Mattress upgrade sure to support camp romps

DEAR MISS LONELYHEARTS: Help us. We simply can’t go camping again and have the kind of wild sex we want if we don’t make some changes.

Our cheap older air mattress rolled us both to the middle on our last trip — and not in a romantic way. And it squeaked for anybody nearby to hear. We need an upgrade. Any suggestions?

— Camping Lovers, Whiteshell

Dear Camping Lovers: Hybrid air and foam self-inflating camp mattresses are the way to go for you two. The best camping mattress for sex offers a supportive surface and minimal squeaking.

“These mattresses use a bottom layer of adjustable air, inflated to your desired firmness, topped with a layer of high-density foam,” according to a salesperson.

The bottom line is you get the bed-like feel of a home mattress, but it will still deflate to get on the road again.

Because of sticks, stones and the odd bottle cap on the ground, be sure to check your mattress choices for puncture-resistance to ensure it stays filled until morning. There’s nothing romantic about waking up on the hard ground at 5 a.m.

By the way, a bit of soft music on a portable speaker is also helpful to muffle the sounds of love-making.

Dear Miss Lonelyhearts: I went to a high school reunion and found out on the last night that the girl I really wanted to take to graduation had also wanted to go with me. She said she went with a guy she didn’t like that much “just to have a date.”

I went with another girl who asked me for the same reason.

What a shame we didn’t go together. We were both shy in those days, but not so much now. There’s a second chance for us, as both of us got jobs back in our hometown for the summer break and we’re finally in love. We’ve been making up for lost time this summer, and we’re really falling hard.

But trouble’s here again as we’re coming to another crossroads. I’m going back to university in Ontario for a second degree, and she’s in the middle of a course she really loves here in Manitoba.

How long can we last when we’re left alone for another eight months? Can a long-distance relationship ever work when people have needs all year round?

If it’s doomed to fail, should we just let it go now? Personally, I don’t think I could. What do you think?

— Worrying Already, Central Manitoba

Dear Worrying: Lots of people have survived attending university apart and you can too, especially if you come back to work at home again next summer and make sure to visit back and forth during the winter months and during holidays. It helps that you both like country life enough to spend a few months together there.

There’s also the ever-present phone and technology, so you can easily connect with each other and see each other’s faces. Times were never this good for lovers who live in different places.

You can make this work if you put in the effort to travel to each other’s study locales as much as possible and stay connected.

The only problem at this point may be your negativity, which might bring your girlfriend down as well. When you find a great match, you should not wimp out because of distance. So start saving money for travel fares to go see one another.

If you both really want to be together, you will do these things happily. But if one of you is less committed and contact starts to fall off, then it will be time for a serious reckoning.

Please send your questions and comments to lovecoach@hotmail.com or Miss Lonelyhearts c/o the Winnipeg Free Press, 1355 Mountain Ave., Winnipeg, MB, R2X 3B6.

Maureen Scurfield
Advice columnist

Maureen Scurfield writes the Miss Lonelyhearts advice column.

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