How to Have Great Sex in the Great Outdoors
A glittering night sky broken by the bright white streaks of shooting stars. The murmur of a nearby stream. Flames flickering golden from a fire pit (propane, if you live somewhere with high fire danger, of course). It’s a setting fit for a romance novel — or for putting some extra spark into your romantic life. Let’s face it: We all hit ruts in our relationships. Even more so when we’re stressed, tired, or bored with our lives. Often, the best way to get out of that rut is to do something fun, different, or exciting.
If you’re looking for fresh ways to increase the spark or keep the flames alive, few things are better than sharing adventures with your partner, especially when it comes to outdoor adventures (and sex definitely counts as an adventure to be had in the outdoors). Even if you don’t have the time, money, or inclination to head out on a full-fledged hotel and restaurant vacation, hit the slopes, or go on a guided escapade, you can still go camping together. Or, if you prefer, spend a day exploring trails and parks.
https://unsplash.com/photos/dQwijI66_Jw
What could be more romantic than just the two (or more) of you out in the middle of nowhere, tucked into your cozy sleeping bags after a day of hiking, exploring, or driving around seeing the sights? Even if you decide to set up a tent in your own backyard, camping can be the perfect venue for a romantic evening or a steamy, sex-filled night.
However, if you want to have great sex in the great outdoors, it helps to follow a few simple guidelines.
1. Watch the weather. Getting caught in a thunderstorm can be fun and romantic, but only if it isn’t freezing cold and you have a warm change of clothes and dry tent (or cabin) waiting for you. So, make sure you keep an eye on the daily forecast in the week leading up to your trip. If the weather is iffy, you don’t have to cancel; however, you do have to make sure you have a good rain jacket, and if you’re camping, a solid, waterproof tent, sleeping pads, and sleeping bags made for the temperatures. You can usually rent everything you need from your local outdoor shop.
2. Stay the night (or don’t). Toss a small shelter, a blanket, and an inflatable mat in your daypack the next time you head out for a hike or picnic. Most tents take less than five minutes to set up, and you can find plenty of inexpensive options that will work perfectly for an afternoon. Pop up a tent and enjoy the privacy for a few hours or an afternoon and take it down whenever you’re done.
3. Try out a hammock. If you’ve got decent size trees where you’re headed, skip the tent and set up a nylon hammock built for two. The sidewalls will rise and envelop you, giving you some privacy. Though, you do have to be careful not to flip the hammock and fall out. On the flipside (pun fully intended), you can experiment with one person perpendicular and the other kneeling or standing to avoid the risk of falling out.
4. Pick the right spot. The last thing you want is a schoolroom’s worth of small kids running around near your tent right as you’re getting to the good part, especially if you tend to be on the loud side during sexier moments. Tent walls are thinner than the thinnest of motel room walls and block sight but not sound. So, avoid campgrounds and natural reserves in mid-summer. Instead, choose undeveloped, dispersed camping or developed hike-in camping for maximum privacy. Weekdays and off-seasons are also always better choices for those seeking privacy.
5. Come prepared. You don’t want to get all worked up and then have to dig out necessities and kill the mood. Have whatever you need (condoms, lube, etc.) in a stuff sack close at hand. A bandana or small (or large) pack towel is also always a necessity. When you’re done cleaning up, either stash it in a spare baggie for washing with soap at home, or rinse it out in a lake or stream first.
6. Get the grime off. For most people, sex is better when you’re clean — or you at least smell like you’re clean. Once you’re more than a day into a trip that’s far from a hot shower and you’ve gotten sweaty or dirty, you’ve still got a few options: Wet wipes are your friend, and good for both before and after sex; you can use biodegradable soap and a little heated water for a quick scrub of the important bits; or you can jump into a river or lake sans soap for an exhilarating refresh. Solar showers can work surprisingly well on a sunny day, too! If your water doesn’t get hot enough, simply heat some on a stove and pour it in, then hang it from a tree and scrub yourself clean. Always remember that if you’re using soap, even the biodegradable kind, wash and rinse onshore at least 200 feet (61 metres) away from water.
7. Vary your positioning. Basically, having sex in a tent is like having sex on your living room floor, only often with a way lower ceiling and the occasional lumpy rock beneath you. Don’t feel as though you have to stick with your regular, preferred positioning — experiment! If you can do it laying down or sitting up, you can do it in a tent. Though, do your best not to press too hard on the tent walls, especially if it’s raining. The last thing you want is for your shelter to collapse or leak while you’re busy getting busy.
8. Consider sex outside your tent… Weather permitting and assuming no one is around, of course (while exhibitionism is tons of fun, it’s important that all voyeurs are consenting adults). Sure, you could lay your sleeping pad or bag out under the stars, but the outdoors offers many other options, as well. Lean against a tree or sit on a branch, bend over a nice round boulder, prop a foot on a ledge or stump and do it standing, or simply lay on grass or moss. Be cautious about getting busy in a camp chair — you might exceed the weight range and they are prone to tipping over.
So, the next time you need a fun, exciting, inexpensive way to inject new life in your old sex life, consider doing it like a bear… Outdoors!
