Camping and Shaving - TICO* Shaving Co

Camping and Shaving

Camping

Do You Shave While Camping?

I love to camp. In fact, I would prefer to be camping continuously… exploring new places, being closer to mother nature, meeting new people and enjoying new experiences. Camping is the only way to get away from your home, or even tourist maiden hotels and truly BE in the places you are exploring.  For those of you who know me, you know I’m a minimalist even when it comes to travel.  I learned the importance of traveling light years ago on a backpacking trip with one powerful action from my guide.

The age of Instagram with beautiful pictures of incredible destinations can bring out the wanderlust in all of us. While images of these gypsy experiences conjure up visions of watching sunsets from an oceanside cliff or a fire glowing in a pine forrest, the reality can be much different.  I have found that most people work harder on packing everything they can instead of traveling light. Those picturesque images suddenly lose their magic when you see a car overflowing with superfluous gadgets, gear and bags that are so overpacked with unnecessary clothes and toiletries that they have to be dumped out just to find one item (you know that one pair of socks that you swore you packed?). In short, you have to make a concerted effort to pack light and keep things simple, or everything just becomes a mess. To quote Yvon Chouinard, “The hardest thing in the world is to simplify your life. It’s so easy to make it complex. What’s important is leading an examined life.”

I learned this lesson as a young man preparing to embark on a 30-day NOLS backpacking trip into the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming. I was trying to explain to my guide why I needed this knife, that extra canteen and so on. He said, “it’s too much to carry… too much weight,” to which I replied, “I’ll be fine, I can carry it, I can fit it all in”.  What he did next has forever changed my life. He looked down at my gear spread out on the floor and picked up my toothbrush. He broke half of the plastic handle off, held it up and said, “No, you don’t get it… this is too much extra weight you don’t need.” I remember just staring at the stub of the handle and something clicked… I finally got it.  I started pulling out all of the stuff I didn’t need, not just that day in my pack but thereafter in my life.

I believe that moment helped shape TICO* Shave Oil nearly two decades later. Okay, so if you want to duck out for the weekend, you probably don’t need to shave or use beard oil; you can do that when you get back. But for those of us that love to travel, and especially for those of us who love to travel light, TICO* is a great solution. I pack it on longer trips and expeditions, and I use it for shaving, skin and lip moisturizer. It is great because you can use it with little to no water and simply wipe your face off with your hands afterwards. We’ve even had some TICO* fans use it as deodorant, really making it a multi-use product.  Whether you are starting to pack for your Spring Break ski trip or planning out summer camping spots, consider keeping it simple when you travel.

Do you use TICO* while camping or traveling? If so, please share any tips or tricks that might help other globe trotters keep things simple by traveling light.


One response to “Camping and Shaving”

  1. Brian Houlihan says:

    I have to shave, even when I camp… weird I know. I usually use soap and water, but am not crazy about it as it leaves my face dry in the mountain air. I’ll give this a shot this season, I like that it doesn’t take much water at all. Good stuff.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *