What do we really need?

This weekend I'm going camping at Mammoth Cave with some friends. As I'm getting together my stuff tonight I'm reminded of the contrast between car camping and backpacking for me. Even though I'm going to be staying at a developed camp ground, with showers and restrooms, a store nearby that has what I need, I always take more than I take with me backpacking. You'd think it would be reverse, when I go backpacking I'm out for 4 days with out any contact with civilization. I have to have all my food, clothing, first aid, cooking gear, sleeping stuff, everything I need to survive for 4 days in the wilderness. Yet I always take less than I do when I car camp, when civilization is right there.

I think many times our definition of "need" changes based on what we have available to us, we expand to fit the space we exist in. I take so little backpacking with me because I know that I have to carry everything on my back. So I'm willing to go with less because I know it will make my journey easier. If I know that I don't have to carry everything, I'm able to take things that may not matter for my survival but does make me more comfortable. That's ok to a point, but there also reaches a point where the stuff that makes you comfortable detracts from the experience you went out for in the first place. I absolutely hate when people take radios camping with them, I want silence! But does my fan for the roof of my tent do the same thing, drowning out the voice of the woods at night?

This very much represents two things in my life that tug at me constantly. I like being comfortable, I like gadgets, I like to be entertained. I also like simplicity, silence, and being challenged. It's difficult to find that balance between the two, because each has their time and place. Right now I think I spend too much time being comfortable. I want to be simple again, and I'm struggling with how to find that place without just running away.