A Woman Who Can't Tidy Up Learns to Tidy Up Through Solo Camping

Well, it's a trivial kind of growth, but since I, a woman who can't tidy up, have gone solo camping three times and have become slightly able to tidy up, but only while at the campsite, I'm posting this proof of my growth here, so please take a look and feel it. I have a feeling this will be an epic, moving story.

“Inside the Tent” Edition

First time (July, when I was a solo camping beginner and didn't know anything)

Chaos Room Outdoor Edition.
This is a snapshot from my first solo camping trip.

Well, it's terrible.
The chaos is amplified by having too many things and spreading them out randomly. Candies and marshmallows are scattered about. I have six hot dog buns left, which is way too many for one person, because I believed that "it would definitely be delicious if I put a Johnsonville sausage in this." I have the decency to want to wipe myself down with Ag+ because I hate the smell of sweat. A mini fan is running and a water bottle has tipped over.
A chaotic worldview is right here.

The latter half of my first solo camping trip.
It was raining constantly, so I was bored and tried tidying up. The water bottle is upright, but the pouch is half-open with something sticking out, which is a nice touch.
Everything is haphazard. It's tidied up a bit, but it's dull.
The tablet is likely showing a scene from the Toyoetsu movie "Omo ni Haru wo Seotte." It's a spring that doesn't suit this space, and it's pouring rain outside. I'm taking photos like this, so my ramen is getting soggy. Also, I always think that yellow-green earplugs with a string are the right choice. Since I have many black belongings, they are easy to find even if things are cluttered.

Third time (November, after many people knew I was a woman who couldn't tidy up)

After repeating solo camping three times, this is what happened.

Perhaps because the lantern is on top of the water bottle, the lighting is exquisite. It doesn't take up space, and the size of the water bottle and lantern is just right.
I just put the tablet on the usual flimsy table, spread out a dishcloth that was a souvenir from NY from Ponko-shi, and placed it on top to watch an Indian movie in style. I learned that it's super refreshing to store batteries and cables in an oversized Star Wars pouch. Since the campsite is in Wakayama, I chose a panda Ziploc bag to put my snacks in, which fits the theme. (I'm the type of person who properly puts in a desiccant too)

I tried taking a wide-angle shot.
No, it's actually really tidy. The Camino map-patterned buff I bought in Spain is even used as a pillowcase for a bit of playfulness.
However, I think now that the only thing is that the wet wipes are in the shot, which ruins the atmosphere. I'm not sure what the atmosphere is, but somehow, I feel like it ruins it by revealing an unexpected side of me—a neat freak who nervously wipes various things with wet wipes.
Also, the purple dishcloth is crooked, so I want to fix that.
Oh, at my feet, it's a mess with my backpack, clothes, and food. Still, the half of the tent near my head is tidy, so I pass.

“Outside the Tent” Edition

First time (July, when I didn't even have the idea of tidying up)

Before talking about whether it's tidy or not, the view of Mt. Tateyama from inside the tent is beautiful.

As the mountain men in the photo show, I was able to spend time leisurely watching hikers pass by from time to time. Whether they were planning to climb the mountain or not, I used my trekking poles properly as part of the tent, creating a roof and shade. The large trash bag I placed carelessly and the bath set pouch I used as a weight are in the way.

Before long, I couldn't be bothered to fix the right trekking pole when it started to tip over, and even if the roof was slanted and the rain was running off at an angle, I could still grill meat without worrying about such things.
I wanted to take a picture of myself grilling the meat, but unexpectedly, the background ended up looking messy.

Snap a photo of the food I made.
Using a moisture-permeable, waterproof Tyvek sheet as a mat was light and kept things dry, but it doesn't look good at all. Or rather, it's tacky.
The Nalgene bottle is tipped over, and I feel like the wet wipes are ruining the aesthetic again.
It's a bad pattern where everything is just placed haphazardly.
Even though the bulgogi, Johnsonville cheese sausages, and seaweed rice were incredibly delicious, it's a shame that it doesn't look appetizing at all, perhaps because there's too much information and it's distracting.
The coolness of my favorite Opinel knife, engraved with a mountain climbing pattern and bought in a village past the French forest, isn't coming through at all.

2nd time (October, attempted with less luggage)

The space in front of the tent has a bit more style, perhaps because I placed a 100-yen shop cushion with a sky pattern at the entrance.

I couldn't be bothered to use the poles for the tent anymore, so I left them down from the start.
But, taking off my shoes and lining them up is actually a pretty high level, right? I'm impressed with myself. Right now, there isn't a single pair of shoes lined up at the entrance of my own home. I'm a woman who can do it when she tries.

I ate dinner at the wooden table at the campsite.
A meal with no flair at all. A boil-in-the-bag hamburger, chicken wing tips, instant miso soup, and rice balls made from alpha rice. But it's not bad. I realize now, looking at the photo, that I should have just avoided including the trash bag in the upper left.

3rd time (November, conscious of tidying up and a little bit of style)

I introduced a new leisure sheet with a face pattern that I bought at ASOKO a long time ago. It's fun and nice. I'm taking a picture of my feet nonchalantly, trusting that no one will notice that the big toe area of my right sock is about to rip.

I laid the ASOKO leisure sheet over the Tyvek sheet to hide it. It's nice that fallen leaves landed on the leisure sheet on their own and I just left them there.
At times like this, I wonder if a girl who thinks about Instagrammability would intentionally pick up fallen leaves and arrange them neatly... I think now that maybe I could have done a little staging like that.
But then I rethink it, deciding it's too much trouble and I wouldn't do it.

Changing the Iwatani gas burner to a Primus burner also feels a bit cooler, somehow.
However, this purple and light blue dishcloth is really doing a great job. I feel like I've finally gained the leeway to incorporate this kind of small sense of style. I feel like when a sense of style starts to drift around me, tidying up progresses. I start to be careful not to make a mess.

Even the photos I took casually are starting to look like something.
After receiving a compliment from Shimazu-san that even though I'm a woman who can't tidy up, I have "class" (thank you so much!!), perhaps because I'm feeling emboldened, I can't help but feel a sense of class.That's the feeling I have.
It might be thanks to the colors of autumn, too.
For a woman who can't tidy up, there is no concept more difficult than "effortless," but the gloves I placed effortlessly are also a nice accent.
It's effortless, yet tidy. No, rather than saying it's tidy, it's neat and has a sense of world-building. Even though I use the term often, I don't really know what it refers to.
However, it's a shame that trash is captured effortlessly in the upper right of the rice ball. It disrupts the world-building.
Since I, a woman who can't tidy up, have made the utmost effort to tidy up and am somewhat satisfied, and since I'm taking photos of everything just as it is, effortlessly, these kinds of unnecessary things creep in. I feel that those who know will still be able to tell, thinking, "Wait, is she...?" There must be a level of inability to tidy up that cannot be deceived by camera angles.
So-called Instagrammable photos that are completely beautifully and unnaturally arranged and staged aren't natural at all if you overdo it, so I don't want to become like that. I want to capture the power of nature and my own natural, effortless self.
As expected, do I need to improve my tidying skills rather than my camera skills?
This time, I think I'll try to get away with the trash appearing in the photo by using the word "nukekan" (a sense of relaxed style).

Summary

Anyway.
The secrets to tidying up learned through campingare as follows.
1. Reduce unnecessary things (or make them invisible).
2. Incorporate small stylish items.
3. Do not leave things knocked over.
4. Align things.
5. A final check is necessary even within an effortless look.
6. The balance between world-building and a sense of relaxed style is important.

These are surely the keys to being a woman who looks like she can tidy up.
They say you can learn many things from camping, but I never expected to get hints on tidying up.
For now, just like when I'm camping, I think I'll start by aligning the shoes that are pointing in all directions in my entryway at home.
Before that, putting away my summer sandals is the priority.