COLUMN | Don’t let the old man in

Camping with the older generation yields all kinds of insights. Kyra Tarr remembers a camping trip with her dad and his friends.

Since my sisters and I were small, my dad Mike would whisk us away from civilisation’s tame embrace and we’d clamber up snow-covered peaks or hike through game reserves where dangerous animals roamed. Unlike most parents, who mellow with age, Mike has chosen the opposite direction.

Now on the other side of 80, he often quotes lyrics from that Toby Keith song “Don’t Let the Old Man In”. And to his credit, he never has.