5 Tent-mate etiquettes

Travelling is something that rejuvenates the soul and creates an everlasting impact on the minds of the individuals. It is the only medium through which one can escape the vagaries of city life. One of the most awesome experiences of travelling is exploring new places and new people. Every wanderlust soul has a desire to travel as much as possible. Trekking is all about surviving at high altitudes. The gruesome weather makes it quite uncomfortable. Generally, for trekking, you require the assistance of a travel companion. Treks organised by Trekmunk require you to meet strangers and share tents with them. So, it becomes pretty important for you as trekkers to maintain a good etiquette to get along with strangers. After all, it is all about your capability to make your tent mate comfortable and get along jovially with them. Here is when comes the importance of a good tent mate. A good tent mate would make our journey peaceful and enjoyable. A great mate would always believe in giving rather than getting. Here are a few rules to be followed to be a great tentmate:

Clean up every day:




Cleaning up every day is the basic hygiene rules to follow to become a great tent mate. Trekking is all about walking through a long trail which can be a valley, hill or mountain. Trekking is a long journey done on foot. It is an active metabolic process that uses a lot of energy. It makes you weary and you exercise a lot through the process. If you?re exercising, you sweat. So every evening, before sleeping, it is very important to wipe your sweaty parts with a wet tissue or a wet cloth. This creates a good impression in the minds of your tent mates. If you?re using wet or scented tissues, remember to take care about concealing them in a ziplock after use and dispose of them at the given dumping area. You should always thrive to make the campsite and tent clean.





Never keep your shoes and socks inside:




The basic second rule to follow to become a good tent mate is to keep your socks which are smelly away from the tent atmosphere. There are harmful bacteria which grows on overused socks rendering them quite smelly and unbearable. Bacteria latches around all over. It can cling to all the mattresses and other things in the camp. If it rains, make sure to wrap it with something and put it outside. Do not accommodate it into the tent. If you bring it inside it would make your tent smell and that wouldn't be very pleasant. You can preferably use the balcony for drying your used socks. It is always advisable to carry multiple pairs. Do not use the same pair, it makes them smelly. Carry several pairs of shoes and socks with you according to the days of the trek.





Don?t dry clothes on top of your tent this makes it look quite ugly:




The third rule to follow to become a good tent mate is to maintain the tent. So do not dry your clothes in the tent. If you dry your clothes on the tent, it creates a very ugly wet patch all around the tent. The constant wet patch is likely to damage the tent over a period of time and the clothes won?t dry either. If you really want to dry clothes, take a small string with you. A small elastic rope will come to your rescue and act as a handy option. Tie this up to two trek poles and hang the clothes a little away from the campsite. Preferably, you can consider carrying several lightweight clothes with you to avoid the drying off.





Always keep your things organised:




The fourth rule to follow to become a good tent mate is the rule to keep all your stuff neat and organised. The youth of today has a habit of scrambling things all around their room. But when you are in a tent with a random stranger, you should be more responsible and organised. If your back is packed in an efficient manner, you don?t have to really leave things falling around here and there. Apart from some basic stuff that you ought to require, that is, your headlamp and cutlery, nothing else should lie in the vicinity of the tent. Place your backpacks efficiently in the outside area, even when you go out of the tent. So when you or your companion get into the tent, the tent is free from scrambled things. This certainly creates a good impression and not sure but you may end up being friends for life or at least friends for travelling all around.





Don?t constantly unpack and repack:




The fifth basic rule to follow to become a good tent mate is not to constantly pack and unpack. You should always thrive to minimise the chaos. People always keep shuffling and packing things. This is the sign of an inefficient trekker. If you are leaving from Camp A to B, keep your requirements for Camp B in the top layer of your backpack. Your essentials should be in outer flaps. Ideally, your aim should be to never unpack the whole stuff. That way you don?t end up giving inconvenience to your tent mates, making them shuffle in and out of the tent and struggle for quality space. You should always keep your tent hygienic and safe for the next set of visitors. A good tent mate is always organised and caring about others. He keeps the preferences of others ahead of himself.

These are the five glorious rules that are important for most of the trekkers. These basic rules are generally followed across the world by trekkers. However, this is the basic list, you can always think of many possible ways of handling the situation. Whatever you think is good for your fellow mate is what will make you a great companion.