All the fails, except the dad sneaking, I've experienced too. I think that's the way how you learn so that you never ever make the same mistake again. Or almost never. But good to know that someone else has had the same experiences.

It's been a while since my last camping trip and honestly, I don't miss the over night trips that much. Sitting around fire and making food on a perhaps short one day wander in some national park is different though. That I do miss. Perhaps I should make more effort to have time to do more of those. In national parks, there usually are resting places where (and only there) you can make fire and it's usually relatively easy as there's already good equipment to start the fire. Nothing fancy though, but dry, different size wood.

There's something about fire though. Making it and watching it. I grew up in a house that had a sauna that had a stove that was heated with woods. And I always wanted to be the one to light the fire. Always. So I guess I am, or at least was an expert in it. Though the sauna stove is not outdoors, the conditions were always perfect and no wind. And although I've started the fire in several grills too that are heated with wood, I have no idea how I'd manage in the wild. I guess I'd have to build a sauna around it first. Or at least a primitive grill with few rocks or bricks. :D