/or cups for sharing bourbon. The people who fly in will appreciate it. Plan ahead on the official Slack channel. Coordinate what you will actually need, who is bringing what, etc.
It doesn’t really get that cold at night as long as you’re prepared. I bought the lightest sleeping bag I could find on Amazon and I was fine sleeping in a pair of shorts and a hoodie. If I was cold, I would have put on a pair of pants and another hoodie. Check the forecast for Clayton a week ahead and plan on using layers.
Think carefully about how you’ll deal with runoff. No matter what’s forecasted, it’s almost always going to rain a little. Even if it doesn’t rain, you’ll get dew. Pick a spot for your tent that has a slight slope to it so that water doesn’t pool under you. I brought a tarp to put under my tent so I would reduce the chance of puncturing my tent or air mattress if I was on a sharp rock. On the sage advice of a much more veteran camper, I bought a tarp that was slightly smaller than the footprint of my tent. This was so the rain/dew wouldn’t run off the sides of the tent, onto the tarp, then pool under my tent. I also made sure that if there was any tarp sticking out, it was downhill of my tent. As a result, the inside of my tent stayed dry, and any lingering moisture on my gear dried quickly when I got it home.
It’s a long walk (300+ feet) if nature calls in the middle of the night. The nearest bathroom with a sink and toilet is on the stage next to the basketball court. Some campers may choose to drink hard alcohol instead of beer to reduce the number of moonlit trips to the privy. Some campers will avoid the diuretic effects of alcohol altogether. But, many campers (me included) will choose to simply water a nearby shrub instead. If you are the shrub watering type, consider these tips when placing your tent.
- You want to angle your tent so the exit points directly at your shrub. This will reduce confusion as to which shrub you are targeting, as well as which tent you are trying to get back into.
- You may also want to be very close to your shrub. Think 2-4 feet from the door of your tent to your target. It’s unlikely that anyone is going to see you when nature calls, as it will likely be very dark. Still, you might enjoy the tiny bit of additional privacy and windbreak afforded by your tent being close behind you.
- If your aim is true and you are close enough to your shrub, you may not even have to step out of your tent to do your business. This can be a big positive if it is cold, your shoes are wet, or it is raining.
- Whatever you do, do not choose a shrub that is uphill from your tent, or any other tents. Water flows downhill. You want to water the earth, not your campsite.
Some gear must be brought, but some of the bulkier items are best scrounged from other Pause guests. I thought about stuffing an old pillow in my suitcase but realized it was a waste of valuable space. Instead, I borrowed a towel and a couple of pillows from some hotel guests. They were left with (gasp!) only seven pillows and three towels. I could have done without the pillows, but it wasn’t difficult to convince people to help. Trust in the kindness of others and ask for help when you need it. You might even make a few friends along the way.
Leave your electronics at home. I know, we all have important customers with really fancy code that runs critical systems that would just plain explode without us touching them all the time. But how will your customers really know how valuable you are unless you make yourself mildly unavailable once in a while? Shouldn’t they occasionally feel a tiny bit of longing? You have to be able to let go once in a while and just be free. You don’t have to be foolish about it (please, plan ahead!) but don’t let your digital life completely consume who you are. The only device I brought with me this year was an iPhone 12. None of my customers truly melted down while I was camping, although there was one who asked me for a bunch of stuff they already had. If it really hit the fan, I would have just borrowed a laptop from someone. I also didn’t get lost during any presentations because I didn’t have a laptop. And yes, I found several outlets where I could charge my phone when needed.
Here are a few things I wish I thought about or did before camping at Pause.
Do a test run on any new gear before you bring it with you. For example: I used Amazon to buy a sleeping bag for camp but did not try it on for size. The sleeping bag was comically small. I could zip it all the way up, but only if I stuck my arms out of the top. My shoulders barely fit inside the hood. It was fine, but it was a dumb mistake on my part. I would have sent it back to Amazon if I had checked its size. Now I have a used $30 child-sized sleeping bag for sale and a funny story.
If you wear contacts/glasses, make sure you know where they are before it gets dark. The first night I waited until it was too dark to find my glasses before taking out my contacts. That made it extra challenging, especially when nature called at 5AM. The glasses were exactly where I put them – in the bottom of my carry-on backpack, stuffed all the way in the back of my shower bag. I just couldn’t see them in the dark, and I was a bit buzzed. I found them a couple days later, but only after stumbling around in the dark looking for an adequate shrub on the first couple nights.
I’d pick different footwear. I only brought a pair of white crocs and a pair of flip flops. Neither one was ideal. The crocs were too bulky to pack, so I had to wear them on the plane. The flip flops were too floppy, so they didn’t perform well on gravel. Maybe for 2024 I’d do something in a waterproof slip-on boot? I dunno. Gonna be fun shopping for those.
They do open a nearby cabin’s bathroom so you can take showers, but there’s a few details you should know first. That cabin is a 5-10 minute walk up a gravel road, which is kind of far if you’re hung over and/or wearing shower shoes. It pays to get out of your tent early and trudge up that hill in real boots. The water in the showers takes a few minutes to get hot, but it does eventually get hot. The cabin also did not have shampoo, soap or towels. I had travel shampoo but forgot soap, so I used up all my shampoo pretty fast. Next year I’ll probably just take the little bar of soap from the hotel in Atlanta.
If it fits, a small folding stool would have been great. I’m nuts about keeping the mud out of my tent, so I leave my shoes outside no matter what. Getting a pair of muddy outdoor shoes on without getting mud in your tent can make for quite a gymnastic challenge. I’ll probably add a folding stool to my gear for 2024, and I’ll likely keep that stool inside the tent so it stays dry.