Have you ever camped in Detroit? I didn’t think so! As it turns out, camping in Detroit is pretty hard to find. However, it is there, if only you look close enough. Believe it or not, Detroit does have its pockets of green wilderness!
Our pocket of green came in the form of an Airbnb backyard campsite in the middle of a pretty rough-looking urban area. The surprisingly beautiful neighborhood was tucked into an overgrown-looking street not too far from downtown Detroit!
The people we stayed with are pretty cool. They are both circus performers, and they created a wildlife sanctuary/ backyard campsite out of an old, boarded-up house that had been long forgotten. Inside, the house is a delightful explosion of homey Pinterest-type creativity, which the outside is a woodsy wonderland.
When we arrived, I was absolutely thrilled to walk from the dark street into a romantically-lit backyard wildlife space with room for campfires, stargazing, and wildlife watching! A people-sized wooden structure was nestled into one corner, surrounding a cozy tent. It looked like a sylvan fairyland.
Good thing our hosts provided a tent, because we accidentally left ours in the moving trailer and probably would not have survived the mosquitoes in our hammocks. We said good night to our hosts and their one-year-old son, and crawled into the tent with Kito.
Kito was not overly thrilled with the tent life. I, however, was delighted to have found an affordable and outdoorsy option for a night’s stay! After all, how often do you get to move to a new city, make friends, and stay in their backyard wonderland?
Of course, a new day brought new realities. The stars disappeared into a blue sky and out came the spiders. Did you know that Michigan has about 47 spiders per square inch? I was contemplating whether I would rather have Arizona’s scorpions or Michigan’s spiders as I watched them crawl their creepy little bodies over the outside of our tent. I bet demons have eight legs. However, a quick search on my phone revealed that none of the said spiders were poisonous– 4G is a definite perk of city camping.
The more important concerns of the day came soon enough as well. Long story short, we eventually found a perfect apartment. We had thought to buy a house since there are a lot of cheap ones on the Detroit market, but a safer apartment in the metro area is probably a better bet as we settle in.
My parents drove the entire 2,000 miles from Phoenix to Detroit with us! I don’t know what we would have done without them. Just handling the Kito factor alone would have made it tough to get anything done. While we were apartment hunting, my parents took Kito to about seven dog parks and playgrounds to run around! By the end of the day, she was wiped.
Things are starting to fall into place! It’s still pretty surreal that we are actually in Michigan right now. Do you know how long I’ve wanted to try out Midwest life? Maybe I’ll be regretting that sentiment around, say, November, but for now I’m pretty excited to see what it brings!
Breana Johnson 