Bear With Me

Home sweet home with my handy-dandy backyard tent and sleeping bag from Pillow Talk.

I have been thinking about camping in SL ever since I added some tents and a campfire to my yard. And then I thought about camping some more when I risked being infected by SLime disease while leaning against a Linden tree for a photo. I love camping in RL and I crave camping in Second Life, but I didn't know where to begin to find a campground. So, I decided to speak with an expert on the topic - a prim bear. I contacted one and he offered to sit down with me for an in depth interview.

Me: Good morning Prim Bear. Thank you for talking with me today.

PB: My pleasure. I don't get a chance to talk to many human avatars outside of Role Play areas so this is nice. Mind if I smoke?

Me: [makes a puzzled face] But fire...prevent...only...you...

PB: Wrong bear, Tym. [leans toward me] Not everyone in the woods is a tree hugger.


I get up close and personal with Prim Bear.

Me: Okay. [pauses] Well, then Prim Bear, do you consider yourself a Furry?

PB: Do not get me started on the Furry thing. I respect what they do and they seem to enjoy it, but I am 100% bear. I smell like a bear, I walk like a bear, I growl like a bear and my ears and tail are not attachments, either. And I live in a zoo.

Me: I assume that before moving to the zoo that you were exposed to forests full of Linden trees. How concerned were you about tick bites and the resultant SLime disease?

PB: Tym, human avatars, Nekos, robots, Tinies and Furries can all get SLime disease. Prim bears can't. Just a quirk of Linden nature.



Jerremy and I enjoy the canoe at Lake Gnoma. This lakeside camp features free activities including swimming, canoing, and tent camping.

Me: Got it. What are your thoughts on camping?

PB: Everyone has been a poor noob at one time or another....

Me: I'm sorry Prim - I meant actual camping with tents and campfires and hiking.

PB: But you simply cannot just dismiss the other kind of camping

Me: But...

PB: Listen. Think back to when you were a noobie - didn't YOU lie on a beach towel somewhere for all of 20 minutes just to get 6 Lindens into your account?? And the entire time didn't some other noob try to pick you and your orange skin up for a tryst?

Me: How did you...?

PB: I know things, Tym. And one of the things I know is that until a person feel comfortable and flush enough to add payment information to their account, camping is a viable way to earn Lindens. There weren't as many good freebies back in the day. And don't forget the Linden buy limits for noobs.

Me: OMG! I remember! [begins to tear up]

PB: It's ok...there, there, those are just bad memories...here is a tissue.


A camping area at The Garden. There is a lot here for relaxing! You'll find a water slide, surfing, beaches, tents, pose balls for cuddles and photos, and more.

Me: Thank you. [clears throat] Ummmm..... getting back to sports camping. Where can the average avatar go to camp and hike and fish in SL?

PB: You avatars are too soft these days. You wouldn't last a day in the Linden Forrests. My recommendation, Tym? Put up tents in your yards, lay out your sleeping bags and set up a BBQ. Catch fish for dinner down at Splash Aquatics. (It beats traditional fishing. That is, if you have patience and keep chat to IMs.)

Me: But my typist was a Girl Scout at one time! She was such a bad ass that she even go into trouble for whittling without adult supervision! We can rough it! Tell us - please!

PB: Don't get in over your pretty little head. It gets pretty laggy in the Linden Forrest. [pounds paw on table] YOU have never seen z-flutter like I have! Gray people as far as the eye can see! I once spoke to a man who was missing textures and he didn't even know it. I tried to get him to rebake...but it was too late.

Me: Too late for what?

PB: For the love of dog, Tym he crashed! HE CRASHED! That is why I always clear my cache. [breathes in] Ahhhhhh!!!! The smell of cleared cache in the morning. The smell of victory.



Get away from it all when you rent a Wilderness Skybox. You'll find pose balls for cuddling and relaxing, a campfire, waterfall, bird sound effects. Plus you'll have prims to use to set up your own tent and other camping amenities.

Me: Yeah...I just want to go camping....

PB: [sigh] Fine. Have you tried the search function?

Me: Yes, but you know what you get when you search for camping in SL...

PB: Tym, search under 'wilderness' or 'campground'. Even 'hiking' works. Seriously. I thought you'd be more creative than that. [shakes head]


A photo of me enjoying the hot springs at Coldwater Wilderness Area. You'll find a rec room, fishing, long term cabin rentals, a rope swing into a river and hiking here.


Me: While I have you here, Prim, I'd might as well count you as my first Great Goatee interview.

PB: [strokes chin] Yea? You noticed, huh? I grew it like that just for you.

Me: That's not natural?

PB: How many bears do you know....

Me: [mumbling] I don't know many bears in general...

PB: ...do you know who look like astigmatic pirates?!?! [slips on a pair of wire frame glasses and rips off his shirt]

Me: Gasps!

PB: [smiles and nods] That's right, Tym! I read your blog.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The rest of this interview is not suitable for children, pregnant women, persons who frighten easily or anyone fervently opposed to interspecies sex. Look away. Seriously there is nothing to see here, folks. Move along.

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