Sadly, not many women feel secure to do things alone that men don’t ever think twice about. Think of walking through a dark alley at night or camping all by yourself. But content creator Maggie May who runs her popular TikTok channel @nutritionbitespodcast has done us a public service and shared some very useful and practical tips for any woman who always felt like camping by themselves but never felt comfortable doing so.
“So I like camping alone in the woods as a woman,” says Maggie in one of her videos. The author continued explaining how she wanted to share some tips with other women because “everyone is freaking out about her doing this but it turned out okay.”
So let’s scroll through Maggie’s safety tips that include deception, planning ahead, smart thinking, and creativity, and make sure to share the post with anyone who’s planning a trip sometime soon!
TikTok creator Maggie went out camping in the woods all by herself, freaking her family out
Bored Panda reached out to Maggie Clark, the creator behind this series of TikTok videos. Maggie is a Canadian-based nutritionist and podcast host (Nutrition Bites Podcast) who loves the outdoors. “We have such wonderful nature in Canada and it's always been an interest of mine to explore it,” she told us.
It turns out that Maggie is relatively new to TikTok, only downloading the app earlier this year. “I browsed for a long time and tested out a few videos but didn't find it was the right fit for me.”
However, after she came back from her solo camping trip, Maggie was really inspired to encourage other women to try camping alone and thought that the easiest and fastest way to share that message was through TikTok. “I threw together a little video and put it out there. I never thought it would attract as much attention as it has, but overall I'm really happy people are seeing it and I hope it encourages more people, not just women, to try solo camping!”
Since her camping trip turned out just fine, she is now sharing some safety tips to help other women feel safer when out in the woods alone
“I've gone camping with friends for many years, but never thought to do it alone. I always thought I lacked the skill to do it by myself and was worried about my safety,” the content creator told us.
“Earlier this year I wanted to go camping but I couldn't find any friends who were available. I then watched the movie WILD starring Reese Witherspoon and that inspired me to try it alone,” Maggie recounted and added that “I practiced a few camping skills while I was still home to feel more comfortable and also made the trip short incase I experienced any issues.”
Maggie also suggested getting gadgets that make a lot of noise
According to Maggie, the scariest part of camping alone all happened before the trip even happened. “Whenever I told people of my plans they responded with comments like ‘you're so brave’ or ‘I could never do that’ which made me question if I was making the right choice. Once I was out camping however I realized it was quite easy and a lot of fun!”
Among other things you should find useful when camping out in the woods is a pocket knife and headlamp
While Maggie received a lot of encouragement and positive feedback, including other women sharing their adventures and safety tips, there was an equal amount (if not more) of negative feedback, she said.
“The comment section on my TikTok video became a battleground about sexual assault, with a lot of people taking issue with the fact that I had focused the content on women's safety,” she said. “In reality, all of the tips I shared can be used by anyone camping alone - regardless of their gender."
Maggie concluded that while she loves to camp, her main passion in life is to talk about nutrition and debunk myths surrounding what we should or shouldn't eat. “I encourage you to check out my podcast called Nutrition Bites (available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all streaming services) and Instagram @nutritionbitespodcast,” she said.
More women joined in to comment on how they keep themselves safe while out in the woods
