I was (and am) absolutely serious. For me, the best nights are those spent outside, in a tent or just camping cowboy style, under the stars. We are a diverse lot here, at ETS. I come to the forum oriented toward outdoor survival - trips and expeditions gone wrong, bad weather incidents, plane crashes in the back country, and similar situations.

Fortunately (IMHO) both my career and personal choices have steered me outside, luckily concentrated on the western US (well west of the Metroplex) where there is lots of really neat country. I know something of the Metroplex because I was raised there until I fled west at the onset of college, ne'er to return. While the landscape surrounding Dallas-Fort Worth isn't entirely without interest, it is pretty dull compared to what lies beyond, especially when you reach West Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. Living in Dallas, come to think of it, I didn't find the outdoors to be particularly interesting, either, aside from the occasional hunting trip, which isn't nearly as fascinating as climbing mountains.

The advantages of being familiar with the outdoors are fairly obvious - a much lower stress level and a much higher comfort level, for starters.