Going Solo

“I don’t know that my grandparents had any idea what to do with a grandchild with advanced degrees and a well-used passport instead of — and not in addition to — a husband and kids. I suspect it confused them greatly.”

— Karen Babine, The Allure of Elsewhere

In her memoir The Allure of Elsewhere, Karen Babine explores a life-altering journey in which she sets out to track the landmarks of her French-Acadian ancestors as they settled in North America. From Minnesota to Nova Scotia, she ties her family’s stories to real places. This is a noble endeavor on its own, but something somewhat unintended stood out to me.

As a teenager coming of age in the 21st century, I am aware of how independent women — even in 2025 — are feared if they prioritize their wants and needs.

At a bookstore reading, Karen Babine shared the process of how she has grown into a solo camper and writer, starting from the same place many women with big dreams do: unrest. As a young woman in the suburbs of Northern Minnesota, she realized that she was waiting for a “go ahead” — permission to live the life she wanted, solo. Babine turned to “scamping” [a reference to the brand of camper she uses] to “find a freedom in everyday life.”

In a moderated conversation at a Minneapolis bookstore, Babine highlighted the positive feedback she receives from other women scampers. Babine is clear in sharing that she did not take up scamping to “heal a broken heart” or “escape a breakup.” Karen Babine scamps, as she writes in her book, because she wants to. “I realize that most people will never understand why I camp alone. It’s not a freedom from — it’s a freedom to, a freedom forward. To do everything because I want to.”

She encouraged me, and anyone, to camp solo, “There are ways to scamp that make you feel very safe. It breaks you out of your sphere. You’ll see things in entirely new ways.”