Speaker: Adair Arbor, SAM Camp Director
What is your favorite piece of gear on the trail?
Adair Arbor: My favorite piece of gear is my backpack. Because I learned early that having a backpack that fits you and fits all the stuff you like to travel with is the difference between having a really good time while hiking and having a really bad time while hiking. My first ever backpack that I bought for myself um was actually a kids are REI backpack which was not made for an adult female body. And uh it was not a very comfortable five days on trail with a very heavy pack carrying lots of water. And later this was the pack I have now is I think the third or fourth one I bought for myself and it's amazing. I've had the same one for like six years. It's super lightweight and simple. It's my favorite shade of green and it fits everything I need to carry on my body just right. Makes all the difference in the world. I would say a close second for me is that my luxury item on any backpacking trip is a real fork and a real spoon. I don't get down with Spork life. Just not my thing. I love to have a real fork and a real spoon in my pack, even though weight wise it's not the most efficient thing, but that's why it's a luxury item
Favorite role/production you've ever been a part of?
Adair Arbor: I can think of lots and lots of examples of type II fun that I've had on the trail. Um, but I think maybe my favorite type to memory was a time when I was solo backpacking in the mountains of Virginia and I hiked a really long day and I was feeling good and tired and dirty and you know all the things you feel at the end of a long day of backpacking. But I saw on my map, if I went like a half mile uphill, I would have this sweet campsite on top of a mountain. So I did, it went up there and um, that night I was sleeping in a hammock with a little tyvek tarp over me and proceeded to experience the most intense thunderstorm I have ever seen in my life and the whole night I was wide awake huddled in my little hammock thinking like, oh my gosh, if I survive this, this is going to be the best story ever later. And it sounded like clash of the titans happening in the sky around me. But I did survive it, no major incidents, and the next day I just thought to myself, holy cow, like whoever gets to see whether that intense up close and get to say I was fine after I learned to always be prepared, have adequate rain gear. Uh, if you're planning on sleeping in a shelter, maybe don't change your plans last minute. If you do not know what the weather is going to be and you don't have a way to check. Um, but you know what sometimes these things happen and I'm glad I experienced it anyway.
Name a time you experienced Type II Fun on the trail.
Adair Arbor: So I am a sucker for anything written by Stephen Sondheim. He's by far my favorite composer and lyricist of all time. And when I was a senior in high school, I had the opportunity to be in a production of Into the Woods, which is probably my favorite musical of all time and I played Jack, a la Jack and the beanstalk character and it was so much fun. I love the music in that show, it's so funny and dark and weird and amazing. Um and I got to be in it with a bunch of my close friends at the time. So that was a really magical way to wrap up my high school musical acting experience.
What are some of your favorite ways to pass time on the trail?
Adair Arbor: So there's lots of great ways to pass time on the trail. One that comes to mind for me is singing, whether I'm by myself or with a group of people, It's a great way to just make the time fly by and bonus a great way to keep bears away. Uh, I love to play, What am I gonna eat next, which is probably really relatable to anyone who has walked for many miles days on end. Um, whether it's what delicious hot food am I gonna eat when we're done with this trip or what's my next snack gonna be or what am I going to put in my ramen tonight? Um, and probably the best one is just if you're hiking with a group of peers, like you'll end up talking about everything in the world with those people. And so I think my, my last way to pass time on the trail would be to just say, asking lots of questions to people around you.
SAM stands for Saltash Mountain, and sometimes Skits and Music. If SAM stood for three personality traits of yours, what would it stand for?
Adair Arbor: If I had to pick personality traits for me that correspond to the S. A. M. In SAM Camp, it would be silly, adventurous and musical. Um I love being silly skits are one of my absolute favorite parts of camp. Um and I especially love being silly with kids, my favorite part. Um I definitely consider myself an adventurous person. I love to backpack, I love to canoe, I love to explore new places and trying new things. Um and I'm very excited for the adventure. That will be SAM camp itself in summer of 2023 and I'm a very musical person. I love to sing. I've been singing since I could make sound and I love to play guitar and Ukulele, which largely came about because of my love of singing. Um so the more I hear about song time at Sam Camp, the more I think, wow, this is really, really gonna be awesome.