In the last year or two I’ve spent a heck of a lot of time in the outdoors.  Hunting, fishing, hiking, kayaking and climbing all over Mongolia has become my passion, and I’ve never been happier.  As a younger man I was never all that interested in outdoor pursuits (a night at the bar was enough to keep me happy), but when I got sick and was told I had to stop drinking I took to the outdoors like a fish to water.  What began as a way to stay healthy and beat an unpleasant, chronic condition turned into a joy in itself, and I don’t miss my drinking days at all.  

One thing that gets me about my late introduction to the outdoor world is that so few people seem to plan ahead.  Folk who grew up in the world of hunting, hiking and so on become set in their ways, and they seem to fail to deal with avoidable problems simply because they never solved them before, and neither did their old pa.  If it’s good enough for pa, it’s good enough for me. 

Lemme explain what I’m talking about.  A couple of weeks ago I went out with a few western friends to the Mongolian steppe.  It was a surprisingly warm day (‘warm’ being around -20 Celsius), so we were kitted out in light cold weather gear – my trusty Columbia Bugaboo parka, in my case – and bug chunky boots to deal with the acres of tough, icy snow mixed in with mud and sand. 

After a day of trudging around the landscape we returned to my buddies 2 month old car, climbed in and drove back to the city.  By the time we got back the heating had melted the ice and snow on our boots into a nasty, muddy slush.  The guy didn’t have floor mats, so naturally his carpets are now covered in muck, and his floors will never be the same again.  

The same goes for his seats.  The only protection was the Hello Kitty car seat cover his wife had pulled over the driver’s seat, but the rest of them were uncovered and are now pretty much wrecked.

Here’s the thing.  Because I was into my 30s before I got into the outdoors I’m still pretty anal about my car.  If I know I’ll be spending a weekend out on the steppe I’ll plan ahead.  I’ll lay down mats.  I’ll protect the seats with a sheet.  I’ll bring a hug pack of baby wipes to clean up before the long drive home.  These guys, though, who’ve spent their entire lives outdoors, just don’t think about these things.  They spend every weekend out in the dirt, get back to the car and only then do they realise we’re about to make a mess (leaving me, as a passenger, feeling guilty all the way home).  

So here’s the message: if you live your life outdoors you should really buy a damned car seat cover.  It’s not rocket science.