Any time a new relationship starts, there are key tests that happen along the way.
Consider the "Camping Test," for instance. The test consists of a tent, a few nights in the mountains, and your current partner. It makes sense that the "Camping Test" is a great indicator of where your relationship might be heading, especially if the outdoors is an important aspect of your life.
If things go well at the end of the "Camping Test," you'll either be reassured that you and your partner are a perfect match, or you'll kill each other.
Here's how you do it: Go into the wilderness, where things aren't easy and cushy, spend a few days cooking meals in the dirt, sleeping on rocks, being cold. Then, check to see if the relationship exists afterwards.
When my girlfriend mentioned the "Camping Test," and wondering if I would pass, I started to make up all kinds of tests of my own. I didn't even tell her about them. In my back pocket, I've got the "Beer Test," as in, does she drink it? The "Coffee Test," which is the same as the beer test but in the morning. Then I started thinking about this harder, how about an "International Travel Test," or a "Running Test?" How about a "Bitching Test?" As in, does the person bitch when things are not going that well?
So after six months of dating, my girlfriend and I finally made it out to the mountains and did the "Camping Test." We had some very nice gear, rented from Auckland Outdoors, great food, mountain bikes, and fire wood. Game on.
It was cold, even in mid-June. It rained. It was windy. It was really cold. In fact, we had to rush to set up the tent because the minute we pulled into the campground it started pouring. In short, it was just normal camping.
I think the most important thing about the "Camping Test" may not be how well someone reacts to the tribulations of being in the outdoors, but rather how well two people work together. It shows how a couple can work as a team.
So after a few days in the mountains, I believe I passed her camping test, and am of course onto new tests. My girlfriend is more hardcore than I am for sure, but I still think I did pretty well helping to cook and clean at the camp site. Next up, the "Living Together" test. The good news with this one, I can always pitch a tent in the backyard if things don't go well.
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