The Miracle Of A Tent.....

“Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of your habitations: spare not, lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes.” Isaiah 54:2

Tents. We take them for granted. There are generally four issues of human survival: air, food, water, shelter. The tent was one of the first shelters ever purposely devised by mankind.....no one knows just exactly when the tent was invented, but an ancient shelter unearthed in Russia was carbon dated to 40,000 years ago..... and that was some time ago, my friends, some long time ago. Roman Legionnaires and Mongolian Cavalry and Lakota Buffalo Hunters all sheltered under tents; and it is the shelter of choice and convenience for nomadic peoples up until modern times. Armies since before the Roman empire have carried tents. Tents are established human tools.

And what better shelter for a motorcycle traveler could be imagined? Cheap, portable, durable, the tent can be strapped to almost any motorcycle ever made..... All over the globe, people traveling on motorcycles usually have a tent strapped on behind. When my wife and I were much younger, and even more impoverished than we are now, we decided to see the world anyway we could....and what made it possible for us was the relatively inexpensive motorcycle, and the even more inexpensive tent. With a motorcycle, tent, and sleeping bags, no part of the world was denied us.... You can generally spend 4-5 nights camping for the expense of one night in a motel or hotel. With a tent like the Eureka Timberline 4 (still under $200), a couple of medium quality sleeping bags with pads, nearly all the world is yours, and because of modern materials you will be warm, dry, and comfortable. We've spent certainly hundreds, perhaps thousands, of nights in tents, and we were truly miserable only once or twice -- generally because of high heat and humidity.

We are a bit older now, and have stepped up to a motorcycle tent trailer, and it's a true luxury. But if that tent trailer evaporated tomorrow, I'd go out into my garage and look over my tent collection -- four, five, or so -- choose one, strap it on, wait for my irrepressible partner to climb on, and motorcycle off without fear or regrets. We've traveled far with our wonderful tents, and we could go a bit further with one, a bit further.... If a tent was good enough for Julius Caesar, Ghengiz Khan, or Crazy Horse, it's good enough for us!