Checking In
Howdy everyone,
It’s been a while. The last entry was about two days after arriving in Tennessee, meeting all the new housemates and familiarizing myself with my new surroundings. Although that was only about three weeks ago, it feels much longer since I have had the chance to sit and write. It has been an incredibly chaotic past three weeks to be completely honest, but I am still here and the campsite is now open!
The past three weeks have been an eye-opening experience into exactly what it takes to set up a glamping retreat in the mountains of Tennessee. I feel as if I have been given an opportunity to take a peek behind the curtain of hospitality and be able to work from start to finish at a resort in the career field that I have been a part of for the past 3-5 years and have come to deeply appreciate. I have had to learn/do a myriad of skills that I did not previously have any knowledge of. I have done everything from electrical and plumbing to putting chairs together to craft planning. Definitely not what I was expecting to do, but hey, now I have trades under my metaphorical toolbelt that may come in handy someday. So, for the first two weeks of my time at this company, I worked alongside our small staff and put this beautiful campsite together for our guests. Putting a glamping resort together in two weeks is a quiet and massive feat but it has been proven to be possible with a determined group of people, a go-with-the-flow mindset and an immense amount of patience. Most of us have been covered head to toe in dust, mold, and a plethora of other substances that come with working in the natural landscape, but we also had the biggest smiles on our faces and laughter rang from each corner of the property as we built friendships and comradery through this physical labor of love. Each one of us were bouncing from every direction of the camp, just doing things that needed to be done, even if it did not have anything to do with our jobs or we had never done it before, we got it done. And finally, opening day had come, now we are able to take on a whole different feat, guests.
We have been open for almost one week as I write this. Being open has honestly been a great time, sure we have had a few hiccups here and there, but nothing detrimental. It has been a lot of planning crafts and researching the surrounding areas and booking fun adventures, which has been fun getting to know the guests and discussing their interests and what they would like to accomplish while here in Tennessee. So far the only thing that’s been a little tedious is the fact that many of our guests have never camped in their life; now listen I am aware this is also not camping, but to these guests, this is the closest they have gotten; and that’s great! The first step is being interested, and these people are interested in learning about their surroundings and wanting to be more environmentally friendly. So to me, that is a win. The guests have been enjoying the smores we offer every night and the live music we have had performed by an old friend of the camp, so everyone seems to be having a blast. Which is all we can really ask for after we put this together in two weeks. Many of our guests have enjoyed the feeling of seclusion without being truly secluded and I have to agree that it is a perfect location for this style of camping.
As for me, I have been trying to navigate this new time of my life and plan events out for the camp. I have been exploring the areas near me and trying to find quaint, cozy coffee shops or bookshops to write and read, if anyone has any recommendations lol. I have been doing well, just a lot of chaos happening all the time it seems like. I have really been enjoying the chance to explore, hike, and go on small girl trips with the friends I have made here. So far I have hiked Laurel Falls, Rainbow Falls, and almost all of Clingmans Dome, which has been incredible and stunning, I have attached pictures at the end. I have definitely been going, going, and going which has left me with not much time to do the things that I enjoy often, but everything seems to be calming down lately so hopefully I will have more time or develop a routine soon.
I know this is a short one, but I just wanted to update everyone and let y’all know what has been going on since I have not written in what feels like years. I will develop a routine and find time to write more often as soon as I can. Thank you for reading and enjoy the pictures of the Smokys!
Nat
