Start small. Do your parents have enough land for you to just sleep outside and learn to build fires?
I’m in Tennessee and used to camp all the time growing up. I actually slept on the ground near campfires so much that I can sleep on floors now without any issues.
My wife laughs when she walks in and I’m sleeping on a rug on hardwood.
Also, I’m glad you are thinking about your future already. I’m not sure what AI will change 10 years from now. I’ll probably be on the market for a career change in a couple years as well.
Similarly, I didn’t want a fire for my kids on my property (2.5acres). I compromised and bought this for $50 off marketplace, so my kid could learn how to make and tend to a fire. This is a flame genie smokeless fire pit. It just uses pellets, but you can absolutely put wood in it.
Those fire pits that dchris mentioned are amazing. I used a similar one before for a backyard fire and it’s ‘safe’- as safe as any open fire can be- and genuinely smokeless.
But, to be honest, why do you even need a fire to camp? Are there ways for you to camp without an open fire?
The point I’m really trying to make is this-
Go do something! Figure out what your limitations are and either work within them or find workarounds! There’s really no point in sitting around and saying ‘oh I can’t do this or that because of this nonsense or some other nonsense’.
Your right. Once its warm enough where I don’t need a fire so I won’t literally die in my sleep, I think I will do some sort of camping.
I can’t make a fire, but I can still make a shelter. I have some knowledge of the sort, and it would be good for me. Depending on the season I can forage for berries, good wineberries grow across the creek, in large bushes. I can probably forage for other stuff.
And thinking about it, I may have a chance to make a fire pit. I have an area cleared out there anyways, if I clear it up some more in the spring I can have a good area. I think my parents (well, dad anyway) might find me responsible enough now.
