Laid-Back Camp Volume 5

Laid-Back Camp volume 5 came out last year, but given that the theme of the book is New Year’s, it seemed a good time to catch up with the series. I can’t believe it’s March already; I’m still thinking we’re barely into 2020.

There are many holiday-connected traditions in this volume:

• One of the girls has a part-time job delivering New Year’s cards. Most of the camping club members are working over the winter break in order to make money to buy more gear.
• They discuss the tradition of eating noodles for long life.
• Several of the club members get together for a shrine visit and to view the sunrise on the first day of the year.
• Others visit with friends and relatives.

Additionally, a solo camper visits the coast, making for some lovely images of scenery. I also appreciate how much meal planning figures into their adventures. Of course, if you’re camping, you need to bring in food, but even when they’re in more civilized environments, what to enjoy eating together gets a lot of attention, which matches how I like to travel. They pay particular attention to local specialities, leading to a short chapter about eating grilled eel.

The activities are entertaining, emphasizing interaction with the environment, whatever its unique features are, and their friendship together. Even when someone wants to camp on their own, they’re still texting each other and keeping in touch, something that’s reassuring to me as a reader when these young women are trekking out in the snow by themselves. I’ll never do what they do, but it’s weirdly relaxing to read about it. (The publisher provided a review copy.)